Page 86
Once, halfway through recounting an entirely unnecessary story involving Cora, a goose and the village pond, she stopped altogether.
Arthur waited.
"So..." she murmured after several moments, blinking slowly. "Where was I?"
"The goose," he said.
"Oh... yes." A sleepy smile found her lips.
She managed another sentence before another silence claimed her. The candlelight flickered gently across her face as her lashes lowered.
"You are tired," he observed quietly.
She gave the smallest shake of her head.
"No," she argued.
"No?" he questioned.
"I am..." She frowned faintly, as though searching for the appropriate word. "Perfectly..."
Another pause.
"...awake."
Arthur's mouth twitched.
"I see," he muttered.
"I was simply thinking." She nodded with complete conviction.
"Were you?" he asked.
"Mmm," she hummed.
"What profound conclusion did you reach?" Arthur asked.
She considered the question with extraordinary seriousness.
"I've forgotten." The answer escaped her so earnestly that Arthur laughed. Not the restrained exhalation he usually permitted himself. A genuine laugh.
The sound surprised him almost as much as it seemed to surprise her.
Her own smile widened in quiet triumph.
"There it is…I knew it would be beautiful," she whispered drowsily.
He looked at her.
She had spoken as though coaxing laughter from him had been some private objective she had quietly set herself.
He watched her trace one final absent-minded circle upon the quilt with her fingertip. The movement slowed, then stopped altogether; her hand slipped into her lap, and her head rested heavily against the carved oak bedpost behind her.
Arthur recognised sleep when he saw it. He used to be jealous when colleagues found it before battle. Eliza had surrendered to it so gradually that she had almost certainly not realised it had come.
He should wake her. She would undoubtedly complain tomorrow of a stiff neck after spending the night propped against solid oak. He should escort her back to her own chambers.
He should ring for Miss Hatch. Instead, he watched as her chin dipped towards her chest, the weight of sleep overcoming whatever determination had kept her upright. Arthur rose carefully from where he sat.
