“I never said that. You assumed that on your own, and I didn’t correct you.”
Mrs. Finch’s brows rose, and Arthur longed to warn Finch that he was treading on dangerous ground, but doing so would place himself firmly in the lady’s sights.
“And you did so because you knew I would be angry with you,” she said with a scowl.
Finch huffed. “I did nothing wrong—”
“You’d best ask Dr. Vaughn his feelings on the matter before you claim such a thing, Lewis Finch.”
At that, Arthur’s gaze flew to his friend and the fractious wife sitting opposite. “What do I have to do with this?”
Mrs. Finch straightened and sent her husband a challenging raise of her brow. “Yes, Lewis. Tell Dr. Vaughn what you’ve done, as you didn’t see fit to tell anyone it impacted.”
“Out with it, Finch,” said Arthur, and his friend tried to shift in place, though he only managed a slight movement before giving up.
“I did what I had to for my family,” replied Finch.
“What is going on?” demanded Arthur.
Drawing in a sharp breath, Finch didn’t look at Arthur as he said, “When I wrote that Oakham needed a physician, I neglected to tell you that there is one in town—”
“What?” said Arthur in a hard tone.
“We require a physician,” said Finch with a scowl. “Isaac Templeton is lazy through and through, and I wouldn’t trust him to care for my horses, let alone my family.”
The air fled from Arthur’s lungs as the last sennight snapped into place. It was as though he’d been working through a puzzle upside-down, and now the world had righted itself, allowing him to see that which he hadn’t been able to comprehend.
Lifting a hand, Arthur scrubbed at his face as he recalled their final conversation. No wonder Miss Templeton had left in a rush. He’d insulted her brother and her family without realizing it.
“What were you thinking, Lewis?” asked Mrs. Finch, throwing her arms wide (then instantly snapping them back in place when she hit her sister-in-law). “Vi is my friend, and she depends on her brother’s income. Whatever his faults, we all know she is the one managing things, and Vi is brilliant with medicines. Far better than Oakham deserves. To bring someone else here will ruin her.”
Turning her gaze to Arthur, Mrs. Finch’s brows pinched together. “I mean no disrespect to you, Dr. Vaughn. I am certain you are a wonderful doctor, but to know that my husband lured you here…”
“No offense taken, Mrs. Finch,” said Arthur with a dismissive shake of his head. “Had I known, I would never have come. I wanted to find a place that required a doctor—”
“We do,” said Finch.
“And force the Templetons out?” asked Mrs. Finch with a scoff. “How can you be so heartless?”
“No.” Finch’s sharp voice caused his family to pause in their conversation and glance in his direction before studiously returning to their discussion. Silence descended upon the otherthree as Finch sat there, his eyes holding his wife’s firmly. “I will not allow any consideration for the Templetons to place you in harm’s way. Your family was killed whilst under the previous Mr. Templeton’s care—”
“It was smallpox,” said Mrs. Finch as her hand rose to brush along the edge of her jaw where the scars remained. “Even the best of physicians can do little against it.”
“True, but any formally trained physician would’ve inoculated you long before it struck the village,” said Finch. “Mr. Templeton, with his homespun ways, left you all without any protection against it. Even now, they have a vaccine that is proven to prevent it, but I would be willing to wager the Templetons have never heard of it, let alone know how to acquire and administer it.”
Arthur’s brows rose. Protecting against that insidious—and preventable—disease was such an accepted practice that it hadn’t occurred to him Oakham might not be protected. How much of the country remained vulnerable to it? Learning from one’s father was far more commonplace than attending a proper medical school, and until it was legally required, most physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries would be trained by other country practitioners, who were only as educated as the previous generation and their own experience.
“Most do not have access to such things, and we do not live in Plymouth or London or any place that warrants the best doctors, Lewis,” said his wife with a sigh. “The Templetons do a fine job at caring for the townsfolk. Would we repay that service by running them out of town?”
“I am truly and deeply sorry that she will be impacted by this, but I knew of a properly trained physician who wished to settle in a town like Oakham, and I wasn’t going to squander the opportunity. I will not risk you or my child simply to be polite,” said Finch, his voice rising in volume with each word.
A panicked edge tinged the words. For all that he was a gentleman of the world, he didn’t brush aside the emotion as hecontinued, “I only just found you, Felicity. I cannot bear to lose you. It will break me.”
For all that the conversation had been pertinent to him, Arthur now feigned deafness as he turned his attention away from his friend in his vulnerable moment. But he couldn’t ignore the pleading in Finch’s tone and the abject fear that tinged every syllable. It was the sound of love. Of need. Not in the physical sense that so many mistook for love, but a bone-deep longing for another’s heart and soul. To have them forever at one’s side.
Arthur’s own heart burned in empathy at the declaration, and though he didn’t dare look to see Mrs. Finch’s reaction to it, the weight in the air shifted, lightening enough that the others in the carriage relaxed into the squabs once more (or as much as was possible in the close confines).
“I didn’t know this scared you so, Lewis,” she whispered.
