“Ack, no. Just the opposite. There was a woman in my village, before I came to Glasgow,” Mrs. Stevens said, as she pinned Grace’s hair up. “She knew every plant and flower under the sun. She could make your insides turn or heal the worst of wounds, but she rarely ever left her little cottage in the woods.” She shook her head. “I always thought her the cleverest of healers, but with modern medicine, there’s nary a woman in sight. Yet that’s who’s been doing the healing forever.” She paused and bent down, just over Grace’s shoulder to see her work in the mirror. “But she was a bit wild too. Untamed. You remind me of her.”
Grace smiled, unsure how to receive such a compliment that might insult someone with a more refined attitude.
“She sounds like a lady I know in Glencoe. Mrs. Fletcher. Locals call her a witch.”
“Bah, country folk are always more skeptical than us refined city folk,” Mrs. Stevens said, puffing out her chest, and Grace had to bite the inside of her cheek to refrain from giggling. “Come, breakfast is nearly ready. You too, Penguin,” she whistled at the cat. “You’re on kitchen duty this morning.”
Grace slipped on her shoes and left her room, following Mrs. Stevens as she did. When she reached the dining room, however,she was surprised to see her aunt and Arabella, hunched toward one another like a pair of school children.
They were never up this early.
“Good morning,” Grace said as she entered the room, causing the two to bounce back, each sitting straight up now that Grace was there. She paused. “Is everything all right?”
“Of course it is,” Aunt Belle said, tapping her cane on the wooden floor twice. “Come, sit next to me and tell me everything about yesterday.”
“Yes, you were up and gone before either of us were awake,” Arabella started. “And then home after supper.”
“Is this how it is to be your entire time studying with Dr. Hall?”
“I’m not sure,” Grace answered honestly as a servant plated her food, a mix of cooked eggs, smoked fish, and a scone. “But I doubt it. I’ll likely be in his office during his hours of operation. The Gallowgate visit was just a monthly visit.”
“I should hope so,” Aunt Belle said. “Either way, that is why Arabella and I have decided to be up early now, should it be the only time we get to see you during your apprenticeship days.”
“It is very kind of the doctor to visit the poor,” Arabella said, before leaning forward. “What was it like? Visiting a tenement house?”
Tenement housing had once sought to fix the issue of housing for the poor and working class, but as the industrial expansion exploded across the United Kingdom, those meager rooms had been overcrowded, leading to slums. The knowledge of tenement housing was often used to scare country folk from moving away from their farms to seek their fortunes elsewhere.
“It was not pleasant,” Grace said honestly. “But I’m sure we did some good on our visit. Dr. Hall and I, that is.”
Arabella leaned back and glanced at Aunt Belle.
“What a brave thing to do. Dr. Hall truly is one of the finest gentlemen ever to be known, I’m sure of it.”
Grace smiled, although a small, insignificant part of her didn’t quite agree. Yes, Dr. Hall was a fine doctor, and it was kind of him to volunteer his time to the less fortunate, but wasn’t it expected of doctors to behave so?
“A better man I’ve not met,” Aunt Belle said, a sound of reverence in her voice. “Don’t you think so, Grace?”
She began buttering a piece of toast, without lifting her gaze.
“I suppose.”
Silence.
“You suppose?” Arabella repeated. “Oh, but surely after working with him, you can attest to his kindness? Particularly with helping the poverty-stricken.”
Grace’s brows lifted.
“I saw no difference between Dr. Hall’s handling of the sick than Dr. Barkley’s. Efficient, compassionate, yes, but these are expected attributes of a doctor. He is no better or worse than any other in his profession.”
Grace took a bite of her toast and only noticed that neither were speaking after a moment. Her jaw stopped chewing as she lifted her gaze and saw both women staring at her.
She swallowed.
“What? What is it?”
“Nothing, dear,” Aunt Belle said, shaking her head as if to dispel the silence. “If you do not find the doctor interesting, far be it from us to try and tell you otherwise.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t find him interesting.”
