Chapter 3 #2
“And did you ever confess to your parents what you had done?” Felix asked, still grinning.
“My father, yes, but he agreed with me that my mother would be better left unaware.” Alwyn filled his mouth with stew.
“Where is it you hail from?” Mrs Felix asked. “I seem to have forgotten.”
Ever the ferret, Alwyn thought, chewing and swallowing.
It relieved him that no one else in London besides these two seemed to find him interesting.
When he paid the fee to ensure he might ‘walk the halls’, the hospital treasurer would hardly look up from his desk.
Neither did the course instructors ask him a single question when he bought tickets to their lectures.
“An obscure place, hardly worth marking on the map,” he replied, reaching for a second roll. “But tell me, Mrs Felix, how do you get these so incredibly light?”
“Ha ha! Such a crafty diverter!” Felix said. “A great effort on your part, Aggie, but you’ll never wheedle his secrets out of him! I’ve tried!”
With a smile of surrender, Mrs Felix asked nothing more about Alwyn’s birthplace. The dinner conversation progressed in another direction, amiably so, until the doctor pushed his empty bowl away.
“I’ve invited you here tonight, Alwyn, as I’ve something to discuss with you.”
Standing, he stepped over to the window curtain which hung to the floor, lifting it to reveal a box tied with a purple ribbon.
For me? Alwyn thought. Because I’m nearly done with school?
“Oh Dr Felix, presents are quite unnecessary,” he said. “Your tutelage over the years has been more than gift enou–”
“This? It’s not for you. You’ll understand your part in all of this in just a moment.” The older man set the box on the table right in front of his wife. “Here you are, Agnes.”
He kissed her on the cheek, then settled back into his chair, his bristly face smug.
“What’s this?” Mrs Felix touched the ribbon tentatively.
“You’ll know once you open it, won’t you? Go on.”
The tie fell away, and she took off the lid. Gasping, she stood and lifted a soup tureen out of the box, setting it on the table with the utmost reverence. It had the same purple glaze as the crockery they had just used for dinner.
“Oh, Archie! More of Wedgwood’s Moonlight Lustre! You spoil me!” She caressed the bone china lid.
“Sent all the way from Staffordshire,” Dr Felix said quietly, watching his wife dab at tears in her eyes.
Alwyn thought the smears of mauve and gold in the dish’s finish looked like a gaudy watercolour, but his heart was warmed at Mrs Felix’s obvious fondness for the piece, and by the doctor’s thoughtfulness in giving it to her.
What might I present to Miss Everson to make her this happy?
“That is not all, my Aggie.” Felix cleared his throat. “For day after tomorrow, we’re off to Yorkshire for a visit, long delayed.”
Mrs Felix froze, staring silently at her husband. Then she began to weep in earnest. Moving to her, Felix took the basin’s lid out of her hand and set it gently down, then enfolded her in his arms.
Feeling very much like an intruder on the intimate moment, Alwyn quietly rose from his seat, intending to slip out of the door.
“Not so fast, dear boy,” Felix murmured.
“It’s been so long since I saw the Dales,” Aggie said wetly.
“Well, as I have a reliable man to stand in my stead, you shall see them again, and me there, right beside you.” The doctor looked at Alwyn. “I’ll need you to oversee the practice while we are away.”
The gravity of this honour hit Alwyn at once. As did its poor timing.
He can’t have forgot that I’m soon to sit for my examination.
As if reading his mind, the doctor said, “My patient roster is the shortest it’s been in years, so you’ll still have time to study and attend lectures.”
But what about riding out to Trippingham to see Miss Everson? Alwyn thought as Felix continued.
“When you go before the Court of Examiners next month, you can tell them that your master surgeon entrusted his practice to you for a few weeks’ time. Then their estimation of you will soar, especially as they will know that Dr Archibald Felix is your mentor,” he added playfully.
Smiling vaguely at the jest, Alwyn knew he could not refuse – Dr Felix had done so much for him. He nodded. “It would be a privilege, sir.”
“Good lad. I thank you. You’ll need to record each visit in the log on my desk, and drop the fees collected into the strongbox there. Here’s the roster and a key to the house. You are, of course, acquainted with all of the patients already.”
As Alwyn reached for the items, he recalled something. “Oh! I must tell you that I need to make a brief trip home at month’s end. I’ve long been expected and cannot put it off.”
“Very well. A few days’ absence will do no harm.”
Alwyn tucked the key into his pocket and repeated his thanks for dinner.
Still overwhelmed, Mrs Felix merely fluttered her hand in farewell.
He retrieved his coat and let himself out.
Breathing in the summer’s evening air, he started down Harley Street.
He knew Felix approved of him, but this new proof indicated something much more.
And when Miss Everson’s family hears of it, they’ll know I’m no fraud in spite of anything else they may learn about me.