The idea was so absurd, Agnes nearly laughed. Hannah wouldn’t have said that if she had seen the way he’d treated her that day in his cottage! ‘You’re wrong,’ she said. ‘He has no interest in me.’
‘Of course he does. He’d never admit it, but I can tell. God knows, I’ve watched him enough to know what’s going on in his heart,’ Hannah said bitterly.
Agnes remembered that very first day at the Miners’ Welfare, Seth scowling at her across the table. She had been attracted to him even then, she realised.
She pushed the thought from her mind. ‘Even if it were true, I wouldn’t be interested,’ she said. ‘I’m too busy with my work.’
‘Work?’ Hannah sounded incredulous. ‘You mean to tell me you’d rather tend to people’s bunions and bedsores than find a man to love you?’
Agnes gazed into the fire, feeling its heat against her face. Once she might have said yes without hesitation. But now she didn’t know what to think.
Before she could manage a reply, Nella let out a loud cry from the other room.
‘Mother!’ Hannah was gone before Agnes had even risen to her feet.
Nella was curled up under the quilt, whimpering like a wounded animal. She was so lost in pain, she didn’t even push Hannah away when she went to her.
‘Mother?’ Hannah brushed a wisp of hair from her mother’s damp face. ‘I in’t seen her like this before.’ She turned to Agnes, her dark eyes desperate. ‘Can’t you do summat?’
‘No.’ Nella found her voice. ‘I’m near my time and I want—’ She stopped talking, flinching as the pain swept over her again. ‘Leave us. I want to speak to the nurse. I’ve got summat important to tell her.’
Agnes could feel Hannah looking at her, and willed her not to go. Suddenly she didn’t want to be alone with Nella Arkwright, or to hear what she had to say.
The door closed softly behind her, and then they were alone. As soon as her daughter had gone, Nella seemed calmer.
‘That’s better,’ she said. ‘The pain has passed now. I can feel the shadow of death watching over me, waiting …’ She sighed, and the glimmer of a smile crossed her face. ‘It won’t be long now.’
‘Perhaps I should fetch your daughter.’
Agnes started for the door but Nella said, ‘Wait. Don’t you want to know what I’ve got to tell you? I’ve had a vision.’
Agnes held herself rigid. ‘I’m not interested in fortune-telling.’
She went to turn away, but Nella grabbed her hand, her grip shockingly strong for one so old and weak.
‘You’ll see him again,’ she hissed. ‘You think he’s gone from your life, but he is not dead to you.’
‘I – I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Yes, you do. You know.’ The old woman’s opaque eyes were suddenly blazing. ‘You think about him all the time. He’s in your dreams. The one who is dearest to your heart. And he’ll come back to you one day. One day …’
Agnes snatched her hand away, but as soon as she did, Nella’s arm dropped limply to the bed and she lay back, staring glassily up at the ceiling.
‘Hannah!’ Agnes cried out. But she knew it was already too late.
Chapter Fifty
Afterwards, Agnes offered to help lay out the old woman, but Hannah refused.
‘Nay, I’ll do it mysen,’ she said. ‘It’s what she would have wanted.’
Agnes could see she needed to mourn her mother alone, so she didn’t argue.
Hannah watched her as she packed up her bag. ‘You ought to call round to the Stanhopes’, you know,’ she said. ‘I know the bairns would like to see you, especially little Elsie. She often talks about you.’
Agnes smiled. ‘We’ll see.’
She put on her coat and prepared to go into the night. As she opened the door, a rush of icy air blew in, bringing a flurry of snowflakes with it.
‘It’s settled,’ Hannah remarked, looking out. ‘Deep, too. Tha’ll never get your bicycle through that. Why don’t you stay till the worst of it’s over?’
‘Thank you, but I need to get back sooner or later. I have my rounds in the morning.’ And if she was honest, the idea of spending the night at the Arkwrights’ old farmhouse with Nella dead in the room next door did not appeal to her.
‘Then I’ll fetch the horse and cart, give you a lift.’
‘I’ll be all right, honestly.’ Agnes glanced towards the bedroom door. ‘You need to be with your mother,’ she said.
