Laszlo, Sara and John were at the Institute moments after the ambulance had taken Marcus away, the carriage moving off and Lucius going with his brother. Marcus had begun to pale considerably as they waited for help, both Lucius and Elizabeth trying to get him to stay awake and with them, taking it in turns to press down on the wound to stem the bleeding. Elizabeth had pecked him on the cheek before he was placed into the ambulance and his eyes had opened, looking to her as she told him that he would be fine and he better be awake when she went to visit him.
Watching the carriage leave, she stood in the yard of the Institute, hoping that the children weren't disturbed by what had happened. The night nurse, Elaine, had been on duty and had tried to calm them down, keeping them in their dormitories and away from the unfolding scene. Looking down at her hands, Elizabeth saw that they were still covered in blood and shaking, her hair clinging to her cheeks, sweat dripping down her forehead.
And then she had seen another carriage pull up, John the first one to jump out of it and Sara following him, Laszlo climbing out of the other side.
"What's happened?" Sara was the one to ask.
"Libby came here," Elizabeth said to them. "She took Clara…I'm so sorry…I…I found Lucius unconscious and Marcus…he'd been shot. I called for help and he's going to the hospital now, but he was bleeding…and he…I don't know if we were too late…"
"Come here," Laszlo urged from his wife, but she shook her head.
"I'm covered in blood," she told him and Laszlo saw that much was true. Her hands, along with her blouse, were stained red. But he didn't care. He moved towards her anyway, her arms lowering as he wrapped his own around her, embracing her tightly without a care that she would dirty his coat.
"I don't care," Laszlo muttered against her hair, kissing the side of her head once and Sara looked over the pair of them, wondering just what was going to happen when they found Libby, or if they even could find Libby. Laszlo could smell wine on Elizabeth's breath as she tried to control her breathing and he pulled back, brushing her hair from her face and as she nodded once, promising him that she was fine. She steadied her breathing before looking to Sara.
"I don't know where she will have gone," she said to the woman. "But I'm sorry…I'm sorry that I didn't stop her."
Laszlo shook his head, not wanting his wife to blame herself for Libby getting away. It was bound to have happened considering Libby had Goo Goo Knox with her.
"I should apologise," Sara responded. "I lied to Libby. I told her that she could see her child in order to get her to give up the Vanderbilt baby. It worked, but I had no intention of bringing Clara to her…but I had already told her that Clara was here when she had John at knifepoint. She knew to come here."
"But how did she escape?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Goo Goo Knox," Laszlo explained. "He came to the police station and found her. He broke her out with the help of his gang. They overpowered the officers there. Sara and I locked ourselves in a cell until they had left. John was out finding the Vanderbilt child."
"And I came back to find chaos," John spoke. "So what do we do now?"
"We find Libby," Sara said decisively. "I had the memory boxes returned to 808 today. There might be something there that we can use…that might give us a clue as to where she has taken Clara."
"Do you think so? Because I thought that we had trawled those boxes and found everything."
"There could still be something," Sara said. "And, as much as we are concerned for Marcus, we cannot do anything for him. We can only wait for news as to his situation, but I don't know what Libby might do to Clara in the meantime."
"Then we go to 808," John concluded. That seemed to be the logical answer.
"Lucy and Charlotte…I feel it would be best if we brought them too," Laszlo said, not wanting to leave them alone for any longer. He looked to Sara and she nodded her agreement with him on that point.
"I have a spare blouse at the office, Elizabeth," Sara said. "You can change and Charlotte can take the couch and rest."
"Thank you," Elizabeth said, knowing that Laszlo would want to be involved in the case, but she didn't particularly feel like being on her own at the Institute or elsewhere.
They moved back into the building and up to Laszlo's office. He spoke with Elaine, telling her to let Karen know what had happened and checking that she would be fine on her own or if she needed extra support. Elizabeth helped Charlotte put her arms into he coat Marcus had given her, bending down and looking her in the eye. She assured her that everything was going to be fine and that they weren't in any danger, but she didn't know if she believed her.
Sara held onto Lucy, soothing the young baby as she sat contently in her arms. It took a few moments before they were ready to go, Charlotte prepared and Laszlo content that everything was fine at the Institute with Elaine in charge. Elizabeth walked with Charlotte, holding onto her hand and telling her to take her steps carefully, seeing that she was even more unsteady than usual.
"Come here," Elizabeth said to her and she reached out, trying to pick her up. But she was heavier than Elizabeth had anticipated. She had grown considerably and she was no longer a little girl.
Seeing her struggle, John stepped forwards instead.
