“That will do. I thank you,” he said, taking the steaming cup.
His cuffs were down around his wrists again, which Belinda found to be both a relief and a disappointment.
Almost smugly, Mrs Everson said, “I’ll have you know, Doctor, that once you said you take honey in your tea, Lindy put a pot of it on the tray straight away.”
“Mamma,” Belinda murmured, her face suddenly aflame.
Smiling, Mr Alwyn bobbed his head in her direction. “How very hospitable – and you baked these ginger knots as well?”
He held one of the reddish biscuits aloft.
“That she did! My girl’s a fine baker.”
Fiercely wishing her mother silent, Lindy began to tidy the already neat tea tray.
“The kindness I’ve been met with in this cottage is exceptional,” Mr Alwyn said, suddenly solemn. “It saddens meto tell you that this will be my last visit to oversee your care, Mrs Everson.”
Lindy nearly knocked over the creamer. Righting it firmly, she insisted to herself,I’ve known all along that an end was coming— even prepared the words with which to say goodbye.
But the speech she had planned for the dreadful moment did not form on her lips. She lifted a glove she had been mending from the side table, hoping to hide her agitation.
Her mother gave a short bark of laughter. “Surely you would not abandon us now, Dr Alwyn.”
“Mrs Everson, you must know that any honorable practitioner strives for his own redundancy whilst treating patients. Honestly, I’m here today purely for selfish reasons as I saw last week that you need me no more. I expect you’ll soon be out on the village green, climbing trees with Bertie.”
Forcing a light laugh, Belinda looked up from her clumsy stitching and her breath caught. Mr Alwyn was looking straight at her.
“I must now apply myself to studying for my licensure examination,” he said. “Myentire futurerests upon it.”
Wondering at the fervour in his voice, Belinda’s tongue tripped into action. “Mr Alwyn, I dread to think that Mamma would still be abed had Dr Felix not loaned you to us. My family is quite indebted to you.”
“On the contrary, it isIwho must thank you for trusting me, a mere student. I have gleaned so much from the experience.”
Souring at the realization that the handsome fellow’s visits truly were at an end, Mrs Everson stood, saying brusquely, “Isuppose I ought to thank you for the regimen you set me to, though I did not enjoy it much.”
“Well, you have born it admirably,” he replied even as she took two steps forward to pluck the not-yet-empty teacup out of his hand.
Flinching, Lindy bit back the rebuke that blazed up on her tongue.Mamma! After all he has done for us, is this to be his final memory of you?
But her mother sought no one’s approval as she stumped off towards the kitchen. There, she began to bash about so loudly that it seemed she didn’t care a whit for her crockery.
Laying the glove aside, Lindy cast Mr Alwyn a speaking look, pressing her lips together.
With a gleam in his eye, he lifted his now-imaginary cup to pantomime finishing his tea, then popped the last bit of a ginger knot into his mouth.
This, in the wake of her mother’s petulance, made Belinda snort with laughter. Her hand flew to her nose, too late to contain it.
“Please forgive her discourtesy,” she whispered through her fingers as Mr Alwyn’s shoulders shook with silent amusement. “I can only blame it on her disappointment at losing your attentions.”
He grew somber again. “Truly, no one will grieve the loss of these visits more than I will myself.”
Belinda was very aware that they were in the room alone together now. This had only happened twice before in the months since they’d met, and then but briefly. When he spoke again, her heart fluttered at the dusky sound of it.
“Miss Everson, please understand that I must focus my every effort on preparing for the 29th of September when I will sit before the Court of Examiners.”
As she puzzled over this wealth of oddly specific information, Lindy’s discombobulation grew, for Mr Alwyn had moved from his chair to sit beside her on the settee.
“Once I am licensed, I will be able to pursueother mattersof great importance,” he said softly, holding his hand out to her.
