“Naturally. You know you can talk to me any time.” He examined her closely. “Are you unwell? You were not at our training session this morning. I was worried you were ill.”
Tugging at her sleeves, she took a deep breath. “I have something to tell you.”
His expression turned serious. He looked worried about her, which made her feel even worse. “It is not about me. It is about you. Yesterday, we were invited to Carlton House to speak to the Prince Regent. The short of it is, he is planning to send you back to France.”
He started to say something, but she interrupted. If she didn’t confess quickly, she might chicken out of it.
Elizabeth felt the sharp dagger twisting inside her. “I am very sorry, Riquer, but it was partly my fault. It was not my intention, believe me. Let me explain.”
The tension inside her threatened to bring up the contents of her stomach. She had never knowingly hurt anyone. If something happened to Riquer, she would never, ever forgive herself.
She told the whole sorry story. As soon as she finished, to her horror, hot tears began to pour down her face. She tried to hide it by covering her face with her hands, but Riquer had already seen her.
He handed her a handkerchief. She took it and wiped her nose with it.
“You must not cry. I am touched by your concern, truly, but I would not have thought you such aninny, Mrs. Darcy,” he said. “You see, I have been learning useful English words.”
She looked up in surprise. He was doing his best to cheer her up. When she came to talk to him, she had imagined it would be the other way round.
“It is a useful word, but I amnota ninny,” she replied, grateful that he had not called her worse.
“I have no idea why you think you were responsible for this. I have suspected for some time that the Prince Regent’s interest in mirror magic involved using me as a spy in France,” he said. “I knew the Prince Regent had a reason for taking interest in our practice Mirror magic. So it is no surprise.”
“Why did you not say anything?”
He shrugged in his usual exaggerated way. “Perhaps because I did not want it to be true. Who knows.”
She felt intensely relieved. Darcy had said something similar. She had only put the final nail into the coffin. It did not make the situation any better, but at least it was not her fault.
“Besides,” he said. “Matlock already gave me my – what do you call them? – marching orders.”
“So, you already knew.”
“I knew, Mrs. Darcy. So stop taking on responsibility for everything that happens, and let us concentrate on the important things.”
Elizabeth could not imagine what could be more important than Riquer risking his life, but he was right. It was done. No need to dwell on it further.
“And what are the important things?”
“We intensify our practice sessions. If I am caught by the Imperial mages, I do not want my death to be for nothing, just because we failed to communicate properly.” He chuckled. “It is much more useful to me for you to improve your Mirror magic than for you to feel guilty. Trust me.”
His grin made her smile. Her nature was more inclined to merriment, and it was not long before she had set aside her uneasiness and returned to the task at hand.
Later, when she left after an exhausting training session, Elizabeth saw Darcy push himself away from the wall where he had been waiting for her and stride towards her.
Now that she no longer felt burdened by what happened, and she could set aside her resentment, she could admire her husband once again. She marveled at his tall, elegant figure, his graceful flowing movements, the sense of purpose in his walk and the broad stretch of his shoulders.
“Elizabeth, may I talk to you?" He was looking very grave.
"Of course.” Had he come to apologize, she wondered?
She slid her hand under his arm, wanting to enjoy his proximity, but he stiffened, discouraging her. He clearly had something unpleasant to discuss. She hoped he did not want to resume their argument about Riquer. She was feeling much more at peace now, and did not want to dredge everything up again.
He pulled her into a small training room and shut the door.
"What is it?" she said. “Is this about yesterday?”
He gave a quick nod. "I have something to tell you that has been worrying me for some time. You were upset yesterday, so I did not want to bring it up at the time. You will not like it, but we promised to be open about things, and I want to keep my promise.” He weighed his words carefully.