"I think I can just about manage to give you a piggyback," he said and Elizabeth mouthed a thank you to him as Sara helped Laszlo carry the pram down the staircase, knowing that he was struggling slightly on his own with his daughter in the bed.
Charlotte wrapped her arms around John's neck and her legs around his waist as he carried her through the Institute and down towards the yard where Stevie was waiting. Laszlo just about managed to get the pram to the bottom of the steps, realising that he would have to come back for it later considering the lack of room in the carriage. He picked Lucy up in his arms as Sara walked by Elizabeth's side, the two women holding onto each other's arms as they saw Stevie finishing off what looked like a slice of cake.
Climbing into the carriage was quite the squeeze, but no one complained As Laszlo asked for Stevie to take them to 808. Elizabeth sat down besides Laszlo, Lucy in his lap and Charlotte to her other side after John helped her. Elizabeth wrapped an arm around Charlotte's shoulders, holding onto her tightly as Sara sat with John on the bench across from them.
The atmosphere was sombre on the journey over to 808, everyone thinking about what might happen to Marcus.
…
Charlotte had tried to stay awake as the dawn broke and they did everything they could to try and think of where Libby could have been. Elizabeth had spent a considerable amount of time in the bathroom, wiping the blood from her fingers and changing out of her blouse. As she undid the buttons to her blouse, she looked in the mirror and saw that her face was red and blotchy. She left the blouse loose and ran the cold water tap, cupping her hands underneath it and then splashing her face with the cold water, hoping that it might wake her up.
Rays of sunlight were streaming in through the frosted window in the bathroom, hitting the mirror and shining light around the room. Straightening up again, Elizabeth looked at her reflection as water dropped down her face and the door opened behind her. She saw Laszlo slip into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
"Charlotte is talking with Milly and Bitsy," Laszlo said to his wife. "Sara asked them to come into work early and bring everything from the police investigation that Lucius had. Lucy is with John and he's entertaining her."
"He'll make a good father one day," Elizabeth said and Laszlo nodded, agreeing with that as Elizabeth shrugged out of her blouse and stood there in her corset, her skirt sitting on her hips.
"That he will," Laszlo concurred. "And Sara thinks that she has remembered something."
"What's that?"
"Libby mentioned about her ambition to become a ballet dancer. Her mother also said the same thing…she wonders if Libby has gone back to her childhood home. It is the place where all of this began and where she grew up and started with such aspirations. It might make sense for her to return there."
"Are you going to find her?"
"We're, ironically, relying on Byrnes," Laszlo said and shook his head, never thinking that he would say such a sentence in his lifetime. He watched as Elizabeth reached for the shirt Sara had given her that was resting over one of the towel racks. She pulled it onto her body as Laszlo continued talking. "He has the manpower that we need in order to see this through to the end if she is indeed there with Goo Goo Knox."
"Alright," Elizabeth said. "And I trust you want to go?"
"I need to finish this," Laszlo said with a nod.
"It's funny," Elizabeth said, although she knew that it wasn't funny. None of this was particularly entertaining in the slightest. "I thought that this was finished several hours ago. We were in the boardroom…me and Marcus…just talking…laughing…and now he's…well…" she trailed off and Laszlo noted her hands shake, seeing that she was buttoning up the shirt wrong, placing buttons into the wrong holes.
"Elizabeth, darling," he said and stepped towards her, taking hold of her wrists and seeing that she was crying again. She stopped trying to button up the shirt and moved to wrap her arms around Laszlo's waist, her cheek pressed by the collar of his shirt on his neck. He kissed her on the top of her head, the motion tender and soft. "It's alright," he promised her in a gentle whisper, trying to keep his voice calm to soothe her. He knew that was what she needed at that moment in time.
"He…he asked me if he thought that we would ever have had a chance…if I would have gone for dinner with him if I wasn't so hopelessly in love with you," Elizabeth mumbled against his neck, feeling his hand running up and down her back. "He told me that he was worried he didn't want that, though…a life like we had…but he was…he was scared Lucius did. That Lucius would marry Bitsy and they wouldn't be as close. I told him to go and talk to him."
"That was good advice," Laszlo could only offer her, knowing that she was just talking to try and clear her mind and make sense of this situation.
"And now he's laid there…life…it feels so fleeting, Laszlo," she said and she looked up at him once more, her eyes scanning his face and he nodded. He knew that all too well. He understood how life could be so fleeting and he despised it in a sense. He despised how things could be taken away so quickly.
"I know," he agreed with her on that point. "He is in the best place now, Elizabeth. I know how much he means to you. I know that you care deeply for him."