Hannah looked as if she might argue, then she shrugged her broad shoulders. ‘Well, at least take this shawl to keep you warm. And these boots.’ She picked up a pair of men’s boots from where they sat by the hearth. ‘They’ll keep out some of the cold.’
Agnes looked at the boots, at least three sizes too big for her, then back at her own shoes. They were stout black leather, but no match for the deep drifts of snow. ‘Thank you,’ she said.
As she watched Agnes pulling on the boots, Hannah suddenly said, ‘What made you come?’
Agnes frowned up at her. ‘You sent for me.’
‘Yes, but why did you come? You could have just ignored my note. No one could blame you, after the way I treated you.’
‘It’s my job,’ Agnes said. ‘I’m a nurse and I have to look after people, whether I happen to like them or not.’
Hannah’s mouth twisted. ‘My mother taught me to wish ill on anyone who crossed me. She certainly wouldn’t have had me make them better.’ She looked at Agnes. ‘Happen that’s the difference between us, in’t it?’
‘Happen it is,’ Agnes said.
She was glad of the boots as she stepped out into the freezing night. The snow had settled in drifts, far too deep for her bicycle to manage. In the end Hannah abandoned it by the Arkwrights’ back gate and made her way through the woods on foot. Even with the lamp Hannah had given her to light her way, it was dark and forbidding. The wind howled and whistled, reminding her of Nella Arkwright’s rasping cackle. It was almost as if the old woman’s spirit was there in the trees, watching her …
Superstitious nonsense, Agnes told herself briskly. There are no such things as ghosts. But even so, she couldn’t stop herself screaming when the bare branch of a tree caught her, clawing the cap from her head.
The snow was deeper than she had expected, and her feet sank with every step. It was an effort to pull her heavy boots out of the thick drifts, and by the time the woods thinned out and the lights of Bowden Main Colliery came into sight, Agnes was stumbling with exhaustion.
Once she had found the path down, she allowed her thoughts to wander. And as usual whenever she had an idle moment, her mind wandered towards Seth Stanhope.
After what she had been through, she’d never imagined she would feel the pull of attraction towards a man again. And to be attracted to Seth was the last thing she wanted, or needed. It was hopeless, the worst match she could imagine.
And yet …
Hannah had told her that Seth was too proud to admit how much he liked her. Perhaps the same was true of her?
You think about him all the time. He’s in your dreams. The one who is dearest to your heart. And he’ll come back to you one day. One day …
As she stumbled in through the back door of Dr Rutherford’s house, into the darkness of the kitchen, all Agnes could think about was being warm. A cup of tea, or perhaps even a glass of brandy. Then into her bed, pulling the quilt around herself until her body had thawed out.
The range was still warm. Agnes dragged a chair over to it and sat down to pull off the wet boots, but she was too tired and her hands were too numb with cold to manage the laces. She was still struggling with them when a man’s voice called out, ‘Who’s there?’
The next moment the kitchen light went on. Agnes flinched, shielding her eyes from the sudden brightness.
‘What the—’
‘Agnes?’
His voice stopped her dead in her tracks. Agnes lowered her hand and stared, blinking, into a face she’d neve
r thought she would see again.
‘Daniel?’
For a moment they could only look at each other. He looked so absurd in his dressing gown and pyjamas, wielding a poker. Agnes could only imagine what she looked like, bundled in a tattered shawl and men’s boots, her hair hanging in wet rats’ tails about her face.
He lowered the poker. ‘I thought you were a burglar,’ he said. She would have laughed if she had been awake. As it was, she was certain she must be in the middle of a strange dream.
But then she felt melted snow dripping down her face in icy drops. Surely this couldn’t be a dream?
Daniel looked as dumbstruck as she felt. ‘I can’t believe it – it’s really you.’ He shook his head. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I’m the district nurse.’
‘I thought you were in London?’
‘It’s a long story,’ Agnes said. She looked him up and down, taking him in. Tall, slim, black hair and dark brown eyes – it was really Daniel Edgerton. ‘I thought you were in Scotland?’
‘Another long story.’ He was staring at her as hard as she was staring at him. ‘Agnes Sheridan. I can scarcely believe it.’ He ran his hand through his hair, making it stick up on end. ‘God, I think I need a drink!’
