The Doctor's Daughter

by Susan M. Baganz

  “No.”

  “Well, you’d likely not believe that I could have such high adventures and terrible trauma, but I did. Michael and I had our adventures and tragedies and are content here. I would never have expected him to enjoy this life, but he seems happy, as am I.”

  Shaking her head, Silvia reached out to grab her friend’s hand. “I never realized how difficult your life had been. I’m sorry you needed to endure all that.”

  “I could give you more details but for now it’s enough. So, don’t lose hope. Someday, with the right man, you might find raising your children to be enough of an adventure.”

  The water was brought in for a bath as was the tea tray. Katrina poured tea for Silvia. “Here. Warm up, and don’t worry so much. I suspect you’ll find yourself busy enough once the village folk realize how valuable you can be to them.”

  “I forgot to mention, when I was in town I was accosted by Sir McElroy.”

  “Your persistent and unwanted suitor?”

  Silvia nodded and sipped her tea. “I slipped out the back door to avoid him on the way home, but I fear he’ll discover my location soon enough.”

  “And how was Bruce?”

  “Frustrated and in pain. He tried to do more than he should. Silly man.”

  Katrina grinned. “Oftentimes they are, but for all that, I adore mine.”

  Silvia set her tea down. “I’d better use that water before it gets cold.”

  Her hostess rose. “I’ll be praying for you.”

  “Thank you,” Silvia closed and locked the door and proceeded to undress and warm up in the hot water.

  Once dressed again, she dried her hair by the fire. She missed traveling about and meeting with patients. Lord, what am I to do? Is this my life once Bruce is well enough to work? Please help me be content in my circumstances.

  She had dinner sent to her room and was soon in charge of little Georgina who miraculously slept through the night.

  6

  The next morning in the breakfast parlour, Sir Michael sat and cleared his throat as Silvia and Katrina partook of their meal.

  “Michael?” Katrina inquired.

  “I’ve received some bad news.”

  “This isn’t the time or place,” his wife admonished.

  “When you are both finished, come to my study.” He picked up his coffee and plate and quit the room.

  Katrina’s eyes widened at her husband’s abrupt departure. “Must be terrible if he would leave like that.” She swallowed the rest of her tea and turned to Silvia. “Are you ready?”

  Curiosity ate at her from within as fear entangled her ribcage making it hard to breathe. Please don’t let it be Bruce! She nodded to her friend and both rose to walk to the study.

  The door closed behind them, and Michael stood and came from around his desk, abandoning his food and beverage for the nonce. “Please, sit.”

  Katrina sat on a loveseat and patted the spot next to her. Michael joined her there, and Silvia sat across from them.

  “What happened?” Katrina asked.

  Michael grasped his wife’s hand and squeezed it tight. “Silvia, Bruce has been extoling your virtues, and new requests are coming here for you to tend to some of those who are very ill. Bruce sent a note round to us, concerned that even if you were to render treatment now, these people might not survive, which will make it harder for you to earn their trust.”

  “What am I to do? I can’t refuse to go. Maybe I couldn’t save all, but I might save some.”

  “It won’t matter in the eyes of the village. They now view you as their possible savior from this epidemic.”

  “Silvia can’t traipse about without a guard.” Katrina stated.

  “Right. Sir McElroy has come to town as well. How do you want me to handle him, Silvia?”

  “What can anyone do? He has a right to travel where he will, but I’d prefer he be denied entrance here.”

  Michael frowned. “I can deny him visiting you, but it would be rude to not allow him once, if he chooses to call upon me. If he does, perhaps I can discourage his suit.”

  “The man is obtuse. You could hit him with a beam about the head and shoulders, and he’d still not understand that I do not want to marry him.”

  Katrina gave a little chuckle.

  “What’s so funny?” Michael asked.

  “We have one man who can’t be brought up to scratch and another we can’t get to stop. Silvia, if you thought your life was boring, you couldn’t have been more wrong.”