At times, Laszlo had confessed finding himself jealous of their friendship, but he often reminded himself that he had no reason to be. He suspected part of that feeling was down to the fact that Marcus had expressed an interest in Elizabeth right at the start of their relationship. But she had rebutted him instantly. And Elizabeth knew how hypocritical it was whenever she felt herself become jealous of Laszlo working with another female. But she didn't voice that at that moment in time.
She nodded her head against him and he felt her let out a deep breath, almost as though she was trying to regain her composure and stop herself from shaking. She managed to do just that, sniffing loudly and then straightening up in Laszlo's grip as he moved his hand to brush the tears from her cheeks.
"Everything will be fine," he promised her and she nodded.
It had to be. They had to make it be better than fine anyway.
"You should go back out there," she said to him.
"I can stay as long as you need me."
"I'm fine," she told him. "Besides, it is Lucius I feel for."
"Indeed," Laszlo agreed with her on that point.
"I should go and take the girls somewhere else," Elizabeth said, sniffing loudly once more and looking down, undoing the buttons of the blouse and redoing them as Laszlo watched her, seeing the bare pale skin of her chest heaving up and down. She soon covered herself up, tucking her shirt into the waistband of the skirt. "Charlotte needs rest and Lucy needs bathing…changing…they need some normality in their life. It's been anything but that for the past few weeks."
"They will have that very soon," Laszlo assured his wife. "Where do you wish to take them?"
"Back home, but I know you will not be keen on the idea."
"Not while the kitchen window is broken. I can have it fixed as soon as possible," he told her. "If you return to the hotel then they know my name. Hopefully a room is free and you can go there…just wait for me until I get back."
"I can do that," Elizabeth promised him and she pecked him on the cheek before he lowered his forehead, brushing it against hers.
"It'll all be over soon," he promised her in a deep voice.
…
"When did you meet Laszlo?"
The question took Elizabeth off guard as she sat with Charlotte on the floor of a hotel room inside the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Lucy was in a crib, sleeping soundly after Elizabeth had bathed her and changed her, picking up clothes from the house for them all to change into before going to the hotel.
And then Elizabeth found herself talking with Charlotte, the little girl not feeling sleepy and too filled with adrenaline. And so Elizabeth had sat with her on the floor, legs crossed beneath her and a chess board in the middle of them that had been on the dining table. Elizabeth had been teaching Charlotte how to play chess, but she was nowhere near as good as Laszlo was.
"When did I meet Laszlo?" Elizabeth echoed the question back to Charlotte.
"You've never told me how you met him," Charlotte commented, looking over the board and trying to work out the best move for her to make.
Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders, tugging her hair over her shoulders. "It isn't exactly a typical love story, Charlotte," she said to her, not entirely certain on what she should tell her. She was still a young girl. She was still so little and Elizabeth had subjected her to too many things that she should not have to witness.
"I know that," Charlotte said. "You told me that your husband was a bad man…not particularly nice."
"That's an understatement," Elizabeth said without being able to hold her tongue.
Charlotte bit down on the inside of her cheek and peered up at Elizabeth through her lashes, doing her best to say what it was she wanted to say. But she didn't want to upset Elizabeth. She had seen her upset too many times before and she didn't like it when she cried.
"Did he hit you?" Charlotte asked the question, not beating around the bush.
Elizabeth met her eye, the two of them looking at each other and holding gazes. Elizabeth moved a hand to her hair and played with it behind her ear before nodding her head. Her brows rose on her forehead.
"Yes," she said to Charlotte. "He hit me."
"My father hit my mother…" Charlotte suddenly admitted and Elizabeth remained mute, her heart rate quickening and blood pumping into her ears. Charlotte had never spoken about her parents. She never told anyone anything about them and Elizabeth had accepted that she might never know how Charlotte came to be at the Institute.
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said to her.
"He tried to hit me," Charlotte confessed once more and Elizabeth's breath hitched. How could anyone harm a young child? How could a father want to hurt a daughter? And then she remembered her own father and how he had treated her just over a year ago. "Mother used to try and stop him."
Elizabeth remained silent as Charlotte moved a piece on the board and Elizabeth wondered if she was truly focused on the game, or if it was simply a distraction as she spoke.
"He would gamble and drink," Charlotte continued and she recognised her own father's behaviour in that. "He…he owed some people a lot of money and I…one night we were sleeping…mother came into my room and told me to hide under the bed. I did as she said. I stayed there and she told me not to make a sound. She said that I had to be quiet."
Elizabeth didn't bother taking her turn, watching as Charlotte picked up her queen and looked over the white piece, running her fingers along it and staring at it as she spoke.
"I could hear her screaming…men talking…their voices so loud and clear…"
"Charlotte," she whispered her name, unable to find the words she wanted to say, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes at the heart breaking story.
