Page 66 of The Curious Life of the Unfortunate Duchess
“I suppose it is the least we can do,” Leonard agreed.
“No!” Elizabeth cried. “No, I am here! Look at me!”
But her words had no effect on the siblings who continued to speak about her impending death. Consternation filled her yet when she ran toward them for they managed to get further away, her steps bringing her no closer.
Her brother appeared then, his eyes dull and accusing.
“How could you leave me here with Frances?” he demanded. “Have you no shame?”
“David! David, I will not leave you,” she breathed. “I will find my way back to you.”
He shook his head.
“How? How will you accomplish such an impossible task?”
Elizabeth had no answer for him, a deep sense of loss consuming her.
“How is Franny? Tell her I love her, David.”
“You may tell her yourself if you manage to fulfill your promise,” he growled, whirling to leave her in the empty study alone. She looked about helplessly, seeking an answer to her conundrum. There, she found her father, staring through her.
“Father?” she whispered, her heart sick at the look of devastation on his face. “Father, can you hear me?”
He looked up slowly, blinking.
“Elizabeth? What are you doing here? Have you been released?”
“No, Father. But I will find a way back to you, I swear it!”
“No!” his voice was firm. “You must do as they say and give them no cause to hurt you.”
She shook her head vehemently.
“Father, I must try to escape—”
“You will not, Liza! You will do as you are told.”
“But Father, you cannot produce such a sum of money!”
“There is always a way, child. Promise me you will do nothing to escape.”
She could not say the words, even though she knew she spoke only in a dream.
“Liza! Promise me you will cause no trouble!”
Her eyes flew open at the sound of the door lifting and Cooper appeared at the top of the steps.
“Good morning, Miss Elizabeth,” he purred, sauntering down to greet her. He reeked of moonshine although he had bathed recently. A dark shadow of stubbly hair covered his lean face and his blue eyes pierced into her.
“Is it morning?” she asked flatly. “I have no conception of time.”
Whatever fire she had clung to had been extinguished with the disheartening dream. Her throat was again parched and her eyes moved toward his hands, hoping to see a canteen but he was empty-palmed. Cooper was proving to be a much more difficult ally than Mark had been and Elizabeth wished the first man would return, although at this point, she was losing her desire to fight.
What is the point if everyone has already given up hope?
Cooper chuckled and nodded.
“I suppose that is so. It must be difficult to live in the dark, Miss Elizabeth. But your life in the blackness is either just beginning or just ending.”