  “Bruce did propose.”

  “What?” Both Katrina and Michael stated at once.

  “He wasn’t serious and feels indebted because I saved his life.”

  “You turned him down?” Katrina gasped.

  Silvia nodded.

  “You’d be perfect for him.”

  “Maybe so, but I could not in good conscience accept a proposal when he was in such a state.”

  Katrina leaned over to Michael and kissed his cheek. “We understand exactly of what you speak, but that’s a story for another time.”

  Silvia rose. “I suppose I should prepare to visit the patients.”

  “You’ll take a groom and carriage and stay armed. I insist that you return before dark,” Michael stated.

  Katrina slapped his arm. “You are not her father.” She turned to Silvia. “Don’t be offended, he was as high-handed with me before we wed. It only means he cares. We want you safe, and you’ll need to return for supper. We’ll take care of the children again, so you can rest.”

  “Georgina slept through the night. The tooth broke through and she’s much happier now.”

  Both parents grinned.

  “Wonderful!” Michael cheered. “I hope that lasts.”

  “I will take every precaution not to bring illness to your house.” Silvia quit the room to ready her things.

  ~*~

  Silvia soon discovered that while some of her patients were willing to allow her entrance, they were reluctant to follow her advice and demanded guarantees of recovery.

  “Mr. Jones. I can only help your wife and daughter be comfortable. The disease is well-advanced now.” She prescribed things for him to do, but his grumbling led her to believe he wouldn’t follow through. “If you value the lives of your wife and daughter you will do as I recommend. While I cannot guarantee their recovery, I am giving you everything I can to ensure their best chances of surviving this and hopefully keep you from getting ill yourself if you haven’t already contracted the illness.”

  “I’m healthy as can be,” the man boasted.

  “In this moment, that may be true, but this disease is cunning. You could be infected and not showing symptoms yet.”

  His eyes wide he nodded. “I’ll do as ye say.”

  “Good. I pray they will all be healthy soon, but true healing is in God’s hands not mine.”

  “Is it true you operated on the doctor?”

  So, the word had spread. “He was deathly ill, but is recovering well. Healing takes time, and he cannot be out and about to care for patients right now nor in his home.”

  The man nodded and escorted her to the door. Exiting, she was struck by the force of the biting wind. The sky had grown dark. She entered the carriage and Jimmy, her groom for the day, leaned in. “I’s need to return to the manor now, Miss. Sir Tidley’s orders.”

  She nodded. The poor young man had been bearing the brunt of the weather as had the horses. She reviewed her list of people to visit and wondered how Bruce had managed. She’d get an earlier start on the morrow.

  ~*~

  Day after day, it was the same routine. Rise early, dress, eat, and depart to travel around the village. Christmas was still more than a fortnight away, but she couldn’t summon any joy at the season. Fatigue weighed her down.

  It had been two weeks since she’d visited Dr. Miller, so she made him her last stop for this day. Disembarking from the carriage, she once again encountered Sr. McElroy.

  “My dear
est Silvia. I’ve tried to visit you, but they keep saying you are not at home.”

  He grabbed her hand, but she pulled it away. “They spoke the truth. I’ve been caring for the sick. The influenza has been a virulent illness in the village and surrounding area.”

  The man’s eyes grew big and he backed away. “Marry me, and you’ll not need to dirty your hands with this kind of work.”

  “Dirty my hands?…Oh,” she said dramatically. “You must be referring to the blood when I operated on the good doctor.”

  He paled. “Blood?”

  She nodded. “It was a gory surgery, but I successfully removed his appendix, and he is recovering well. I’m grateful I can help people who are hurting.”

  He swallowed hard. “’Tis not proper for a lady to do this type of work.”

  She straightened. “It is appropriate for this woman to do so, and any man who cannot understand and appreciate that about me is not one I could ever hope to marry.”