"I stayed there when the policeman found me and I stayed quiet," she continued. "I didn't talk…I didn't want to talk…because I was scared that if I did then the men would come back. The men would come back and they would take me away. They would hurt me. And mother said I had to keep quiet. She told me I had to…and until you…until you helped me…made me believe I could be safe…I was scared to talk."
"Sweetheart," Elizabeth sighed.
"But then tonight," Charlotte said and she took a gulp, shaking her head. "I heard the voice, Elizabeth," she looked up at her. "When you were with Marcus…they ran past the door and it was his voice. It was the same voice…the same man who was in my house."
Elizabeth could hardly believe what she was hearing. Goo Goo Knox. It had been Goo Goo Knox with Libby that evening. He had been the one who had killed Charlotte's parents. After a few more moments of silence between the two of them, Charlotte looked up and placed the chess piece down onto the board. She let her eyes widen as she nodded her head.
"I know it was him. I can't forget it."
"I'm sorry, Charlotte. I'm sorry that you had to be there…hear him…relive that…"
"It's not your fault," Charlotte said and Elizabeth wondered just how this child was so grown up with her emotions. In a sense, Elizabeth felt that she was wise beyond her years. She had grown up too fast in some respects. "And I'm glad I heard him because now I know. I know who it was and that Laszlo will find him. He'll find him and go to jail."
Elizabeth nodded. She didn't know if that was going to happen, but she wanted it to. She wanted it to happen for the girl sat opposite her. She wanted it to happen for all of the loved ones who Goo Goo Knox had caused harm to. Moving to sit next to Charlotte, Elizabeth stretched her legs in front of her, her back leaning against the bed as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her closely against her.
"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked from her and Charlotte nodded.
"I think so," she said. "But I miss my mother…and sometimes I don't know if I can talk about her."
"Why's that?" Elizabeth questioned, thumb running along her shoulder.
"I don't want to upset you because I know you adopted me," Charlotte said and Elizabeth swore she felt her heart ache at that. How long had Charlotte felt this way? How long had she wanted to tell her all of this? "And all of the girls at the Institute said that if my aunt didn't come for me then I'd go to an orphanage and be adopted…used to tell me that I'd find new parents who might not love me because I wouldn't talk…and I always thought that when you were adopted then you couldn't talk about your parents."
"Oh, darling, no," Elizabeth shook her head sadly. "You can talk about them. I don't want you ever to feel like you can't. Your mother…she will always be your mother and I will never replace her. I will never take her place and I don't want to try to. I just…I just want you to know that I love you as much as I love Lucy. We both do. We see you as our daughter, but we don't want to take your parents place."
"I know," Charlotte said. "But tonight…it all just came back…all the memories…"
"I know," Elizabeth said and her grip on her shoulders increased as Charlotte laid her head on Elizabeth's shoulder and closed her eyes.
"I love you as much as I love my mother," Charlotte declared and Elizabeth smiled, brushing Charlotte's hair from her face and kissing the top of her head.
"And I love you too."
…
Laszlo pitied Libby to an extent. All she had wanted was a child. She wanted love and acceptance. She thought that she could have that when she had taken her daughter, but it had not worked out like that. Clara had been scared of her mother. But Clara was just a child. She was a child who had never known a happy family. And it all stemmed from Libby's mother. Libby's mother had never wanted her. She had never desired her and as soon as her husband had died, it had been her chance to have her old life back, a life where she only had herself to please.
As Laszlo laid in bed after returning to the hotel and telling Elizabeth and Charlotte what had happened, he couldn't help but wonder if, perhaps, Elizabeth identified with Libby slightly. Her own mother had never truly been there for her, not for a long time. She had made that clear when she had forced her to marry Jacob. But then Elizabeth was completely different. She was loving towards Charlotte and Lucy, but did she long for their devotion and acceptance?
She had it, of course. But what if she had gone down a path similar to Libby's? Laszlo didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to dwell on it. He had changed into his checked pyjamas, grateful that his wife had packed them.
He had changed while Elizabeth had tucked Charlotte into her own bed in the room next door before returning. She was relieved that Libby had been caught. She was relieved for that, but after what Laszlo had told her, she felt sorry for her. She was a product of a traumatic childhood.
"Charlotte told me something tonight," Elizabeth said once she had returned to the bedroom and closed the door. She checked that Lucy was sleeping soundly before climbing into bed next to Laszlo, slipping underneath the quilt. "She told me how her parents were killed."
"I'm sorry?" Laszlo asked, clearly unable to believe what he was hearing.
