Corridors of the Night by Anne Perry Read Free Book Online Page B

save him at almost any cost. The guilt still ached within Hester for her own father whom she had not been there to save. She had been fighting her own battles for independence and purpose as an army nurse in the Crimea when her father had been dishonoured by a brutal trick, and had taken his own life. If she had come home even a month or two earlier she might have prevented the tragedy that had driven him to such a thing. That would have spared the whole family. For her mother, the loss of a son in battle, followed by financial ruin and then the death of her husband had been too much. Her health could take no more. James, Hester’s younger brother, had done all he could, but it was beyond his power to help.
    Hester had no option but to override good manners. She turned the handle and opened the door. The laboratory was a very large room, as large as a ward, but there were no beds in it. Shelves and cupboards lined all the walls. In the centre were benches with sinks and racks of all manner of scientific instruments: glass tubes, bottles, retorts, individual gas burners and other contraptions whose use she could only guess.
    Hamilton Rand was only about eight feet from the door. He stood rigid, his face like a wedge of ice, his white cotton coat splashed with chemicals and what looked to be blood.
    ‘What do you imagine you are doing here, woman?’ he demanded. ‘How dare you barge in and interrupt me? Get out!’
    Hester straightened her shoulders and stared back at him. Doctors did not frighten her, chemists still less.
    ‘I came to deliver a message to you from Dr Rand,’ she replied levelly. ‘He requests your presence in his office to consult a young woman whose father is dying of the white blood disease. He is desperate, and has the financial means to pay you for any cure you are willing to try. Dr Rand does not wish to take the decision without consulting you.’ She said it with some satisfaction in telling him because she knew he would not resist the temptation. Even in the short time she had been here, his devotion to science had become clear to her. He spared neither himself nor others in the search for healing.
    He put the dish he was holding down on the nearside bench. ‘Then move out of the way, woman!’ he ordered. ‘We must see this patient at once.’
    He looked her up and down. He was not a tall man, and she was close to his height.
    ‘What are you?’ he asked, frowning at her. He had seen her before only a day ago, but had instantly forgotten.
    ‘A nurse,’ she replied equally stiffly.
    ‘Ah!’ There was light in his eyes. ‘Yes. Now I remember Magnus telling me about you. Come with me. Don’t stand here wasting time!’ He brushed past her and she stepped aside out of his way to avoid being knocked down. She swivelled round and followed him briskly back down the long corridors all the way to Magnus’s office.
    He flung the door open without asking. Adrienne Radnor was still sitting in the chair and she had the composure not to rise as he came in, announcing himself brusquely.
    Magnus introduced her and she answered as calmly as she could, but Hester heard the tremor in her voice. For her Hamilton Rand was far more than a brilliant and ill-mannered chemist. He represented the hope of life for the father she clearly loved profoundly.
    Hamilton turned to Hester. ‘You wait there,’ he ordered her. ‘And close the door, for God’s sake! Do you expect this young woman to tell me all her father’s symptoms with the whole world listening in?’
    ‘Mrs Monk,’ Magnus interrupted, ‘you may return to your regular duties. Thank you.’
    ‘No, you may not!’ Hamilton snapped. ‘Stay where you are, and listen.’ He completely ignored his brother but turned more gently to Adrienne. ‘I have asked Mrs Monk to remain because she was an army nurse. That means she has great experience in treating men who have been badly injured and lost much blood. She thinks quickly and does not panic. If we