Perhaps if I delicately imply to Miss Everson what my intentions are, but emphasize that I will not be at liberty to pursue them for several weeks, she will understand that I hope she will wait for me.
But she deserves a proper wooing, not a whiff of one!
He trammeled a sigh, begrudging that this — merely hinting at his predicament — was probably his best option.
When the mother had finished grousing, he turned to where her daughter was seated on the far end of the settee.
“And you, Miss Everson – is there anything you think I ought to know about your mother’s progress?”
She furrowed her pretty brow in thought.
“Her improvement is undeniable, yet I would like her to perform her prescribed exercises with more regularity.”
“Oh, Lindy!” Mrs Everson gasped, her mercurial temperament emerging. “Surely you see how much better I am.”
“Much better than youwere, Mamma, but notentirelybetter.” Miss Everson looked at Alwyn as if seeking a champion for her cause.
Rising to the occasion, he pushed his shirtsleeves up over his elbows, leaned forward, and said with great solemnity, “Mrs Everson, muscular tissue atrophies rapidly when it is not challenged. To regain your former vigour, you ought to perform your exercises daily.”
As the mother grumbled anew, Alwyn saw from the corner of his eye that the daughter was studying him, her eyes flicking over his person with purpose.
What does she think of me?Sitting up straighter, he re-situated the little booklet in his hand.And what will she think of me by the time I leave here today?
He pressed the pencil too hard upon the page, breaking its leaden point. A grievance caught in his throat when Miss Everson rose from her seat and started towards him.
Half-Thoughts and Ginger Knots
SMILING FAINTLY, Belinda held out her hand to receive the broken pencil.
Mr Alwyn handed it over with a boyish grin, a lock of ash brown hair hanging in his grey eyes. “Thank you, Miss Everson.”
Taking the pen knife off of the mantel, Lindy sharpened the little nub, letting the shavings drop into the hearth. She had performed this service for the doctor’s apprentice many times, as she had sought to assist him in any way she could over the preceding months. She was glad his pencil had broken as it had helped her to stop eyeing his bare forearms, the sight of which always sent a delicious frisson through her belly.
He comes here to tend to Mamma, not to be ogled by the likes of me! Furthermore, he sees me as nothing more than a patient’s daughter.
She told herself this every time he came to call. Yet, there had beensomethingshe sensed about the man since their first meeting — an exuding warmth that seemed reserved for her alone. Often, his eyes would delve searchingly into the depths of her own, making her wonder if there was something he wanted to say to her.
He simply has expressive eyes,she insisted to herself.Think of how they danced when he heard that Mamma could finally get out of bed all on her own!
Handing the pencil back, she tried not to glance at the muscular limb that received it.
“I’ll just go and fetch the tea,” she said, and headed to the kitchen where the teapot was already warming. She spooned broken Bohea leaves into it, then filled it with boiling water.
Mr Alwyn is kind and attentive toeveryonehe encounters, not just me.She remembered how engrossed he had appeared when her father, a coach driver by trade, had rambled on and on to him about the deplorable state of the road on the way to Brighton.And Mr Alwyn is certainly not in love with Papa!
She had learned early on that she must work hard to hide her appreciation of the man. After seeing them together once, her younger sister had suggested teasingly that Belinda ought to dab her lips with beet juice to make herself more alluring when next he came to call.
But Lindy hadtsked at this and Catherine’s other bits of advisement, thinking,What girl wants to worry that the elderberry tincture in her eyebrows may have streaked across her temple?
She placed three cups and saucers onto the tea tray alongside the plate of biscuits.
Besides, men who prize beauty too highly ought to be avoided.
A few months earlier, a wealthy young gentleman had called her a ‘pretty girl’,but his manner had made her feel threatened rather than complimented. Putting that unpleasant memory aside, Belinda lifted the tray, and returned to the front room. Her mother was chatting away again, amiably now.
When Mr Alwyn first appeared on the doorstep alongside Dr Felix, Belinda’s mother had regarded him as an inferior second. But as he faithfully returned on his own, week after week, it was not long before she looked forward to his visits.Initially, he just helped her rise from her bed, but eventually she was able to descend the stairs with his steadying arm around her waist. When they reached the parlour, he would cheer as if he were witnessing a coronation. Based on how her dour mamma would beam at this, Lindy knew that she herself was not the only Everson who was fond of the young doctor-to-be.
Pleased that she had learned how Mr Alwyn took his tea, she added some milk to his cup, followed with a drizzle of honey. Seeing him jut out his bristly chin as he watched the golden rivulet unfurl, Belinda stored the delightfully virile image away for further reflection.
