At least she wasn’t coughing up a lung.Yet.Just the sick feeling in her gut was enough to put Aurora on edge.
She felt Elmore perch beside her, his shoes tapping against the wooden floor. His foot nudged hers, an attempt to catch her attention.
"Aurora, should I get you a drink? You look pale."
Shefeltpale. Aurora hadn't even realized that was possible until now; but she was cold despite the lingering heat of the ballroom, and faint. It was a good thing that she had chosen to sit, otherwise Aurora feared her legs would have collapsed beneath her.
A gentle hand fell on her shoulder. Elmore's hand. She was fully aware of the risks of being caught together, especially now that they were alone. Yet it was likely quite obvious that she was in distress, and nobody would begrudge a man assisting his colleague.
It was almost embarrassing, how the reason for Aurora's lack of concern was because nobody couldpossiblyimagine Lord Elmore being with a woman like her.
"Aurora?"
Oh, right. She still hadn't replied. Aurora managed a shrug; but whatever she might have said was cut off by a cough that shook her lungs, and Aurora doubled over to try and contain it.
Elmore immediately lurched forward to press the handkerchief to her mouth, his face twisted in concern.
It must have been frightening for him, Aurora thought between coughs. He had never seen an outburst like this before; the kind of earth-shaking coughs that left Aurora weak and aching.
Eventually though, it calmed enough for her to reassure him. Just a bit.
"I'm all right," she said, shooing away his concerned and hovering hands. "Please, don't crowd me."
"Oh." An embarrassed flush overtook Elmore's features as he shuffled back.
The staircase was huge and sprawling, taking up more than half of the entrance hall. There was more than enough room for Elmore to sit halfway across the stairs and still have several feet between them. He wasn't even near the edge.
It gave her some space to stretch out, silently cursing her uncomfortable dress and the tight wooden bust of her corset. It made breathing difficult enough without a cough to contend with, even without a cough that stole her breath.
A cough that she still felt lingering, despite her best efforts to keep it at bay. What she would have given for a sip of bergamot tea right now, or even soothing chamomile. Both helped, and both were totally out of reach.
Only once her cough had truly calmed, did Elmore speak. "Are you sure that you're all right? I saw you storming off, but it took a while to catch up with you."
It brought a reluctant smile to Aurora's lips, if only because she knew how Elmore was. Now that they had a tentative friendship, it was surprising how much he was willing to do for her. And while Aurora would have denied it once, she appreciated his kindness.
It wasn't out of a feeling that Aurora was less, as she had once suspected; Elmore did what he did out of care.
Which was why she asked him to fetch her some cold juice, or any non-alcoholic drink, and didn't complain when he returned with a tray of three different options.
She tried not to laugh as he set the tray in the space between them. "I didn't know what to get," he confessed, "so there's orange juice, lemonade, and fruit punch."
She nudged his shoulder playfully, a smile playing at her lips. It was sweet, but entirely unnecessary.
"Thank you," she replied, and picked up the punch. It was sweetest, and the less likely to sting her raw throat. Even talking hurt, but she was used to that.
Elmore selected the lemonade, leaving the orange juice should she need it. After a tentative sip, he said, "are you going to tell me what happened? I'd like to help."
It was sweet but...she didn't think hecouldhelp. Aurora had thoroughly ruined everything by running off, and Lord Foley didn't strike her as a forgiving man. If she had any chance of convincing him to fund their project, it had vanished the second she left him in the ballroom.
Yet, the alternative was even more awful. He had expected her to marry him, for what? The privilege of his money?What a horrid, despicable man—
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Elmore added, bringing Aurora back from her thoughts. "I know that we've only just started getting along, so I don't expect you to trust me if something is wrong."
That hurt, a sting echoing through Aurora's chest. The strange thing was, she trusted him far more than expected. Shewantedto tell him, it was only that the thought of admitting what had happened aloud made her want to be sick.
So instead of telling the truth, she came up with a quick lie. "I think that I might be unwell," she said, "I came over dizzy all of a sudden and had to leave."
Elmore frowned as he brushed a hand across her forehead.