Chapter 15
It was dark and cold, and wherever Helen was, it smelled strongly of tobacco. She was sitting in a carriage. How the hell had she gotten here? Where was Edward? She pulled the shade aside, seeing Edward standing next to a coachman. They appeared to be waiting for something.
The ball. They were still at the ball, and somehow he’d gotten her out of there and into this carriage.
She needed to get the hell out of here. Helen moved slowly and carefully towards the opposite door, the world tilting around her in a slow rotation. If she were very lucky, she could sneak away and Edward wouldn’t see her. The door opened on silent hinges and she stepped down onto the street, bracing herself against the door as the world continued to turn too fast. Helen listened for a moment, surprised when she heard Edward’s deep laugh.
She moved quietly away from the carriage, compartmentalizing the pain and trying to separate herself from it. The pain was one thing, the tiredness another. She felt as though every step was complicated, like wading through mud in her ridiculously heavy dress. She came to where the carriages met the street, wrapping along the side of the block and all the way down. Now what?
One of the drivers saw her and whistled. Helen turned to him, blinking in the dark. “Do you need a lift? I’ll take you where you need to go.”
She looked at the fine carriage suspiciously. Why would he go out of his way to offer to help her? “They’ll have to throw my master out, he won’t leave a party until he has to. I can take you and be back in a trifle.” He winked. “But it’s not cheap.”
Of course, he wanted money. It was a motive Helen understood. She reached into her pocket, finding some coins. She handed him several, and his eyes went wide. Helen was in no condition to wonder how much she had given him; she wasn’t sure she could have added them up even if she’d wanted to, she felt so sick. She’d pay anything to be back in her room, tucked up in bed. “Where to?”
“The Savoy,” she said, trying to enunciate. He opened the door and she climbed in, falling asleep almost instantly. Helen jerked awake when the carriage stopped. She blinked and had a moment of severe disorientation, and she didn’t even argue when the coachman helped her inside the hotel lobby. Her feet trudged along of their own volition, and somehow she found herself standing in front of her door.
Her hands trembled as she took out her key. She opened the door, shutting it behind her and dimly wondering if she’d paid the coachman. She couldn’t remember. The walls were covered in light-blue wallpaper, her bed right in front of her. Only four steps away. She took two and then gave up, falling to the ground and into a deep, dreamless sleep.