That night, Sofia couldn't sleep. A thousand thoughts were buzzing loudly in her head like moths around a candle. Some burned their wings and fell lifeless to the ground, while others kept flying around.
"Smallpox," she thought, her face lighting up with anger at the memory of Edgar.
"You won't fool me," she said to herself as she got up. She lit the candelabra and made her way to the new library. Her goal was to get the three medical books she had been eyeing.
"They might come in handy," she thought. "Thank goodness there's no one around. I almost feel like a thief."
She touched the cold knob of the parlor door and turned it. Slipping inside, she went straight to her objective. She reached out to grab the first volume, but she didn't even manage to touch it.
"Yet I'm not that short," she fumed.
She started jumping up and down and finally grabbed the book, but it was so heavy that it slipped from her hands and almost fell on her head. Luckily, a man's hand caught it.
"Now I understand what you mean when you say it's all here," Edgar said, pointing to his head. "Books literally fall on your head."
"What are you doing here?"
"No, what are you doing here?"
"How long have you been here?"
"Since I heard you arguing with your height," Edgar said. "Apparently, you argue with anyone, even with yourself. So I'm not the only one."
"I'm very sorry about our arguments, Mr. Scott."
"You don't have to apologize," Edgar said, handing her the book. "I'll still give you this book."
"Thank you very much."
As she took the book, their hands brushed, and both flinched at the touch. Edgar wanted to kiss her, but he didn't move.
"I'll go back to sleep now," he said and left.
The girl placed the candelabra on a piece of furniture and sat down on the couch, dazed. She opened the book and began reading. Then she noticed a pen, an inkpot, and a letter on the table next to her. She picked it up and immediately recognized Edgar's handwriting.
"To Angelica," she read aloud.
Then, a shadow fell over her. It was Mr. Scott again.
"I forgot this," he said, aggressively taking the letter from Sofia's trembling hands, as if that brief touch between them, just moments before in the library, had never happened.