  His countenance grew fierce as he scowled, and his eyes narrowed. “You need a strong hand and a few children to tame this wildness from you.”

  “That hand would not be yours, Sir McElroy. I bid you good day.”

  She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her arm to twist her around. He pulled her close and tried to kiss her.

  She spat in his face and brought her heel down on his foot.

  He yelped, pulled back, and looked at his boot. He raised a hand to strike her, but stopped when he saw a gun pointed at him.

  “I’ve been assured that using my gun on anyone who physically accosts me would be justified. Considering you despise my chosen calling, I would not be obligated to provide medical care to you. So where would you prefer I put this bullet? There’s a doctor two towns over who could extract it.”

  Hands up, he backed away. “You dare threaten me?”

  “I believe it was you who threatened me, sir,” she ground out as she backed toward the cottage door and knocked. She kept her weapon pointed at the baronet. When the door opened, she slipped inside and leaned against the wall with her eyes closed as she let the hand with the gun drop to her side. Her breath came in shudders.

  “Miss?” the footman asked. “Are you well?”

  Silvia shook her head. “Shaken, ’tis all. Grant me a moment.”

  Bruce walked into the hall and nodded to the servant indicating he should leave. The man did so. “Silvia?” Bruce came to stand before her. “What is the matter?”

  “An erstwhile, albeit persistent suitor from Brighton followed me here to pressure me into accepting his hand.”

  “Is Sir Michael aware?”

  “Yes.”

  He glanced at the gun in her hand. “Did you threaten to shoot him?” He gently removed the weapon from her fingers and set it on a table close by. Reaching up he untied her bonnet and lifted it off her head.

  She set her bag on the floor and took off her cloak. “Yes.”

  “Could you have done that?”

  “Maybe.”

  Bruce grinned and steered her toward the drawing room to sit by the fireplace. “I’ll have some tea brought in.” He departed the room and quickly returned.

  Silvia took deep breaths to calm herself.

  Bruce settled in a chair across from her. “I was beginning to fear you’d forgotten your old friend.”

  “Never that,” Silvia whispered. “I’ve been afraid to come because I realize you’ve recovered enough to start taking care of some of your patients if you use a carriage and are careful. I guess I stayed away because…”

  “Because what?”

  “I’ll be irrelevant, and I won’t have an excuse to visit you.”

  “Let me get this straight. You didn’t come to see me because if I’ve recovered you wouldn’t be able to see me anymore?” His eyebrows rose as he shook his head and grinned.

  “Something like that.”

  “Makes no sense. It only means I can call on you as a man courting a woman, not as a man in need of a doctor.”

  She frowned. “You want to court me?”

  “I already asked you to be my wife, but you rejected my proposal. I assumed I needed to do some work to get you to agree.”

  Silvia leapt to her feet and paced. “I would only harm your work here. I doubt I could stay home and be the comfortable wife you need.”

  “Are you saying you want to assist me in my practice?”

  She turned to him and stopped. “Yes—no—I don’t know what I want.”

  The maid brought in the tea and set it on the table between the two chairs.

  “Sit down and drink some tea and tell me what compelled you to draw your gun on the gentleman in front of my home.”

  She accepted the cup he offered her and took a sip. Sighing, she explained her unwanted suitor.

  “So that man is my competition?”

  “Never that.”

  “You won’t marry him, and you won’t wed me.”

  “I never said I wouldn’t marry you. I couldn’t accept a proposal as you recovered and were medicating with brandy.”

  “You thought perhaps I didn’t know my own mind in that moment?”

  She set down the cup. “I should leave. You appear to have recovered well and I am glad God brought me here when you needed me most.”

  He followed her as she strode to the door and put on her hat.

  “Thank you for the tea,” she said.

  He spun her to face him.

