Free Fugue: The Cure by S. D. Stuart Page B

the best minds working on a cure for over a hundred years.”
    “Not all the best minds.”
    He winked at her. “Touché.” He tilted his head to the side. “Is that why you have not accepted my marriage proposal?”
    She lowered her head and fixed her eyes on the boiled potato stuck to the end of her fork. “I have to leave myself available for acceptance at the Royal Medical Society on Viktorion. It’s nothing personal.”
    “They do accept married people in the Royal Societies.”
    “I cannot ask you to leave the position you worked so hard to obtain.”
    “That would be my choice.”
    “It is not a choice I want to force you to make.”
    The silence between them stretched on for a full minute until he crumpled his cloth napkin and placed it on the table. “I am sorry I brought it up, but I am not getting any younger and I want to start a family.”
    She folded her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry Severn. I’m not ready to settle down. I have too much…”
    A constable appeared at the side of the table and interrupted her. “I am sorry to disturb you sir.”
    Severn looked up at the man and let out an audible sigh. “What is it Alex?”
    “You have an open call from the Head Magistrate on the wireless, sir.”
    Frown lines appeared on Severn’s forehead. “The Head Magistrate?”
    “Yes sir.”
    “From Viktorion? That Head Magistrate?”
    “The very same sir.”
    He looked at Elizabeth. “Why would he be calling me?”
    She shrugged her shoulders. “I think you better take that call.”
    He scooted back his chair and stood up. “I think I better. We will finish our discussion later, Liz.”
    She looked up at him expectantly. “I can’t wait.”
    He took her hand and kissed it. “I’m going to convince you to marry me.”
    She smiled. “I know.”
    She watched him leave and turned away the offer for dessert from the waiter. He did not present her with a bill for dinner. Her senior position at the hospital, and the fact that she dined with the Chief Constable, made their meal gratis courtesy of the management at the Crested Wren.
    She gathered her overcoat and umbrella from the maître d’ and stepped back out into the light drizzle that made the Arouet Provinces famous as the wettest place in the entire system second only to Paxilla; as that planet had been engulfed by its oceans.
    At this late hour, the streets were nearly deserted. She would have to walk a few blocks to get to the main thoroughfare in order to catch a taxi home. Severn was supposed to take her home but, when called away unexpectedly, knew better than to offer to leave a car for her. She worked her way up to a senior administrator position in the hospital on her own. She did not need help from anyone. And she had spent enough time in Arouet, while attending the local medical college, that she could find her way around the city blindfolded.
    She walked a couple of blocks in the misty rain and rounded the corner. She jumped in surprise as she nearly collided with a man standing on the sidewalk.
    He took a step backward. “I’m sorry. I did not mean to startle you.”
    She smiled at him. “That’s okay. I was lost in thought and should have been paying more attention.”
    Just as she was about to pass him, he looked at her curiously.
    “Excuse me ma’am, are you Elizabeth Cureaux?”
    “Yes.”
    “Dr. Elizabeth Cureaux?”
    “Yes. Do I know you?”
    Someone grabbed her from behind as the man placed a black bag over her head. She smelled the sweet scent of ether right before she lost consciousness.

Chapter 3
     
    When she woke, she still had the black bag over her head. Her mouth was devoid of moisture and her throat burned as she swallowed dryly. She lifted her head and felt the rough scraping of the ropes on her bare arms as she struggled to move in the chair she found herself bound.
    Someone ripped the bag off her head and she shut her eyes against the blinding light of the morning sun. The sound of boots echoed on the