After the dueling club meeting ended, and even if her own duel was done at the beginning, Louisa's back still hurt. She dragged her feet out of the room and lingered at the head of the corridor for Adam to catch up. She did see him from the benches and sat next to him through them all but they didn't get to talk much because of the tension of the other duels, for one, and because she was just too tired to talk.

The flask Spenser had given her was tightly clutched in her hand and she was eager to hop into her bed, take a gulp of it and then doze off.