Chapter 13 Another Jolt of Dread
Another Jolt of Dread
“HELLO! Hello, there!”
Hearing the voice behind him, Alwyn kept his eyes fixed on the pavement and hastened on. Only a little further up Harley Street and he could disappear inside Dr Felix’s house. But when hurried footsteps brought someone right to his side, he had to look up.
Sliger.
“Blains and boils, man — you walk so fast!” the boy panted, laughing. “I haven’t seen you for days and I’ve got such news to tell you! But…is something the matter?”
What? Am I skulking along? Alwyn straightened up.
“Ah, Mr Sliger — I beg your pardon. I was lost in thought.” He slackened his pace but a little. “What’s this wonderful news of yours?”
“Oh, but are you alright? You look as if you’re carrying the weight of the world in your satchel.”
Knowing well that he had never excelled in pretense, Alwyn would not deny his upset, but he also would not explain the breadth of it.
“Forgive me. I’ve just left a patient’s home. Her feet are useless, swollen with gout, but perhaps worse is her isolation. She has only one person living with her, and that a hired companion.”
“Hmm.” Sliger was somber as they strode along. “There is much to be pitied there.”
“Yes, and seeing her brought to mind my own aunt, living alone since my father’s passing. She’s far off so I can rarely call on her myself.”
They were nearing Dr Felix’s doorstep.
“No room for her in your garret at the Bull, ay?” Sliger’s joke brought a smile to Alwyn’s face.
“No, certainly not. I would like to get a companion for her—”
Oh, he mustn’t know that I currently have the funds to do such a thing.
“—once I am a doctor, earning a living.”
“And when will that be?”
“I sit for my exam at the end of the month.”
“So soon? Puke and pustules!” Sliger grinned. “I can only imagine how wonderful that must be! I’ve yet to even start my apprenticeship. Oh, but as for my news! You won’t believe it!”
“Go on, then,” Alwyn urged, getting the key from his coat as they went up the front steps to Felix’s door.
But no delightful tale was then relayed, for at that moment, a carriage stopped in the street, and a footman jumped down from its footboard.
No, Loughley did not somehow follow me here, Alwyn reassured himself, after his initial jolt of dread. This carriage has a black top, and there is no crest on its door
Bounding up the steps, the footman asked, “Is this the home of Dr Archibald Felix?”
“Yes.”
“My master’s been struck down, and my mistress is all a-dither.” The tall, young man bounced uneasily on the balls of his feet. “She begs the doctor come to Hertford Street at once.”
Alwyn opened his mouth to explain where Felix was and offer his own services, but a wisp of doubt made him pause.
Felix left me in charge of a very specific list of patients. He said nothing of me presenting myself as his proxy in new cases.
The worry lines in the footman’s brow grew deeper. “Won’t you come and put my mistress at ease?”
A man needs medical attention, Alwyn told himself firmly. That, I can give him.
He dropped the key back into his pocket, and stepped towards the awaiting carriage. Darting over, the servant swung its door wide to receive him.
I’m answering my first emergent call. Alwyn took a steadying breath, but as he settled his satchel on the seat, he realized he was not alone. And Sliger means to squire me?
While he pondered the boy’s presumption, the driver cracked his whip, and they lurched into quick motion.
“May I tell you my news now?”
“Erm…yes. What has happened?”
“Remember how I was whinging to you about my uncle’s change in fortune?
Well, that evening when I went back to my room, thinking I’d clear out by morning, the landlord pulled me aside.
” The boy’s eyes twinkled as he perched on the edge of the seat.
“He says that as long as I’m studying to be a doctor, I’ll have room and board at the Bull without charge! ”
“What?” Alwyn feigned shock. “But the man’s a skinflint! How did he explain such madness?”
“It seems his sister nearly died last year, and I bear a remarkable resemblance to the doctor who cured her.” Sliger laughed out loud.
Alwyn nearly snorted. A life-saving doctor who looks like this young shaveling?
He had not expected the dirty-aproned fellow to be so inventive, nor so ridiculous, while taking credit for such largesse.
“Ah, trots!” Sliger said suddenly, his joy dimming. “I don’t sound as if I’m gloating, do I?”
“Not at all! I’m very pleased for you.”
“Thank you. He wants me to stay quiet about it – says if every student comes clambering for such charity he’ll lose his inn – but I had to tell someone, and you seemed the proper choice.”
Yes, certainly the ‘proper choice’ to hear how that particular story played out.
Alwyn smirked to himself, then asked what Sliger had told his family about the surprising turn of events.
The boy recounted the letter he had written in much detail, then started to tell another story when the carriage suddenly swayed to a stop.
Looking out of the window, Alwyn saw an unfamiliar row house, and the gravity of his situation hit him full force once again.
Did I bring everything I need? He fumbled with his satchel, fighting the ridiculous idea that when he opened it, he would find a collection of toys whittled out of wood rather than his doctoring instruments.
The carriage door opened, and the footman urged, “Just this way.”
Forgetting all else, Alwyn followed him through the servants’ entrance, past a warren of rooms, to arrive in the front hall.
There, a woman was descending the staircase.
Seeing her ashen face, he realized he had met her before — in Trippingham at the start of Mrs Everson’s convalescence.
Coming towards him was none other than the aunt of Miss Belinda Everson!
“Mrs Caspar,” he murmured, bowing.
“Oh! Thank you for coming so quickly.” She glanced just beyond him, a question in her eyes.
Following her gaze, Alwyn saw that Sliger had followed him in and was standing close by.
Blast! She was expecting Dr Felix, not his unseasoned assistant with a na?f in tow!
But Mrs Caspar said nothing of it, grasping at Alwyn’s sleeve. “Please. Up here.”
Motioning to Sliger that he ought to stay put, Alwyn let her draw him up the stairs. As they started down the hallway, he said, “Mrs Caspar, Dr Felix is presently in Yorkshire, but I have come to help you in any way that I can.”
“I am very thankful to see either of you in this moment. My husband is quite unwell.” Tears glittered in her eyes as she opened a bedroom door.
Heartened by her confidence, Alwyn took a deep breath and stepped inside the room.