Grace placed her fork on the table with deliberate slowness before glancing up.
“Is it a place for a doctor?”
“Grace, if Dr. Hall believes it is too dangerous, then perhaps you should wait.”
“Is it a place for a doctor?” she repeated. Dr. Hall’s lips pressed together, seemingly unwilling to answer, but his silence spoke volumes. “Then it is a place for me.”
“Very well,” he said, standing up. “But I won’t have you robbed. Wear your plainest gown. Or if there is a servant here who has something dark you might wear, perhaps that. Noadornments, jewels, pins, or otherwise. You’ll wear your hair back and covered. Hopefully you’ll be mistaken for a woman of faith, so at least they’ll leave you be. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Won’t she be safe with you, Dr. Hall?” Arabella asked.
He looked at Grace.
“Aye. But we shan’t be too careful. Until tomorrow, Miss Sharpe. Be ready first thing in the morning.”
“Yes, doctor,” she said. Then he was gone. Grace glanced at her aunt, who had a confused expression on her face. “Aunt Belle? Are you well?”
“Hm? Oh yes, dear, it’s just that…” But she didn’t explain. Instead, she shook her head and forced a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She leaned toward her niece. “Be careful tomorrow, Grace. I’d hate to think… Of what could happen—”
“Have no fear, Aunt Belle. I’m more aware of the world than most women in my position. Besides,” she said, glancing at the doorway where the doctor disappeared. “Dr. Hall will protect me if anything untoward should happen. I have full faith in him.”
“So do I,” Arabella said with a definitive nod. “There’s not a better man in all of Scotland for our Grace.”
Chapter Three
It had takenJames all of two minutes from leaving Lady Belle’s home yesterday to come up with a plan to scare Grace into reconsidering her apprenticeship with him. Gallowgate was not only one of the poorest neighborhoods in Glasgow, but one rife with disease. Crooks, thieves, women of ill repute, and more had descended on that part of the city; well, not so much descended on as had been forced there. It was one thing to be a country doctor, who took care of expectant mothers and fevers and farming accidents. It was another thing entirely to come to a city, teeming with sickness and the morally depraved. The Gallowgate barracks, for instance, were overpopulated and crowded, with dozens of “sporting women” moving in and out of their own volition.
Usually, James wouldn’t have even considered bringing a lady like Grace to a place so dangerous, but he had an idea. If he could scare her enough to the point where she would admit that this work was too much for her, he might be able to avoid teaching her altogether.
But when he arrived at her house just as the sun was rising the next morning, he found a determined, if not a sleepy looking Grace, waiting for him. She was dressed in a faded black gown that covered her from toe to neck. Her hair was parted down the middle and pulled back, and a lace bonnet covered the ball of hair at the back of her head.
She appeared as severe as well as someone so eager, and James found himself unwittingly embarrassed by the determination in her eyes.
“Good morning, Miss Sharpe,” he said as he climbed out of the hackney.
He held the door open as she climbed in and he waved to Mrs. Stevens, who grimaced at him before turning back in through the doorway.
“Good morning, Dr. Hall,” Grace said as he settled back across the hired hackney from her, the scent of cool, crisp mint distracting him for a moment. “I trust that I’ve dressed to an acceptable standard?”
He tried to push the pleasant aroma out of his mind. Mint, in particular water mint, was an herb that his Aunt Flora had always used in his teas. It reminded him of the mountain streams where he played as a boy, but this wasn’t the time or place to reminisce. Instead, he focused on answering her question.
“Yes, you have.”
Seemingly pleased, she sat with her back pin straight as the hackney made its way through the city. They rode mostly in silence and while they rarely caught one another’s eye, James couldn’t help but glance at her from time to time, wondering why she seemed so calm. Remembering his first visit to Gallowgate, he had been rather nervous. He had only been in Glasgow a day before Dr. Barkley insisted that they visit all of the slums of the city, every day, to drive home his belief that the study of medicine was the study of humanity. He had been particularly philosophical ten years ago, when he had taught James and though they had some healthy debates on the practice of medicine, the reason for practicing never wavered. It was to help their fellow man, regardless of their lot in life.
He stared at Grace as the fringe from her wrap shook as they drove over cobblestone.
“May I ask you something, Miss Sharpe?”
She stared directly at him.
“Yes, Dr. Hall.”
“Why do you want to be a doctor?”
Apparently, that had been unexpected as she blinked at him before glancing away.
