“No, no, nothing like that. You said you were here to discuss something?” Her change of subject was transparent as could be, but it had the desired effect. Dr. Pinkton gave her one final look of suspicion before returning to the initial purpose of his visit.
“Yes, well, we have work to-”
“We have been found out.” Just like that, it slipped from her.
Whatever words the doctor had been about to express, they died in his throat. His eyes widened as he stared at her, searching her face for some hint of a joke.
“How?” he finally asked.
“A gentleman saw me on the way out of Lord Wallingford’s home. He told Sebastian and…well, I believe it is safe to say that my time is up.”
Doctor Pinkton looked as though he had been absolutely run over by the news. “But you…you have far too much talent to throw away. Is there nothing that can be done? Perhaps I could speak to-”
“No!” she said, far too loudly. She cleared her throat. “I apologize.No, I do not believe that they would take it well if you spoke to them. My brother is quite traditional, and my husband…”
How could she ever explain the new, unforgiving dynamic that she shared with the man who had conned her? “My husband has no long-term interest in my happiness.”
The doctor offered a sympathetic look. “Are you so certain of that?”
“Quite certain, unfortunately.”
“I see,” he said. He did not ask for further details. “Is there no hope of lying low for a time and then returning in secrecy?”
The idea was enticing, in a way. After all, now that all was out in the open, surely she and Sebastian would begin to live quite separate lives from one another. Depending on how much anger he harbored toward her for her lies, it might be a simple thing to pull the wool over his eyes once more.
But where would that get her? Someone would see her again, eventually. This whole drama would play out a second time. It would be too agonizing.
“No, I do not believe that would be a good idea,” she said, hardly able to bring herself to say the words. “I think, perhaps, that our time has run its course. It was great fun while it lasted.”
Dr. Pinkton looked down at his hands, his fingers fiddling with each other. “It was, was it not?”
The air of finality between them was thick. Augusta did not know what to say to him now, with the connection of their secret severed. In the end, it was he who made the call to finish their conversation, which they both knew might end up being their last.
“I shall miss your company. I will go before I cause you any further troubles.” He stood, grabbing his hat from a nearby table.
Augusta stood as well. “I shall see you to the door.”
They walked out together in silence. In the foyer, he paused only to give her a nod and a small smile. Then, he turned to go. As she watched him leave, a wellspring of emotion burst within her and she knew that she had to say something.
“Dr. Pinkton?” she called, surprised by the sound of her own voice.
The man turned, an eyebrow raised.
“Thank you,” she said, perhaps more intimately than she had intended. “You are the very best man that I have ever met and…I just thought you ought to know how much I appreciate everything you have done for me.”
He gave her nothing in response but another nod. Then, he took his leave.
The front doors shut, leaving her alone in the foyer. At least, she believed herself to be alone. When she turned, however, she found her husband standing at the stairs, his nostrils flaring.
“You had a gentleman caller and did not ask for my attendance?”
Not this. Augusta could not stomach righteous indignation from the likes of him right now. With a roll of her eyes, she brushed past him and started up the stairs toward her room.
Sebastian remained hot on her heels.
“You will not come out of your room for my request, but you will for this Pinkton fellow?”
He was incorrigible. The man had ruined her before she’d even known what was occurring, and now he had the gall to demand answers of how she spent her time.
