by Fanny Walsh
However, his adrenaline had been pushed to its limit, and his entire body felt as if he ran all the way around London quite a few times.
He went back into his clinic and made his way to his office, intending to read some of the notes he had made over the past few weeks about Mary’s leg procedure, but he began nodding off almost immediately, and put his head down on his desk. Within minutes, he was sound asleep.
***
As he promised, two days before Mary’s procedure was scheduled, he paid her a visit at home. When he arrived, with his medical bag in hand, her staff greeted him warmly, welcoming him inside.
Susan showed him up the stairs and knocked on Mary’s study door.
“Yes?” Mary asked.
Susan opened the door and peeked in.
“Milady, Lord Tornight just arrived,” Susan said.
Mary beamed.
“Please, do come in,” Mary said, rising from behind her desk.
“Good morning, Mary,” Duncan said. “You are looking quite well.”
“I feel well,” she said. Duncan took note of the pink color in her cheeks and the healthy sparkle in her eyes. Considering what she had recently experienced, Duncan thought that she did indeed look very well.
“Have you been sleeping well?” Duncan asked.
“Better than I have slept in months,” Mary gushed. “The medicine you gave me is a miracle.”
“I am glad to hear it,” Duncan said. “Are you ready for your exam?”
Mary’s eyes shone.
“I most certainly am,” she said. Duncan loved her enthusiasm and determination regarding the procedure. She motioned for Susan to take a seat near a bookcase on the far wall. Susan closed the door behind the trio and then complied.
Duncan was relieved to find that there was no unusual swelling in her leg. It also appeared that her leg had not suffered any bruising as she fought her uncle. Duncan pressed the area where the bone had been broken gently with his fingertips.
“Let me know if you feel any pain,” Duncan said.
Mary smiled kindly.
“I feel a bit of pressure,” she said. “But fortunately, that does not cause any pain.”
“Very good,” Duncan said. He was impressed by Mary yet again. Her ability to recover from even the most traumatic of events was astounding, and he loved her even more.
“Well, am I ready for surgery, doctor?” Mary asked. She looked apprehensive, and Duncan thought it might be because she feared that he would tell her he must postpone the procedure. He smiled reassuringly at her.
“You are quite ready for surgery,” Duncan said. He could not suppress a laugh whenever Mary gasped and clapped her hands together.
“Excellent,” she cried. “At what time should I arrive at the office?”
“If it is alright with you, I will come and fetch you personally,” Duncan said.
Mary looked at him quizzically.
“You can come in your own carriage, if you like,” Duncan said quickly. “However, you will need to spend a night or two in the clinic after the procedure, and I can bring you home immediately after that, rather than you having to try to call for your own carriage to come back there while you recover.”
Mary nodded firmly.
“Then that is what I shall do,” she said.
“Wonderful,” Duncan said. “I am afraid that I must get back to the clinic. I have a patient coming in soon, but I will be here the day after tomorrow at about 8 o’clock in the morning. Is that alright with you?”
“It is perfect,” Mary said, clasping her hands at her chest. “Thank you so much, Duncan.”
Duncan grinned at her.
“It is a pleasure to be able to help you,” he said.
Susan saw him out, and he was on his way back to his office.
Duncan spent the next two days carefully reading all the texts he had that related to Mary’s case. He added to the notes he had made when they first began discussing the procedure and studied round the clock. He even went to bed at 7 p.m. the night before the surgery.
Nonetheless, when the morning of Mary’s appointment came, he felt nervous. He did not doubt his skill, and he knew unquestioningly that Mary did not doubt it, either. If it were any other patient, he would not be at all concerned.
But this was Mary, his Mary, and he was hoping that the recovery would not be harder on her than he had anticipated.
When he arrived at Mary’s home to collect her, she and Susan were already standing outside waiting. Duncan leaped from the carriage to help the women inside while the butler loaded up a small trunk for Mary’s stay.
“Good morning, ladies,” Duncan said as he boarded the carriage.
“Good morning, milord,” Susan said.
Duncan took Mary’s hand and gave it a gentle kiss.
“Good morning, Duncan,” Mary said. Her eyes were warm, but her face looked strained. Duncan worried for a moment that she had stayed awake all night.
Mary saw him looking at her and smiled wanly.
“I am fine, really,” she said. “I just can hardly believe this is really happening.”
“You will do just fine,” Duncan said. “And you will be back on your feet in no time.”
Mary laughed at his joke, and her face relaxed.
“I have no doubt that I am in excellent hands,” she said.
“That, you certainly are,” Duncan said. The trio rode the rest of the way to the clinic in silence.