‘Me too,’ Agnes said.
She yanked off the boots and padded barefoot over to the cupboard where she knew Mrs Bannister kept her medicinal supply of brandy.
She couldn’t find any glasses, so she took out two teacups instead.
‘Reminds me of the old days at the Nightingale,’ Daniel said. ‘All those illicit parties at the doctors’ house – but look at you. You’re trembling.’
‘It’s just the cold,’ Agnes said, although she knew it was more than that. Her whole body felt as if it had gone into shock. ‘I’ve just walked three miles through the woods.’
‘In this weather? My dear, you must be positively hypothermic. Here, come and sit back down by the range. And take that wet coat off.’
‘I c-can’t,’ Agnes said through chattering teeth. ‘I’m too cold.’
‘Have this.’ Daniel slipped off his dressing gown.
It was all too absurd, Agnes thought as she sat with her stockinged feet up on the range and Daniel’s dressing gown draped around her shoulders. Her former fiancé had reappeared in her life five minutes ago, and she was already wearing his night apparel.
Any minute now, she would definitely wake up.
But she could smell the faint aroma of his cologne from the dressing gown, and feel the warmth of his body seeping into hers. It was all too real to be a dream.
The one who is dearest to your heart. And he’ll come back to you one day. One day …
‘Were you with a patient?’ Daniel asked, breaking into her thoughts.
Agnes nodded. ‘She died.’
‘I’m sorry.’
She glanced at him. Daniel had always been very caring, not like the other junior doctors who could tell a patient’s family that their loved one had died one minute and be off laughing with their friends the next.
Daniel. The man she had once loved with all her heart. The man she had abandoned with barely a word of explanation.
‘So you’re the new locum?’ she said.
‘So it seems.’ Then he looked at her over the rim of his teacup. ‘This is all rather awkward, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, it is rather,’ she admitted.
‘I’d never have accepted this post if I’d known …’
‘I’m sure you wouldn’t. I daresay I’m the last person you’d want to meet?’
‘Oh, no, not at all,’ he said hurriedly. ‘I was thinking more of you, actually.’ He looked rueful. ‘It can’t be much fun for you, coming face to face with me? Especially after you fled to the other end of the country to escape me.’
He was smiling when he said it, but Agnes felt the sting of his words. ‘It’s not easy for either of us,’ she said, gazing into her brandy.
‘Perhaps I should say I’ve changed my mind?’
‘Do you want to?’
‘I don’t know.’ He considered it for a moment. ‘I must say, I was looking forward to a stay here. In my last practice I was working with a father and son who bickered constantly, so I rather liked the idea of being on my own for a while. And it is only for a few weeks … But the last thing I want to do is make things difficult for you?’
Agnes thought about it. Her first instinct was to say that it would be hard for them to work together, but she didn’t want to be churlish. She had already put Daniel through enough.
‘I’m sure we can manage,’ she said. ‘As you say, it is only for a few weeks.’
‘Are you sure you can bear it?’ He looked relieved.
‘I can if you can. And I’d hate to leave the people of Bowden without a doctor.’ God knows, they deserved someone decent after so many years.
‘Then let’s give it a try,’ Daniel said. ‘After all, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘And I’m sure there must be another chap on the horizon by now?’
A picture of Seth came into her mind.
‘No,’ she said.
‘Really? You don’t seem very certain about that?’
She caught his speculative look. ‘It’s probably best if we don’t discuss it, if we’re going to be working together,’ she said.
‘No, of course, you’re quite right.’ Daniel nodded. ‘We’ll keep it all strictly professional.’
‘I think that would be best.’
He looked back at her, smiling sheepishly. ‘Well, well. Who would ever have imagined this would happen?’
Agnes thought about Nella Arkwright, lying on her deathbed. The one who is dearest to your heart. And he’ll come back to you one day. One day …
‘Who indeed?’ she said.
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Epub ISBN: 9781473539037
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Published by Arrow Books 2017
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Copyright © Donna Douglas 2017
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First published in Great Britain by Arrow Books in 2017
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ISBN 9781784757151
District Nurse on Call Page 38
