“Well, yes,” I said.
“Punished by whom?” he said.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged.
“If you think God,” he said, “you’ll wish to know that I spoke to three different clergymen about this and they all said it was impossible and that I was out of my head and should be taken to an institution.”
“Well, it must likely be God,” I said, “but maybe he is using—
“If you think witchcraft,” he said, “you should know that I sought out no less than five women who live in the nearby woods and villages and who dry herbs and keep black cats and the like? And they all thought I was out of my head and quite mad andshould be taken to an institution. None of them had any magical ability whatsoever.”
I nodded. “Perhaps you should tell me all the things you have done to try to fix it, sir.”
He shifted on his feet. “All right, well. I tried to outrun it. I tried to talk to people who would have some idea how to help me. I tried shooting myself—”
“You didnot.” I was horrified.
“It was a very bad day,” he said quietly. “I was rather drunk when I did it, in fact. I woke up, and it was Thursday again, and I… regretted it. I don’t think I shall try that again.”
“Definitely not,” I said.
“I tried staying awake,” he said. “Because it seems to happen after one goes to sleep—”
“Yes, all right, I had thought of that,” I said. “So, that didn’t work?”
“Well, I only managed it until about four in the morning, truthfully,” he said. “I ran out of tea, and all the servants were asleep. And thenIfell asleep, and then—Thursday.”
“Yes, well, if we could get more tea,” I said.
“I think… even if we get more tea, eventually, we’ll have to sleep.”
“Yes, but think of it,” I said. “If we could make it until Friday morning, we could at least see it!”
He nodded carefully. “No, that’s true.”
“And maybe that is all that it would take. If we make it to the dawn of Friday, maybe that’s all we need.”
“Well, we could try it, I suppose.”
“I think we cannot, however, rely on servants. Brewing tea cannot be that difficult. One only needs boiling water, after all. We can brew the tea ourselves.”
“Yes, but for us to do that, you and I shall need to be alone somewhere, all night, drinking tea,” he said. “No one is going to allow us to do that.”
“We could go somewhere,” I said. “An inn. We can check in, bring the tea, and stay up until the morning light.”
“You and I in a room in an inn together,” he said, looking me over.
“We shall say we’re married,” I said.
He rubbed a hand over the back of his head. “There, you see, this is what I mean, however. It veers into these improper areas rather quickly.”
“What?” I blinked at him. “How is that improper? If we’re married, we can share a room. We should, perhaps, not wear very fancy clothes, like yours, of course, because someone of your means would likely get two rooms, one for himself and one for his—”
“Miss Bennet, do you know what people do in closed rooms with beds in them when they are married?”
I flushed, because… well, I sort of knew. I had an idea, anyway, but obviously I’d never done it, had I? “Obviously, I know,” I said in a very tight voice.
“Obviously,” he agreed, and his voice was tight, too. “So, then, there you are.”