When they arrived at his office, Duncan escorted the women inside. Duncan made sure that Susan was comfortable in the waiting area, bringing out a pitcher of water and a glass.
“Thank you, milord. You are too kind,” Susan said with a kind smile.
“Not at all, Susan,” Duncan said.
Once Susan was taken care of, Duncan put up his closed sign and locked his office door. He had cleared his schedule for the day, but he did not want any unforeseen interruptions while he operated on Mary.
With that done, he walked Mary back to the furthest room. He helped Mary get comfortable, then went to the cabinet and carefully selected the proper drink he used for cases such as this – a strong enough drink to numb his patients’ senses enough to endure the pain.
“Are you ready?” Duncan asked as he poured a generous amount of the golden liquid into a glass and handed it to Mary.
She nodded. “I believe so,” she said.
Duncan squeezed her hand, waiting for her to finish the drink, and then pouring her a little more. After some time, Mary dozed off, and he could begin.
***
The procedure took a few hours, but it even more successful than Duncan had hoped it would be. As soon as he was finished, he returned the bottle to the cabinet and selected a strong pain medication. He set it on the table by Mary’s bedside, so it would be ready as soon as she awoke.
It was only then that Duncan realized his face was coated in a thin layer of sweat. He closed the door to Mary’s room quietly and walked to the washbasin. He splashed water on his face and dabbed it with a fresh cloth. Then, he went into the waiting area.
“How is milady?” Susan asked, putting aside her reading and rising from her seat.
“The procedure is complete, and she is resting comfortably,” Duncan said, giving Susan a gentle smile.
Susan returned the smile.
“I am glad,” Susan said.
“Please, feel free to use one of the sick beds to sleep while Mary is here recovering,” Duncan said.
“Thank you, milord. You are very generous,” Susan said.
“Thank you for taking such excellent care of Mary,” Duncan said.
Susan smiled knowingly.
“It is my pleasure,” she said.
Duncan tried to situate himself in his office while he waited for Mary to awaken. However, he feared that, even with his office door open, he would not hear her stir. He decided to move his office chair into the hallway just outside her door.
Now that the operation was c
omplete, he let himself relax a bit. He sat and read another of his texts while he waited outside Mary’s room. At some point, he must have nodded off, because the next thing he knew, it was getting dark outside, and he could hear Mary groaning.
***
The next couple of months were the most difficult of Duncan’s life. After he cleared Mary to return home after her surgery, he visited her every day to check the incisions and gradually begin working with her on walking on her leg again.
During those weeks, he witnessed how much pain Mary was experiencing, and his heart ached. Doing Mary’s procedure and watching her in that pain was the hardest thing Duncan had ever done, and there were moments where he almost regretted doing that to her.
However, after just a few weeks, he noticed the rate at which Mary seemed to be healing.
She had begun refusing her pain medication just two weeks after the procedure, and she was walking almost completely on her own at around the fifth week.
Duncan was impressed by her progress, although he was not entirely surprised. As he watched Mary improve more quickly by the day, he began to suspect something else of her uncle.
Given how well she was adjusting since the surgery, Duncan could not help but wonder if that awful cad had set Mary’s broken bone incorrectly the first time on purpose, in the hopes of making her completely reliant on him and eventually forcing her to do what he wanted.
As Mary continued her recovery, she and Duncan learned that, due to new evidence that was uncovered after her uncle’s arrest, Kent Hillington was also convicted of the murder of Beatrice’s father. Duncan made a mental note to personally thank Theodore for his role in the arrest and conviction.
He also had not forgotten his vow to forgive his cousin’s debt, and he was still more than happy to do just that. He had Mary, and she was now perfectly safe. He felt that he owed that to his cousin.
Duncan arrived one morning a bit earlier than he usually did. He was anxious to see Mary, especially since they had just found out about her uncle’s conviction the day before. He was surprised to see that Mary was the one who greeted him at the door.
“Please, do come in,” Mary said, a big grin on her face.
“Where is the butler?” Duncan asked, confused, as he entered the foyer.
“I asked him to allow me to answer when you arrived,” Mary said.
Duncan shook his head, puzzled. Then, as Mary took his hand and led him into the breakfast room, he noticed how she was walking. The limp she had had in the weeks previous was now all but undetectable. Duncan realized then that she had wished to answer the door herself to show him the progress she had made.
“You are walking very well,” Duncan observed, his heart swelling with pride. He knew that Mary was strong, but this astounding recovery she had made reinforced his belief in that fact threefold.
Mary smiled widely again.
“Is it not wonderful? And I have you to thank for that,” she said. “Please, won’t you join me for breakfast?”
