For that brief moment, Alice felt like a burden and that she was wasting time of such a busy and important man. A welt of guilt formed in her chest as usual, making it difficult to breathe. The only solution was to drink that cup to see if it soothe that pain.

It did, somewhat. She could use the help, some sense of direction; at least in the hospital, there was someone always breathing down her neck every fifteen minutes to stir her in the right direction. She swallowed, gazing back up at him, "Then, you must know plenty about vampires."

She can't help it, she blurts it out. The whole purpose of her arrival back to London and here was to learn more about them, so that she could find the man who had killed her family.