  “My desires haven’t changed, Silvia. But I’ll give you time to know your own mind. I’ve waited long enough, but after this confinement, I’m impatient to get on with the business of living beyond my work as a profession. I don’t mind someone who can work alongside me. Who understands what I do. But I would never demand that you fill that role. I’d rather you were someone much dearer to my heart than that.” He touched her cheek gently sending shivers down her spine.

  She grabbed her cloak and put it on. She peered out the window to find that Sir McElroy’s coach still waited. “Drat. The man is still there. I’ll need to take the back way home. Can you get a message to my groom to meet me at Hart Manor?”

  “I’ll send the footman out after you’ve made your escape. Have a care, my dear.”

  “Thank you, Doctor Miller. I am glad you are much better.” She strode down through the kitchen to the back door and slipped through the garden into the woods.

  7

  Bruce watched out the back window until Silvia was out of sight. He couldn’t stop grinning. Whether she realized it, she was the perfect wife for him. He headed back to the front of the house and grabbed his coat, deciding to talk to the groom himself. He walked over to the Tidley carriage. “Miss Burnett has chosen to walk home and asked me to tell you to meet her there.”

  The groom nodded and stepped up to his perch, and with a flick of his wrist the horses pulled the carriage away.

  Bruce turned to head back to the house but was stopped by the tall aristocrat who stepped out of his coach.

  “Do you live here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Dr. Miller.”

  The man’s eyes narrowed. “You’re the one who has seduced my fiancée into believing she could work in medicine? What kind of fool does that?”

  “Maybe one who realizes her gifts and wants her to be happy.” Bruce almost wished he had brought the gun with him. The gun! Silvia left it on the table. He hoped she would be safe without it.

  “And yet you keep her captive at your house? You sir, are no gentleman, and I should call you out for besmirching her honor in such an atrocious manner.”

  “You much mistake the matter, sir.” Bruce turned to head back to the house, but the man grabbed him and punched him in the eye.

  Bruce staggered under the blow, scowling at the man and taking a stance in case the baronet chose to fight more. The fleeting thought of his recent surgery came and went. He would defend himself as best he could.

  “That
’ll teach you. I’m not leaving until you bring Miss Burnett to me. I suggest you do it speedily, lest I call the magistrate.”

  Bruce’s left eye was already swelling shut from the force of the blow. “You can go tell the magistrate, Lord Remington, all about what happened here. He’s a fair man. Rose Hill is a few miles from town down that road.”

  With a smug expression the man climbed back into his coach, and the driver urged the horses towards Rose Hill. Bruce shook his head and went back inside to treat his eye. Maybe he should have hit the swell back, but he was a healer. The thought of Silvia holding a gun on the man brought a smile to his face. The baronet had no idea what a treasure Miss Burnett truly was. To discount her compassion and gift for the healing arts was to fail to understand her completely.

  Sinking into his chair by the fire, he picked up his cup of tepid tea. He obviously was faring no better in wooing the beautiful doctor’s daughter, than was the man outside. In the end she’d run away from both of them. He sighed.

  An hour later Lord Remington was sitting across from him.

  “Sir McElroy did that to you?”

  “Yes. In front of my home with no provocation.”

  “He said you were keeping Miss Burnett from going home.”

  “She escaped out the back rather than facing him again. Nothing improper happened. Your servants are still in residence and can testify to the fact. She didn’t even check my wound.”

  “I’ll need to go meet with her, but it’s getting late. I’ll take care of that on Monday as tomorrow is the Sabbath. She has done an admirable job in caring for patients once they realized the gravity of the illness.”

  Bruce grinned. “I possessed no doubts she would.”

  “Will you be resuming your duties soon?”

  “I can start to get about for a few hours a day if I have a coach in which to travel. I cannot yet ride a horse.”

  “I will loan you a coach.”

  “No. You’ve already done so much.”

  “What are friends for? I’ll see you in church in the morning?”

  “I plan to make an appearance.”

  Marcus grinned. “Black eye and all. Now won’t that get the tongues wagging.”