well tethered, Iâm afraid, and as you knowââhe rewarded his housekeeper with a smile that instantly turned the formidable creature into a blushing girlââif she waits for me to have a meal, sheâll die of starvation.â
âYou work too hard, doctor!â
âNot at all.â He deflected her maternal concern, and Gayle marveled at the way he diplomatically turned his housekeeper into an ally. âIâm a tyrant of an employer and blessed to have you, Mrs. Evans.â
Mrs. Evans retreated in a happy flurry, returning to her duties without another glance in Gayleâs direction.
She sighed. âI donât think your housekeeper approves, Dr. West.â
âShe wonât be the first not to do so, Miss Renshaw,â he countered. âBut on a somewhat related subject, I should point out that your door has a dead bolt.â
âI see.â Except she didnât see what in the world dead bolts had to do with Mrs. Evans.
âTo protect your virtue,â he added, instinctively providing another clue.
âI see,â she repeated, with a little more confidence. âI shall be sure to use it, if only to reassure Mrs. Evans that my virtue is intact under your roof.â
âSee that you do,â he said, a mysterious heat in his eyes making the command almost hypnotic. But before she could identify it, heâd turned away and returned to the workroom and the business of her apprenticeship. âIâll have a small desk brought up to your room as well. The laboratory is very good for studying, but youâll still need a private space of your own, Iâm sure, for letters, journals, and any personal business you may have.â
âThank you.â
Rowan began pulling down books, barely looking at the shelves as if he knew the volumes by touch alone. âHow is your Latin?â
âVery good,â she answered confidently.
âHave you studied Hippocrates?â
She shook her head. âOnly vicariously, Iâm afraid.â
âWeâll start with the classics. Youâll read these, Miss Renshaw, and know them like you know your own history. I want you to absorb as much as you can, taking it all in, and when commanded, you should be able to quote it like the Bible.â
She took the books reverently. Hippocratic Writings ; Hippocratic Aphorisms ; Fasciculus Medicinae ; Articella ; and Pantegni.
He placed his hand gently on the top of the page, breaking her connection to the words and drawing her back to the present. âStudy them, Miss Renshaw, and while I may have asked you to be able to quote them like the Bible, I want you to be clear that this is no religion, although some of my colleagues use words like heresy and blasphemy for those who argue against this ancient wisdom. While there may be some elements of useful truth inside these texts, they are not infallible or inerrant.â
âOh!â she whispered in quiet shock. She had always understood that health was tied to the balance of the four bodily humors: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. Everything sheâd overheard the physicians of her childhood saying had only reinforced that belief. âI thought that all doctors still believed in the four humors.â
He smiled. âBelief is an action of faith. As I said, this isnât religion. We are in the service of science. If we have learned that we know anything for certain, it is that we know almost nothing for certain. The ancient Greeks and Arabs and their medieval followers have had a great influence on my profession and our approach to healing. But I am a heretic, Miss Renshaw.â
âWhy ask me to study them at all, if you donât hold to their teaching?â she asked.
âHeretic is from the root of a Greek word that means one who can choose , Miss Renshaw. You must understand a school of knowledge thoroughly before you can claim the wisdom to choose what to
Learning to Kill: Stories