Amelia folded her arms in mock sternness. “Then you can’t have them.”
He stuck out his bottom lip. “Please, Lia? I’m going to be here for days yet.”
“As I said before, you’ve could always learn Greek.”
“I don’t have the mental stamina to learn anything. I’m still healing. Take pity on me.”
Amelia relented. “Winifred it is.”
Chapter Thirty
Farther down thehall, out of earshot of Alston and Amelia, Graham stopped Dr. Bradley. “Tell me the truth.”
Dr. Bradley ran a handkerchief over his sweating brow. “I don’t know what to tell you. He is still at grave risk. He is a mystery. A medical anomaly.”
“How can you not know?” Graham bit out.
“Medicine is, and likely always will be, an ever-changing entity. We know things we didn’t know last year. But there is still so much wedon’tknow.”
“And the clotting?”
“The clotting is just a guess, my lord. Will the clot hold? Will the injured veins heal enough not to need the clot? I’m telling you this isn’t my area.”
“All right. I understand, Dr. Bradley. Do what you can without revealing who he is until we absolutely need to.”
Dr. Bradley nodded. “I’ll go to the college now.”
Graham shook his hand. “Thank you.”
He took a moment to bury his cold fear before returning to the room. A footman was setting the table with eggs and bacon, all of Alston’s favorites. Cook was a marvel, preparing everythingso quickly. They filled plates and sat beside Alston as he took small bites of his eggs.
“Apparently, you’re a medical anomaly. Maybe you’ll end up in a book,” Graham quipped.
Alston chewed thoughtfully. “Will they have to draw me naked?”
Amelia smiled behind her fork.
“Women of thetonwill take a sudden interest in medicine,” Graham said.
Alston smiled, setting his plate on his lap. “So, what’s the plan for today? Any engagements?”
Graham couldn’t help but notice how he and Amelia both froze ever so briefly at the wordengagement. He’d been doing all he could these last few hours to not think constantly about their time together this morning. But he only had to look at her and he could taste her, smell her, and recall the feel of her on his lips. He pushed his eggs around the plate to keep himself from staring hungrily at her.
“None that I wish to attend,” Amelia said. “I want to go to the Den.”
Alston blinked at her. “Absolutely not.”
“Ladies do attend,” she rebutted.
“Yes, but not you.”
“Why not me?”
“Because you’d love it. It’s seedy and loud. Filled with vile talk, crude behavior, incredibly high stakes card games, as well as...” He frowned at her. “How do you even know about the Den?”
Amelia looked to Graham, then back to her brother. “You remember what we told you earlier, don’t you?”
His frown deepened. “Vaguely?”
