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I shook my head. “Has the doctor visited?”

“Yes, he diagnosed it as pneumonia. If Elizabeth gets through the next few nights, she might have a chance,” James answered, his voice broken.

I put my hand on his shoulder in sympathy, and for once, James didn’t shrug it off. We sat there all night in a bedside vigil. Towards the break of dawn, Elizabeth opened her eyes and smiled.

“My loves,” she murmured. Those were Elizabeth’s final words.

She slipped back into sleep and died later that day. It was April the 19th, and the time was six minutes past three.

We both wept.

For once, we were united in grief. We did not console one another. That was not acceptable with the level of feeling between us. But we stayed together to mourn the woman that we had both adored. It was the hardest thing to do, sitting there watching someone I loved die.

This time I did it, though. It was not like when I had turned Mihal, for Inka’s sake. Elizabeth chose death, though she had a chance for life. She was just happy to see us together without fighting or arguing. We owed her that, at the very least.

We buried Elizabeth the following week, and I left London, unable to stay. Barrington understood and gave me his blessings. During the First World War, I lost Barrington due to ill health, and I felt I had nothing of Elizabeth left.

I returned for his funeral and was surprised when his widow approached.

“Something belonging to you awaits you at my home. Please come whenever convenient.”

As I looked away, I saw James standing a little way away at Elizabeth’s grave. She had been buried in the family plot.

I approached James with apprehension.

Chapter Twenty-two.

“James,” I said by way of greeting.

“Jacques.”

We stood there in awkward silence, looking down at Elizabeth’s grave. After a while, I glanced up and spotted James studying me.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Elizabeth really loved you.”

“Yes, I felt the same. Elizabeth loved you, too. She never stopped.”

“Yes,” James whispered. “I loved Eliza, heart and soul. I believed I would die when we laid her to rest. The urge to crawl in the grave was nearly overwhelming. But Elizabeth would not have wanted it.”

“No, all Elizabeth wished was for us to lead happy lives. It’s hard to enjoy life when she lies there. Elizabeth’s left a hole in my heart. The shame is once I offered her immortality, and she turned it down. The damn woman had her reasons, although I cannot fathom what they were,” I admitted.

“You are not alone. I asked Eliza, and she refused me. Elizabeth wasn’t disgusted by Vam’pirs, but she did not wish to become one,” James said, startling me.

“No, she didn’t. I just wish Elizabeth had children. Elizabeth had wanted them, but it was impossible. I would have excused indiscretion if it gave Elizabeth what she wished.”

“But it was our children she wanted, Jacques. If Elizabeth couldn’t birth ours, then she did not want anyone else’s.”

“I was unaware,” I said. Silently, I looked away from James to the leaving funeral party and waved towards them.

“Why did you never chase me off? You declared London off-limits to Vam’pirs and vampires alike. Yet I blatantly ignored your command. Why didn’t you kill me? That made you weak, caused vampires to test your resolve,” James asked.

The truth was, James so openly defying me, gave me comfort. It meant someone wasn’t scared of me. And I also harboured guilt over Caroline still.

James held my eyes, and it seemed he’d read my mind.

“I must go,” I said.