Page 60 of A Slipper in the Smoke
“I never felt like this before.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know what to do, Luce.”
Her hand drifted over his. “Be honest with yourself,” she said. “And then with her.”
Be honest with her.If he told Elena the truth now, would she be angry? Would she immediately call things off? Or would she just become less herself around him?
I’d take your anger,he thought.But not the rest. Please.
“And when you’re ready,” Lucia continued, “tell meeverything.I may not be Toulousian, but I do lovetea.”
Pip laughed. “I’ll bear that in mind. Thank you, Lucia.”
As soon as he was able to, Pip slipped away and headed back upstairs. Elena was fast asleep. He sat with her for a little while, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest, before slinking away to his own chambers. Susan was reading by the fire.
“A good evening, Prince Phillippe?” she said, not looking up.
“Rather dull, I’m afraid.”
“Company not to your liking?”
“You know it wasn’t.” He paused. “I’m sure you’re dying to pass judgement, Susan, so you might as well.”
Susan put down her book, and looked him in the eyes. “She’s either the greatest actress in the world or the second-nicest person I have ever met.”
“Who’s the first?”
“You, you silly boy.”
“Oh.”
“Obviously, it’s still a terrible idea, but I think maybe it’s one of those terrible ideas you just have to commit to. I think you are both likely to regret it more if you do not.”
Pip helped himself to a glass of wine on his dresser, noticing a small box beside it. “What’s in the box?”
“Contraception.”
Pip spat out his wine. “Susan!”
“Most men have the implant, you know, but with you being so, well,you,we’ve never bothered to push you into getting one. But if you’re going to take on a new lover—”
“Dome above, I do not need to hear this right now! She’sbedridden!”
“She won’t be for long, and anyway, I hear the bed is where most people—”
“Do not finish that sentence, do not finish that sentence, I beg you—”
“I’m just saying—”
“Stop. Saying. Anything.”
Susan laughed, rising from her chair at last. “As you command, Your Highness. Sleep well. I shall see you anon.”
For the next two days, Elena did exactly as she was told—absolutely nothing at all. She ate and rested. She read the books Susan procured for her. She played games of chess and let herself be waited on. She lived for the moments when Pip came. Sometimes, he’d whip out a pack of cards and challenge her to a game. Other times, he’d read to her. Sometimes, they did little but talk of nothing at all.
She had no way of contacting Snowdrop, but she did request that someone put up a note at her workshop “for her customers” assuring them that she would be back at work soon, and even, at one point, penned a letter to Clara, Jane and Maribel.
“Just the one letter,” she told Susan. “They can read it together. One is fine, right? I wouldn’t be putting anyone out of pocket?”
Susan assured her that it was fine.
