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“And so we have reached a stalemate.” Mr. Wellington’s voice fell softer. “Perhaps neither of us is as the other supposes.”
Fanny stared ahead at the place he stood in the darkness, shocked by his words. That Mr. Wellington would comprehend the growing problem between themandacknowledge it was altogether confusing.
“I suggest we change that,” Fanny said. “But first let us escape this room. It is so very dark…”
She reached forward and her hand landed against his face again. “Sorry!”
He released an exasperated sigh.
She lowered her hand and aimed for his arm, but her hand ended up against his chest. Face burning in the dark, she lifted it as quickly as she could, moving her hand to the right. Before she could attempt to find his arm again, Percy grasped her hand, guiding it toward the bend of his elbow.
She wrapped her fingers around his arm, lips pressed together in embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” Fanny mumbled again.
“I am aware.”
She took a step forward and her foot caught on something on the ground. With a small shriek, she stumbled forward, nearly pulling Percy down with her.
He gripped Fanny’s arm with both his hands to steady her. “Thank the heavens you are not blind,” he mumbled. “Allow me to lead the way.”
Fanny was flustered, taking a deep breath and blowing her hair from her forehead. Here in the pitch-blackness of this room, she was at the same disadvantage as Percy. Except he had much more experience. “And how do you plan to do that?”
“You may take this as your first attempt to understand me. If that is what we intend to do—understand one another—then you must experience a moment through my perspective. I am unable to rely on sight.” Percy’s voice was close to her ear, richer than a whisper but softer than normal.
“I do not like it,” Fanny said bluntly.
“Nor do I.” There was a broken sound in his voice that made Fanny pause. She had never seen his gruff facade falter. After a moment, he cleared his throat. “So you cannot see a single thing?”
“I cannot.”
“Tell me what you feel, what you hear,” he said in a quiet voice.
Fanny shifted on her feet, uncomfortable standing for so long in a dark room and so close to a man with him speaking so quietly in her ear. Her heart pounded. He was her husband, she reminded herself. All was proper. She swallowed and tried to answer his question.
She strained her ears. “I hear…a creaking sound coming from the floor below us. The sound a house makes when it is very old. I hear you breathing.” She paused to listen to the sound, a slow inhale and exhale. Fanny squeezed her eyes shut and searched for more. “I hear my heart pounding. I hear myself breathing. I hear my voice.”
“Do you find that these sounds are louder, more noticeable than usual?”
“Yes,” she answered.
Mr. Wellington seemed to lean closer as he spoke. “You will notice that you will become more aware of everything when you cannot experience it through a lens. You learn to listen and to feel. What do you feel?”
Fanny closed her eyes, even though she couldn’t see either way. She breathed deeply and focused on every part of her, every feeling. “My toes are tight in my boots. They are much too small. And I feel…your arm. Is that all?”
“Tell me more,” he prompted.
Fanny scowled. “Your arm is very…strong. Very warm…very—”
“Not about my arm,” he said. Fanny thought she heard a smile in his voice. “Tell me more of the things you feel.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip and tried to concentrate, but she was finding that it was becoming more and more difficult with every passing moment. Mr. Wellington was much too close to her, and she was unsettled by it. “My fingers are cold on my left hand, but warm on my right. My head aches. I didn’t sleep well. There is something round and small under my boot that is different from the flatness of the floor. I feel my hands…perspiring.” Fanny clamped her mouth shut before she could say anything else embarrassing. Mr. Wellington found too much pleasure in mocking her.
“Your hands are perspiring?”
“I’m nervous!” she said in a defensive voice.
“That is wonderful,” he muttered.
“Not to worry. Your sleeve is proving to be quite absorbent.”
