Dr. Lewis unlatched and lowered the window. “Charles?”
A thin, stooping man with gray muttonchops turned. He shifted his medical bag to his left hand and offered his right through the carriage window.
“Andrew, my dear fellow. This is a surprise. Where are you staying?”
“The Marine Hotel.”
“A long visit?”
“We’ll be here a few more weeks.”
The gentleman glanced over his shoulder at the royal carriage. “Forgive me for hurrying off, but I’m expected at Osborne House. May I call on you tomorrow?”
“Of course. Delighted.”
The gentleman tipped his hat and climbed into the royal coach.
“Who was that, Grandfather?”
“Sir Charles Locock. We were at medical school together. He’s the queen’s physician. Delivered all nine of her children.”
They followed the doctor’s carriage until it turned at the entrance to Osborne Park. Julia said, “If the queen is away, I wonder why the doctor is in a hurry.”
Dr. Lewis shrugged. “Attending the Prince or Princess of Wales? Princess Louise is in residence, too.” He patted her hand. “Now, my dear, let’s get down to the business of pleasure. I propose we explore as far as the island’s easternmost point.”
On Culver Downs, Julia left her grandfather and a fellow bird enthusiast discussing peregrine falcons and trekked to the edge of the cliff. The chalk precipice curved away, gleaming above the midnight blue of the channel’s waters. Julia dragged some wind-whipped strands from her eyes and thought of Dover’s white cliffs. In early summer, she’d gazed across the channel to France, wondering about Richard and where he was.And here it is, October.
He’d finally written a month after he left England. After four silent weeks, he wrote from Paris to say he’d collect his letters at the Bureau de Poste on the Rue du Louvre. Julia took that as an invitation and sent three letters in as many months. She believed Richard would get his man. As for the two of them …
Aunt Caroline had dismissed Julia’s early hesitations, saying, “Yes, there will be challenges to face. But, my dear, you’ve never lacked courage or imagination. Why allow them to fail you now?”
It had taken Julia many months to imagine a shared life: one with room for a doctor and a detective. Last June, she’d been on the brink of commitment. She had appeared, uninvited, on his doorstep in Kent with an overnight case in her hand, only to find he’d decamped for the Continent. He’d left without saying goodbye, knowing he’d likely be away for months. His abrupt disappearance and weeks of silence confused her. At other times, she felt angry. Was his regard so slight that he thought a few letters at lengthy intervals were sufficient? He shared details of the chase but gave no hint of his feelings, no sign that he was impatient to be home.Did I nearly make a fool of myself that day in Kent?
Still, Julia missed him. The rare leisure hours in her busy life seemed emptier than before.Were his?Julia sighed and turned away from the sea, the push and pull of her contradictory feelings as continual as the tides. She retraced her steps, her mind and heart as restless and unsettled as ever.
It had turned twilight by the time Julia and her grandfather arrived at their hotel.
“Well, well,” Dr. Lewis said as the carriage wheels crunched to a stop on the gravel. “Sir Charles Locock is on the porch with your aunt. I’m flattered by his alacrity. He said he’d visit tomorrow.”
Dr. Lewis handed Julia down and hailed his old friend.
Sir Charles rose stiffly from the bench, his expression grave as they shook hands. “Good evening, Andrew.”
“This is my granddaughter, Doctor Julia Lewis.”
The queen’s doctor bowed. “The very person I want to consult.”
A surprised Julia said, “Indeed, Sir Charles? I’m honored.”
The doctor drew together his bushy, white brows. A deep furrow creased the space between them, and his long, thin fingers worried his watch chain. “I sorely need your professional services … and your discretion.”
Two laughing young men burst through the hotel doors and stopped to light cigars. Andrew Lewis drew Sir Charles aside. “What is it, my friend?”
“The police found the body of a young woman at the Quarr Abbey ruins. She’d been missing since last evening.”
“Good heavens,” Dr. Lewis murmured.
Sir Charles rubbed his forehead. “A local doctor usually handles postmortems, but he’s on the other side of the island, assisting at a difficult birth.”