Elizabeth nodded, curling her legs to one side and sitting up, Laszlo turning his upper body towards her and giving her his undivided attention, his gaze wide and stare intense.
"Her father appeared to have gotten in debt. Men came to the house…they took things…killed her mother and father, but before they came, her mother told her to hide under the bed. She told her to hide there and not to make a noise," Elizabeth said. "That was why she didn't speak. She was scared that if she did then the men would come back and hurt her."
"That poor girl," Laszlo whispered, a hand running down his cheek as he spoke.
"I know," she said. "But then tonight she said that she heard the voice that was in her house that night…it was Goo Goo Knox, Laszlo. She heard his voice and she knew he was the one who killed her parents."
"My God," Laszlo whispered, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
"She's been through so much, Laszlo…too much," Elizabeth reiterated, unable to stop herself from welling up again, remembering the way Charlotte had hugged her and she hadn't wanted to let her go. She never wanted to let the little girl go again. "And she told me that she didn't feel that she could talk about her parents to us because she didn't want to upset me. She thought that when someone was adopted it would upset their new parents."
"What did you tell her?" Laszlo wondered from his wife.
"I told her that wasn't true. I told her that we loved her as our own daughter, but we never wanted to replace her own parents. We just want her to be happy and know that we love her."
"You told her the right thing," Laszlo said, seeing that his wife was growing emotional. He reached his hand out and brushed her hair behind her ear, letting his fingers tangle into her locks, his forefinger seeking out the stray curl down her back. "You told her exactly what she needed to hear and, more importantly, you told her the truth."
"I know," Elizabeth said. "And I just want her to be happy. I want all of us to be happy."
"And that is all I want too," Laszlo said and he looked his wife in the eye, moving down so that he could kiss her, his lips lingering on hers for a few seconds before he pulled back and let his forehead press to hers. "And we will have it, Elizabeth. I promise you."
…
Running down the corridor of the hospital, Elizabeth didn't care that she looked a state. She glanced at the signs that directed her towards the correct ward. She moved with her skirts tugged up to her ankles, her breathing hard from running after she had caught a cab to the hospital. She skidded to a halt when she saw Lucius stood outside of the room, hands on his head and tugging at his hair, Bitsy besides him with a hand on his arm, holding it tightly. Looking at the pair of them, Elizabeth closed the gap, her cheeks red and warm as Lucius finally saw her.
"I don't know it happened," he admitted to her, his breathing hard and low. "It seemed impossible…it should have been impossible…"
"But it's not," Bitsy was the one to comment, a smile forming on her lips as Elizabeth moved to embrace him awkwardly, not caring about that in the slightest as he hugged her back.
"What did the doctor say?" Elizabeth asked.
"He said that he would be in here for a few weeks until he recovered. He's lost a lot of blood, but he's lucky that the bullet didn't hit him anywhere vital…if anyone was going to be lucky then I should have known it would have been him."
Elizabeth's lips quirked and she looked at the door to his room. It was firmly closed.
"The doctor is just in with him at the moment," Lucius said. "I called you and Laszlo first and then I called John and Sara."
"I came as soon as Laszlo told me," Elizabeth said.
They had been unpacking their cases from their couple of nights in the hotel after the window in the kitchen had been fixed when the call had come in. Elizabeth had left the house after Laszlo told her that he would look after Lucy and Charlotte for her to go. She hadn't waited for Stevie, running to find a cab on the main street and taking it over to the hospital.
"He's still tired and weak," Lucius said. "But I'm not letting him out of my sight again. I swear that much."
Bitsy smiled at hearing him say that before the door opened and the doctor spoke with Lucius before they were allowed in to see Marcus. Lucius was the one who took a seat next to his brother as Bitsy stood behind him and Elizabeth stood at the foot of the bed, hands in the pockets of her red coat as she watched him and his eyes landed on her. He was wrapped in a grey quilt, his curls messy on the pillow behind him.
"I told you that I'd see you soon," Elizabeth said to him and she saw his lips quirk weakly.
"And you're never wrong," Marcus said to her and she chuckled, wiping her eyes with one hand and nodding her head.
"I'm glad you remember that much," she said to him.
"Remember a heck of a lot more too," Marcus confessed. "Mainly the pain of being shot."
"I doubt that will be something you'll forget," Bitsy said to him. "But it's quite the story you have to tell."
"Do you think it'll impress the ladies?" Marcus questioned and Elizabeth rolled her eyes at hearing him. "Apparently I'm going to have quite the scars."
"Oh, the girls do love a man with scars," Bitsy said to him with a nod and Lucius looked up to her, brow arched on his forehead and glasses falling slightly down his nose.