“I am not hungry, but I would love to sit with you,” Duncan said. He pulled out Mary’s seat for her, then took the seat to her right.
He watched her eat in silence for a moment, taking in her new radiance. She had always been beautiful to him, from the first moment he met her, but since her leg had been reset, she positively glowed. Duncan even thought that she looked younger than when he first met her.
Mary noticed him watching her and laughed.
“Is this a new part of my treatment, doctor?” she asked.
“I was just thinking about how wonderful it is that you have recovered so impressively,” he said.
“If only my uncle could see me now,” she said. Her smile faded, and Duncan ached to embrace her.
“Mary, I am terribly sorry for taking away someone you loved so dearly,” Duncan said, for the first time feeling guilty for Kent’s arrest.
Mary shook her head and smiled through tears that had formed in her eyes.
“I owe you my life,” Mary said. “And I am forever grateful to you for saving me, and for revealing to me who my uncle really is.”
Duncan wiped away a tear and leaned toward her, giving her a soft, chaste kiss.
“You will always have one man who loves you unconditionally. If, that is, you will have me,” he said.
Mary smiled up at him, and the love he saw in her eyes took away Duncan’s breath.
Chapter 35
Mary spent the first few days after the operation in a medicated, groggy haze.
She vaguely recalled that her cousins had come to visit a couple of times, and she was distantly aware of Susan’s constant presence at her side. Susan had even taken up sleeping in a chair beside Mary’s bed.
More than once, Mary tried to gently admonish Susan and tell her to go get a few hours’ rest in her bed, that she would be fine, but her thick tongue and drug-clouded brain made intelligible words impossible. Blessedly, however, there had been no nightmares, and for that, Mary was greatly relieved.
By the end of the first week, Mary could think more clearly and sit up in bed on her own. Susan had told her of her cousin’s visits, as well as visits from a couple of Mary’s friends whom she had not seen since the end of the past Season, who had brought various gifts.
Mary asked Susan to bring her some paper and her ink well so that she could begin penning warm letters of thanks for their visits and presents.
While Mary waited for Susan to return, her thoughts drifted to Beatrice. Mary noted, with a heavy heart, that Beatrice’s name was not among the visitors Susan had mentioned.
Though she had not had an opportunity to speak to Beatrice about the things her uncle had told her, Mary knew with almost complete certainty that Beatrice would have heard the dreadful news.
She also felt sure that her friend’s absence during her recovery meant that Beatrice was angry with her for her uncle’s actions. Mary prayed that was not the case, but she also could not blame her.
Just as Susan returned with the stationery and pen, there was a loud knock on the front door. Susan placed the tray with the items on Mary’s lap and helped her get comfortable.
Then, she went downstairs to address whoever had just arrived. Moments later, Susan returned, and behind her peeked a familiar face. Mary felt equal parts relieved and nervous.
“Bea,” Mary cried, putting aside the tray with the pen and paper.
“How are you feeling?” Beatrice asked. Mary could not read her face, which worried her more still.
“Better by the day,” Mary said quickly. The last thing she wanted to discuss with her friend was her leg. “How are you?”
“I got word of your uncle,” Beatrice said.
Mary’s heart began to pound impossibly hard and fast.
“Yes, it was terrible,” Mary said carefully.
There was silence for a few moments more.
“I also know what he did to my father,” Beatrice continued, her voice breaking, and her gaze directed at the floor.
Mary froze. Now that the subject had been addressed, she had no idea what to say. Worse still, she did not know what Beatrice wanted to say.
The tension in the room expanded to unfathomable proportions. Susan, who had continued standing in the doorway after Beatrice’s arrival, quietly excused herself. Mary barely heard her over the sound of her racing heart.
When at last Mary dared to look at Beatrice, she saw that her friend’s shoulders were shaking furiously with silent sobs. However, when her friend finally looked up at her again, Mary was shocked to see a broadening smile on her face.
“You do not know the burden which has lifted from my shoulders knowing who was responsible for my father’s murder,” Beatrice said, her voice thick, but indeed relieved.
“I am terribly sorry that it was someone in my family that caused yours so much tragedy and grief,” Mary blurted before she could stop herself.
Beatrice’s smile wavered for a moment.
“Thank you,” Beatri
ce said, blinking the tears from her eyes. “But it is not you who should be apologizing.”
“But I am just as much to blame for what happened to your father as my uncle,” Mary said. The guilt was consuming her, and she found herself unable to stop speaking. “I should have been able to see what kind of man he truly was. My failure to see his treacherous nature allowed what happened to your father—”
