Liam had turned scarlet. “I implore you to think very seriously of what you are saying.”
But Henry was too angry to be wise. “Or perhaps that sort of thing is common in the Indies.” For once at a loss for words, Liam glowered at Henry, who went on in the same sneering tone: “But I forgot; you are not really from the Indies.”
“I beg you, sir, go at once. I will not be insulted in my own home. Let us part as friends, and pretend this conversation never was.”
Henry stared back at him, and there was another long silence. The posture of each man had subtly altered: shoulders squared, nostrils flaring, one foot slightly back, hands clenching and unclenching. Were there going to be fisticuffs, right here in the front room? My heart pounding, I moved a little closer to Liam.
“I have been imposed upon very badly, it strikes me,” Henry said at last, with another glance at me.
“I am sorry, Austen, that you feel that way,” Liam said, his voice calm, his eyes murderous. “Please accept our heartfelt apologies, and go—”
“You have made of me a laughingstock, in front of my entire family and my London acquaintance. And you are sorry?” His voice rose at the end. “I came in hopes of finding you a gentleman, at least, that I might demand satisfaction. But I see even that is to be denied me—”
Too fast for me to react, Liam cuffed Henry backhanded, sending him stumbling sideways into a chair and knocking it over with a crash. “You want satisfaction? I’ll give you satisfaction!” He had raised his fists and was moving toward him. “Not a gentleman? Fuck you!”
I darted between them, arms outstretched, and braced my palms against Liam’s chest.
“Please!” I said. “Please.”
For a moment I feared Liam was going to shove me aside, but he froze, breathing hard, his expression growing calmer. When he let his arms fall to his sides, I risked a glance back at Henry, who was also hyperventilating, arms still bent at the elbow and fists clenched. He was staring at the floor. A line of red was rising on his cheek where Liam’s knuckles had landed.
“Thirty thousand pounds we gave you, gone forever,” Liam finally said. “And this is my answer.” Henry looked up, expression icy, and swallowed hard. “But it is a relief to know what you really think.”
“Dr. Ravenswood.” Henry raised a hand as if to urge him to say no more. “I shall make the necessary arrangements. Expect to hear from my second in a day or so.”
With a cold nod, he left the room.
“I shall be looking forward to it!” Liam shouted at his retreating figure. The door slammed behind Henry.
We sank into the chairs at either side of the hearth, and turned toward a sound from the hall. A rattle of china: Sarah, with the tea things.
“I don’t mean to disturb,” she whispered, eyes large.
IT WAS CLOSE TO MIDNIGHT WHEN THE KNOCK STARTLED ME; I WAS sitting in the front room, too agitated to consider sleep, though I’d sent the servants to bed. I went to the window for a look. Seeing a familiar figure in a cloak, clutching a bundle, I pulled open the heavy door.
“Jane!” I was delighted—and surprised. She had not left her own house in weeks.
She pushed back the hood of her cloak, accepting my offer of a chair by the almost-dead fire and placing her oilcloth-wrapped bundle on the table without comment. Though it was the size and shape of a manuscript, I refused to let my hopes run wild: I put some more coal on and poured her a glass of Constantia. And then one for myself.
“I am sorry for the lateness,” she said, looking serious. “But I had to come in secret, as you may well understand.” She reached out and put a hand on mine. “Henry gave a most alarming report of his visit. I had tried to stop his coming here, but he was adamant.” She studied me. “I can only suppose, then, that we may no longer look forward to calling each other sister.” She raised an eyebrow, suddenly droll. “I should have realized that earlier, but there has been a great deal to think about today.”
“It was wrong of me to deceive him. Yet my intentions were good—I wanted to give him money to help his bank; we thought he would not take it otherwise. Later, I should have broken it off, but I was afraid you would no longer want to be friends.”
She patted my hand. “You should have more faith in me. A lady can always change her mind. As I did, with Harris Bigg-Wither. And his sisters forgave me. It was awkward, but such things always are.”
“I am sure you did not flirt with him shamelessly for months, as I did with your brother.”
“Why are you sure of that?” She laughed her wicked chuckle. “Why do you suppose he offered?”
“Apologize for me, if you think it will make any difference.”
“Oh! Henry will survive; men do not die of broken hearts.” She paused. “But sometimes they do in duels. Tell me they are not really going to fight. He insists they are.”
“Liam is gone. He set off soon after Mr. Austen left.”
“I am glad of it.” She took a sip of her wine.
“We lack this idea about honor in our time, that it is best preserved by two men taking shots at each other.” Though to my stupefaction, Liam had wanted to stay and duel with Henry; it had taken me some time to make him see reason.
“I should like that about your world.” She looked into the fire for a moment. “So he is gone. I am sorry I did not get to say goodbye.”
“He was too. But it was safest for him to leave at once. I will follow in a day or two, when I finish some things here.”
“Did he go back, then?”
It took me a moment to understand what she meant. “There is just one Opportunity of Return; we must wait for it, and be in the right location, at the portal site.”
“And if something happened, and you could not be there?”
“We would never return.” I tried not to think about the possibility of wormhole collapse.
“Oh!” She was silent for a moment. “It does seem a perilous business, does it not?”
I leaned forward. “One thing. You must have Mr. Curtis bleed you regularly. Twenty ounces, every week, until you begin to feel better. It may take months, but if I am right about this, you will start to. Your skin should stop being that odd color, you should feel less fatigue and joint pain. Then, do not stop the bleeding entirely, but gradually decrease the frequency, until it is only every few months. You must do that for the rest of your life. Will you promise?”
She gave me a long look. “Are you suggesting this will cure me?”
“It is only an idea, but it seems worth trying.” I paused. “And make sure he sterilizes the instrument. Make him hold the blade in a flame, at the side, not the top, for at least sixty seconds. Liam explained this to him today, but you must emphasize it again.”
“Sterilize? What do you mean?”