'Don't look, Lillian. Never look into the eyes of a Sin-Eater, you will be as cursed as he is and will forever languish in darkness.'
Lillian Elmes remembers the warning her mother gave her about the town's Sin-Eater only too well.
How could she n...
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'I do wish you would reconsider this, Lily.'
Elizabeth Jane Darby, my daring friend, the one who puts excitement and thrill and independence above reputation and public opinion, is looking at me in such a pensive way that I can scarce believe it is really her. Then again, it seems I can scarce believe that I am really me, for the old me – the one I knew before I met Daniel – would reconsider. In fact, she would not even consider this in the first place.
'Please do not fret,' I say, grasping her handing and squeezing it warmly. 'I will be perfectly fine.'
She fixes me with a solemn look. 'Will you though? I think this man has driven you half-mad. This is not like you at all.'
'Lizzie, how long have you told me to throw caution to the wind? How many times did you tell me that it was not a woman's mission to remain cooped up inside the confines of a life defined by men? How often did you speak to me of freedom for our minds and our bodies?'
Lizzie flushes a little, but her eyes remain troubled. 'Well, yes, but I was talking about me. Not you.'
'So, I am not worthy of freedom too?'
She exhales a short, terse breath. 'Of course, you are! But you have always been so uptight about everything and so much like your mother, I never once imagined you would throw caution to the wind in quite this way. Maybe with Jonathan Acker or even a Naval Captain, someone of similar standing but with a slight rebellious streak, but the Sin-Eater? Of all people?' Softening, she touches a hand to my hair with affection. 'I am worried for you, dear.'
'Then you need not!' I smile, anxious for her to be reassured. 'You yourself dragged me to spy on him in old Mr. Hawkstone's study. You yourself said he was handsome, did you not? Well, he is that, and much more besides. Oh, Lizzie, if only you knew him, you would understand he is a good man.'
'A good man who knows full well what it means for a lady like yourself to associate with the likes of him.' She purses her lips. 'Honestly, Lillian, I am all for independence and not denying one's own desires, but if he allows you to not deny them on this occasion, I can only think he seeks to cause you more harm than good.'
