A Season for the Heart by Elizabeth Chater Read Free Book Online

face.
    “Hush now, my dear, you must be very good and quiet, and answer Dr. Stewart’s questions, for he cannot decide what is to be done unless you tell him what he needs to know,” said Pommy.
    The Fair Unknown shed a few tears, which, Pommy observed with strong envy, did not serve to redden her perfect little nose, and then promised to be very good if Pommy would stay beside her and hold her hand. This plan the doctor agreed to, and conducted his examination, both physical and verbal, with gruff kindliness.
    A few minutes later he walked over to the Earl and said, “There is really nothing wrong with the young lady which rest and proper diet will not cure. She may of course suffer a slight inflammation of the lungs due to exposure in the storm, but that should not create alarm if reasonable care is taken.” He eyed the tall nobleman keenly. “I take it from Ainton’s servant that you found the young lady lying in the road?”
    “I believe she was running across the road as my carriage approached, and slipped and fell, frightening my horses. They are highbred, and tend to take alarm at the least provocation,” the Earl explained by way of apology.
    “Women will never understand these matters,” said Dr. Stewart. “The gel should have waited to cross the road until you had got past.”
    “Have you any idea who she may be?” asked the Earl. “The Aintons do not seem to be able to identify her, and my niece has not dared to question her until we had your opinion on her state of health.”
    Pommy, who had been listening carefully, nodded her head at the Earl’s sensible nomination of herself as his niece. He caught her eye at just that moment, surprising her, and a quirk of amusement pulled his lips as he read her unqualified approval of his ploy.
    The doctor was speaking. “No, I have never seen the young woman before—and believe me, I would have remembered that face! She is a stranger to these parts. I would say a sheltered female, possibly from one of the larger cities, if the ornate quality of her garments is taken into account. Everything silk,” he explained, with a conscious smile.
    The Earl proffered a fee and profuse thanks for Dr. Stewart’s courtesy and dedication in coming out upon such a wretched night. The gentlemen parted with mutual good will, and a jocose comment by Dr. Stewart that if Milord’s niece ever chose to become a doctor’s assistant, he himself would be delighted to employ her.
    “Now do not , I beg of you, Pommy,” pleaded the Earl when the door had closed after the doctor, “begin to spin out a story in which you accept Stewart’s offer, nurse a large family through the cholera, and then die in great agony, surrounded by all your grateful and grieving well-wishers!”
    Pommy had to grin at him, thinking as she did so how very well he seemed to understand her, and that no one, not even her beloved grandfather, had ever entered into her fantasies as this man did.
    The Earl had come over to the bed, and now was smiling down at the Fair Unknown. “Dr. Stewart gives us a very comfortable report of you, child. Can you rest a little now, while I take Pommy to eat her dinner? She has not had a bite for hours, and is gallantly starving to death in silence!”
    This pleasantry caused the perfectly cut lips to form a smile. Slender fingers slowly released their grip on Pommy’s warm hand. “Oh, yes, you must refresh yourself, dear Pommy! I shall be content here until you return to me.”
    “Would you wish to have a maidservant to keep you company?” asked Pommy.
    “No!” sighed the invalid. “I shall just wait for you.”
    The Earl got Pommy out of the room with dispatch. “I have ordered a meal for us in a private parlor. After we have eaten, we must discuss the future of the Fair Unknown, and of yourself.”
    “However did you know I had designated our charge ‘the Fair Unknown’?” asked Pommy, much struck.
    “What else?” teased Lord Austell. “I knew you , you