"Do they?" he asked and she winked at him, indicating that she was teasing him, nothing more and nothing less.
"You'll soon find out," Elizabeth said.
"What happened?" Marcus asked, changing the subject. "With Clara?"
"We got her back," Lucius said. "Clara is safe and Libby is in jail. Goo Goo…well…he didn't make it. I shot him before he could shoot anyone else. I should have shot him in the Institute, Marcus. I should have pulled the trigger and saved you from this…I feared the worst…"
"Hey," Marcus said and he reached his hand out towards his brother, Lucius meeting him halfway and taking hold of it. "I'm fine. Everything is fine."
Lucius nodded, still letting tears fall down his cheek as he struggled to come to terms with everything that was happening. Elizabeth looked to Bitsy and the two exchanged a glance, looking at the two brothers with relief that they still had each other.
…
Laszlo had helped Charlotte with walking while Elizabeth had been out, running errands and picking things up for dinner. She had insisted on cooking them something, the four of them going to spend the evening together and just being a family. Laszlo had to confess that he was looking forward to it. While Elizabeth had been out, he had helped Charlotte work on her physical exercise.
She had walked from one side of the room to the other, placing one foot directly in front of the other and her arms out by her side so that she could balance. She moved slowly and steady, Laszlo hovering behind her to ensure that he caught her if she stumbled. Elizabeth had returned while he had been stood on one side of the room, throwing the small ball to Charlotte and watching her catch it.
He had finished helping Charlotte with her exercises, helping her adjust the bandage around her head from where it had come loose before he had gone to find Elizabeth in the kitchen and told her that he had to go to the Institute and discuss some business with Karen. She had bid him goodbye, kissing him slowly with her arms draped around his waist, her soft and sensual pecks to his lips enough to make him not want to go anywhere. But he had finally escaped her embrace, rather reluctantly, and made his way to the Institute.
He entered his office and found Karen sat there behind his desk, looking over notes. She didn't look up when he entered, keeping her gaze focused on the papers beneath her.
"I have to say, Laszlo, it is rather impressive," she said as he shut the door and went to pour himself a glass of burgundy from the drink's cart. "You lost your license, but the Institute is still thriving. You have taken on several new patients."
"Have I?" Laszlo asked from her.
"You have," she confirmed, writing some notes with her pen before dropping it down onto the paper next to her and sitting back in the chair, her fingers going to rest on her stomach. "And I also have other news. I wanted to wait until you came here in person before telling you."
"And what news is this?" he asked and sat on the other side of his own desk, the role reversal not lost on him. He took a sip of his drink as Karen reached into the top drawer of the desk. She picked out a piece of folded paper and Laszlo placed his glass down, taking it from her as she handed it to him.
"I suppose a congratulations is in order," Karen said to him and he unfolded the paper, seeing the letter and what was written down on it. "It seems that Vanderbilt held up his end of the bargain. Your license has been reinstated, which means I am now technically sat in your chair."
Laszlo chuckled and looked at the letter that confirmed he, had indeed, had his license reinstated. He was now able to practice medicine once again.
"Don't worry, I have no intention of kicking you out of that chair today," Laszlo said to her.
"Well, I'm going to have to kick myself out of it, I'm afraid. I am leaving for Vienna in two week's time."
"So soon," Laszlo said to her.
"Well, it is quite the journey to Europe, as you know, but I am eager to leave and get started. And dare I ask if you have given any more thought as to whether or not you intend to accompany me?"
"If I confess that I have, will you attempt to sway my mind?"
"I would not dare believe that I have the power to sway your mind. I believe that there is only one woman with such a power and there always will be," Karen responded and Laszlo chuckled at that, nodding his head and dropping the letter down onto the desk and reaching for his glass once more, one leg folding over the other as he rested the tumbler on his kneecap in his fingertips.
"I confess, she's had a hold over me for quite some time," Laszlo said. "And, even then, I do not know if she can sway my mind for she is one of the reasons why my mind perhaps cannot comprehend leaving this place…leaving her here…"
"Have you discussed it with her since the conclusion of the case?"
"Not truly," Laszlo confessed. "We both haven't broached the topic, but it has been lingering in my mind. We've spent most of the time simply being a family and doing normal things…trying to help Charlotte recover…she was allowed to leave the house for a walk in the park which she thoroughly enjoyed."
"I'm glad to hear that she is slowly recovering."
"We all are," Laszlo said with a nod of his head, thinking about the young girl who had gone through so much. "And Elizabeth has been visiting Marcus in the hospital once a day, taking him home cooked meals and talking with him while Lucius returns home for some sleep."
