“I know. I’m sorry.”
Jewel hadn’t been the only one to take something precious from him. Lila had taken as well, just like with Alex, and she wasn’t even sorry about it.
He pulled his wallet from his breeches and dug out a yellowed piece of paper. Lila didn’t need to open it to know what it was. “Take this. I won’t need it anymore. Maybe you’ll get some use from it.”
“Louis…”
He shook his head. The paper crinkled as she took it.
“Life is funny. You wake up in one world, and by lunch, you’re swept up in a whole new one. I guess life is a nothing more than a series of adjustments.”
“I guess we have to learn to adjust.”
“We have to try.” He stood and walked to the door. “Thank you for giving me the choice with Jewel, but I don’t see what good it would do. Let it go, Lila. I can’t figure this out if she’s gone.”
“Maybe you won’t be able to figure it out until she’s gone.”
“Maybe it’s just a question of what and how much I want to lose. You gave me the choice when she didn’t. Please don’t take it back because you don’t agree with my answer.”
Lila fought the urge to debate the issue once more, but she’d already said enough. “Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.”
The senator nodded and turned the doorknob. “I don’t know if I’ll be back in this house.”
“I won’t look for you.”
Dubois nodded and disappeared down the corridor.
Chapter 29
Isabel brought up a fresh kettle of tea to ward off Lila’s cold, the cold she was sure that Lila had caught at the ball due to her hoarse voice. Jewel’s sobs bubbled through the walls intermittently. Neither of them wanted to get involved. Lila because she would be the target of Jewel’s histrionics and rage if she could only stop crying for long enough. And Isabel because experience had taught her to avoid Jewel in such moods. Pax only ventured into the hallway once, peeking into Lila’s room for an explanation.
“Don’t seek out this gossip. If you can’t study through the noise, then take a well-deserved afternoon off. It’s the weekend.”
“Maybe you should take that advice yourself. It sounds like you’re getting sick.”
“I’m fine.”
“At least turn on a light, then. It’s depressing, especially with all the crying.”
Lila put up her arm, stopping Pax from turning on the lights. Dubois and Jewel had been too absorbed in their own drama that morning to spot her bruises, and Lila had stayed in the shadows whenever Isabel entered her room. Pax would spot her injuries instantly, though. He’d worked at the hospital too long to dismiss their placement or their shape.
He’d know, and he’d worry.
Pax finally returned to his sanctuary rather than lingering or taking the day off, just as she suspected. He had no one to spend the day with, and Lila did not have the energy to join him.
She was such a bad sister, she thought, stroking her belly.
Alex did not stay away for long either. The slave entered with yet another fresh kettle of tea from Isabel. Beside it lay a hastily scribbled message from the chairwoman.
Jewel wailed away in the next room.
It was strange not to see Alex actively digging for information. Lila thought her own expression must be very grim indeed.
“No sarcasm for me this afternoon?” Lila asked. “I suspect that I could use some. This is from my mother, after all.”
“I’m sorry. I suppose I’m just tired. Do you need anything else? More tea for your throat?”
Lila didn’t answer at first. Instead, she scanned the short letter, a summons downstairs for an early dinner. “Tell the chairwoman that I’ll be down momentarily.”