“This is my physician and right-hand assistant, Dr. Doyle,” Mr. Blackstone said, with menace in his voice.
Lina stared for a moment, then looked at the floor, and then, not knowing what else to do, curtsied.
“Dr. Doyle,” Blackstone continued, “is... my eyes and ears, in a way. Especially in the city.”
Lina’s heart felt even heavier, and colder. She stared at the floor and clasped her hands in front of her.
“And do you know, Caroline Blanchet, what Dr. Doyle might have seen and heard in London on his most recent trip?”
Lina thought she just might, but she was struck silent and stared at the pattern of the rug on the floor, her heart beating wildly. Surely, surely, if he had gotten wind of the scandal in London, he would not have sent for her?
“Miss Blanchet? Your master has asked you a question, and now you will answer.”
“I do not,” Lina said limply, after taking a deep breath to compose herself.
There was a noise as Mr. Blackstone took a deep breath, loudly, causing Lina to look up at him. His neck was exposed in the light, and he was looking at the ceiling. She still could not see his face, but his neck seemed... well, normal. When he lowered his chin, she caught sight of a mouth, with full lips and snarl, but certainly nothing monstrous.
“You do not,” he repeated, sending her eyes back to the floor with the venom of his words. “You do not, what?” he seethed.
Lina’s eyes watered, and inside she felt torn in a thousand directions.
“I do not,sir.” This final syllable left her mouth more snappily than she had intended, and once it left her mouth she feared it would anger him. At the same time, somewhere in the back of her mind, she was wondering if this man had any proper claim on her, to be forcing her to speak to him thusly.
“Doyle?” Mr. Blackstone asked, after a pause.
“It would seem that Miss Blanchet behaved inappropriately and had inappropriate relations with a young gentleman at the Chattoway ball. I found her stretched out upon the lap of a gentleman, asleep from too much drink, having engaged in most inappropriate—”
“It isn’t true,” Lina pleaded, looking up suddenly. The words were pouring from her mouth and she could not make them stop. “I did no such thing; it was all a trick—”
“Miss Blanchet,” Mr. Blackstone said icily, again managing to cut her off as though he had shouted with the pure ice of his tone. “I did not ask you to speak.”
“But, but, but...” she said, looking at Dr. Doyle, who had a serious but not mean expression as he looked back at her. “But it isn’t true!”
“I saw it with my own eyes, Miss Blanchet. It is quite true.”
“It isn’t true that, that... that... but I didn’t...” Lina attempted to explain but was unable to put what she wanted to say into words quickly enough.
“Because of your indiscretions... thank you, Dr. Doyle, I shan’t be needing you any further,” Mr. Blackstone interrupted her mumbling. Dr. Doyle turned toward the bookshelf to leave.
“But wait!” Lina interjected, forgetting herself and her fear. “This is not... not fair!”
Doyle began to turn around slowly, but Mr. Blackstone waved him away, and so he obeyed him and headed to the door as Blackstone turned toward Lina and breathed like a dragon. “Silence!”
Lina’s eyes filled with tears, but she closed her mouth, for the man’s voice had such an effect that she felt she couldn’t speak any more, even if she very much wanted to.
The bookcase door swung closed, and Lina stared at the floor. There was a long and awkward silence.
“Let us start again, Miss Blanchet. You have lied to me, and for that you shall be disciplined severely—”
“I did not lie,” she said, in a trembling voice. “I must defend—”
“You lied when you said you knew not of what Dr. Doyle spoke,” Blackstone growled. “And you have been disrespectful, speaking out of turn. You shall learn your lesson this evening, Miss Blanchet.”
Lina looked up. Blackstone had retreated into the shadows without her realizing it.
She sniffled. “Mr. Blackstone, sir,” she said quietly, and had to wipe her nose hastily before he turned around. “I apologize for my impertinence—”
There was a crack in the air, which silenced Lina. She recognized the sound, though she could not place it.