"And you?" Karen asked from him. "Do you not miss work?"
"I miss…I do not know," Laszlo admitted. "I quite enjoy simply spending time with Elizabeth, Charlotte and Lucy. I haven't had it in such a long time. We haven't had a normal family life for ages. And I know that I would be leaving that behind if I were to leave for Vienna."
"You would be, but as you have said before and as Elizabeth has also said, it would only be for six months and, in the future, perhaps you might find yourself wanting to move there permanently," Karen shrugged her shoulders. "You would be able to bring your family out there. There are numerous opportunities."
"There are," Laszlo said, taking a sip of his drink. "But there are opportunities here for us too. Relationships, as Elizabeth and I have constantly discovered, are about compromising."
"Quite a healthy ideal," she agreed with him on that point.
"We try our best," Laszlo responded and he finished his drink before nodding his head and moving to his feet. "And perhaps that is why I need to talk with her. We need to resolve this sooner rather than later. May I be so bold as to leave the Institute in your capable care for this day?"
"Of course," Karen said. "Where are you going?"
"To ask a favour."
…
"If you could go anywhere, where would you want to go?"
The question was a random one and Laszlo didn't entirely know how they had gotten onto this conversation. It was early in the morning and Laszlo had woken up, finding Elizabeth sat in the parlour, only a lamp on and illuminating the room. She was curled up on the sofa, a blanket thrown over her body and a book open in her lap. Laszlo had gone downstairs after being unable to sleep, wondering if a glass of bourbon might help, but he had no chance to get that glass. Instead, he had sat down next to Elizabeth, asking her if she was well.
She told him that she was fine, but she couldn't sleep. She had been with Laszlo for over three months and each night he knew she woke up with nightmares. Sometimes she would return to sleep quietly. Other nights she would scream so loudly that she woke up the household, Laszlo being the one to go to her and calm her. And other nights she would sneak downstairs in the middle of the night and curl up on the couch with a book.
Laszlo had sat next to her, his robe covering his pyjamas as he looked to her, seeing the way she had pulled her long, curled hair over one shoulder. And then she had asked him the question.
His brow arched at hearing her. "Why do you ask?" he questioned.
"I had a letter from Sally," Elizabeth said to him. "She told me that she is expecting a child with her husband. She wanted me to know."
"That is wonderful news," Laszlo said and she nodded her head, but he remembered how children had been quite a touchy subject for Elizabeth, particularly since her miscarriage. He would often catch her wistfully looking at children playing in the park, clearly thinking 'what if'. What if her own son had survived? What if he was still alive?
"Yes," she managed to agree with him.
"But that still does not explain why you asked me such a question."
Elizabeth shrugged. "I sometimes think about her…about how she left for a completely different life in England and I wonder what that is like. What is it like to move to a place that you have no ties to? Have never been to before? Do you remember what it was like when you came here?"
"Not entirely," Laszlo said to her with a shake of his head. "I was still very young when my parents moved here and while I grew up here…I confess that I sometimes feel like an outsider still."
"And you've never wanted to leave here?"
"I cannot say that I have," Laszlo said and she nodded her head as his lips arched on his face and he watched her. "Are you thinking of fleeing in the middle of the night for a life in England now?"
She laughed at hearing him say that, shaking her head slowly and looking to him as he kept a respectable distance between the two of them. Despite that, she often wondered if he felt the atmosphere between them. Even when he wasn't touching her, she would still feel this connection, her pulse would race and her hairs stand on edge. She longed to know if the feeling was mutual or if it was simply in her head. But Laszlo had been nothing but courteous since she had moved in with him. He was a gentleman through and through.
"I don't think I would want to," Elizabeth said to him with a shake of her head. "Although…when I used to read…when I was with Jacob…I used to think about how nice it would be to be somewhere else…to see the sights of Paris…or experience the architecture in Rome…but they were just wistful dreams to escape the hell I felt I was living."
"Understandable," Laszlo said to her. "You sought an escape from you life. Anyone in your situation would have done the same."
"I guess," Elizabeth said to him. "But…I don't do that anymore."
"Why not?" Laszlo wondered.
She shrugged and shut her book, holding tightly onto it and looking down at the title as Laszlo continued watching her.
"Because I'm happy," she admitted to him. "For the first time in a long time I'm happy…being here…"
"I'm happy to hear that," Laszlo said to her with a nod of his head.
"What I mean…" she trailed off, not sure if she was overstepping. But she had to tell him. One day, she would tell him how she felt. One day she would gather the courage to tell him the truth. "Is that I'm happy…here…and it's because of you."
Laszlo continued to stare at her as she looked down, almost as though she was too embarrassed to tell him that. But she needn't have been. If anything, he wanted to tell her how relieved he was to hear her say that. All he could do was move his hand out and reach for hers, squeezing onto it tightly.
"I'm happy you're here too," he said and he wondered how that had sounded. Did it sound as though he was just happy she was here because she was away from her husband and safe? He was happy about that, of course, but he wanted her to know that he was happy because he wanted her with him. He wanted to spend time with her and he liked that she lived with him. He loved that he woke up each morning and knew she would be with him. It overjoyed him.
But he didn't say that. It was far too soon in their relationship for him to say that.
…
"John has informed me that Violet is in a delicate condition."
Laszlo sat across from Sara in her office, holding onto his second glass of alcohol for the day. He had checked the time from his pocket watch before knowing that he had some time to go and see Sara before he had to be home. She was sat back in her chair, holding onto her own glass of bourbon as she broke the news to him.
"I see," Laszlo said, but more than anything, he wanted to know what this meant. He suspected he already knew, knowing the kind of man John was and the kind of woman Sara was. She said nothing. She only nodded her head and took another long drink of her bourbon.
"It's fine, I'm fine," Sara promised him and he met her gaze, looking him directly in the eye.
"Are you certain?" Laszlo asked from her and she nodded her head, but something in her eye told him that wasn't the case. She nodded at him, smiling. It was a sad smile, almost one of complete acceptance: acceptance that John was going to marry Violet Hayward for certain now.
"He wanted a family more than anything and I didn't know if I could ever provide him with that," Sara confessed. "I see what you have with Elizabeth and it looks lovely…perfect, almost."
Laszlo chuckled and shook his head. "Believe me, marriage is anything but perfect."
"Perhaps not, but you are happy, are you not?"
"Undeniably so."
"And I don't know if I would be," Sara responded to him with a shake of her head. "And I don't want John to wait for me to be ready…I never wanted him to do that…because I didn't know if I would ever be ready. How do you know? Is there a moment when you just decide that it is what you want?"
"No, I don't think there is," Laszlo said with a shake of his head. "Sometimes, it just happens, Sara. Things are not always planned. We make no pretence that Lucy was not planned."
"But you love her…and you were excited."
"After the shock left, yes," Laszlo confirmed.
"And I love her very much as my goddaughter. I love both her and Charlotte, but I don't know if I would want my own, not while I have this business. I see how much time Elizabeth spends with the girls…how much she adores them…cherishes them and nurtures them…and she does an amazing job, Laszlo. She is a fantastic mother, but it is just not a life I see for myself."
"Everyone is different, Sara," Laszlo said, shrugging his shoulders. "What we all want out of life is different. Do you remember that time when you came to me in the park? When I told you about how society bestows expectation upon women?"
"Quite well," Sara said with a nod of her head.
"Then you have to know that there is nothing wrong with not adhering to their expectations," Laszlo said to her. "You will be much happier creating your own expectations and doing whatever it is that makes you happy."
"I know you always say how lucky you are to have Elizabeth, but she is lucky to have you too, Laszlo," Sara said to him. "The way you let her be who she wants to be…many men would never let their wives act in such a way."
"I do not think I have ever been like other men."
"I can agree with that," Sara said and they both chuckled. "And Elizabeth? How is she?"
"Doing very well," Laszlo confessed to Sara, his lips quirking upwards. "Since Libby was taken into custody, it is almost as though a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. She sleeps through the night. She smiles. She is particularly content and I can tell because she has agreed to let me take her to the opera one evening and she hates the opera perhaps as much as John does."
"She must truly be happy," Sara joked with him.
"And that is why I am here," Laszlo said to her and drummed his fingers against his glass. "There is a performance next week of Aida that I was intending on attending. My box has been vacant over recent months."
"And you require someone to look after Charlotte and Lucy?" Sara guessed.
"Yes, but I was hoping that you might be able to stay the night? You see, I had intended on spending the night at a hotel…taking Elizabeth for dinner…just the two of us for a night where we can talk with no disturbance for I feel that there is something we both need to discuss, but have not dared to bring up yet."
"I can look after the girls, of course," Sara said to him. "And, if I am not being too bold, I assume that this is about Vienna?"
"It is," Laszlo said.
"Have you made a decision?" Sara questioned him.
"I think so," Laszlo confessed and then sighed before shrugging his shoulders. "I just don't know if it is the right one."
…
A/N: Only three more chapters to go! Will he go to Vienna or not? There's also one more twist to come too. In the meantime, would love to know what you think! Thanks so much for reviewing and following - it's kept me going knowing that people enjoy reading this as much as I have loved writing it!