Chapter 27 The Quick of Him
The Quick of Him
WHEN ALWYN had passed Sliger in the hall that morning, the boy’s eyes had lit up expectantly.
“Were you able to settle that business we discussed yesterday?”
“No,” Alwyn had replied without breaking his stride. He could hardly bear to think on the matter, and certainly did not want to discuss it with anyone. “Something interfered, and unfortunately, I'll have no time to address it today.”
Sliger began to say something, but Alwyn had hurried on, down the stairs and out of the Bull as if he were late for an appointment.
He had spent the next several hours visiting patients who were not expecting him, observing a surgery that he had not planned to watch — anything to keep his mind from the disaster of the night before.
Just as evening fell, he went to the Felixes’ house, hoping to busy himself there. As he stood in the front hallway, alone in the quiet, the thought that had been stalking him all day, pounced ferociously.
Miss Everson is lost to me.
He sighed heavily and stepped into the doctor’s study, putting his satchel down by the door. Spying the collection of letters that had been piling up in Felix’s absence, he picked up the top one, thinking he might sort them into neat stacks.
“No need for that,” said a voice behind him. “I’ll see to those tomorrow.”
Spinning on his heel, Alwyn saw Felix in the doorway. With a steaming cup in his hand, he looked comically unkempt in a frumpled dressing gown.
“You’ve returned,” Alwyn said.
“As you see.” Felix frowned. “Are you sullen at such news? Did you hope to take over my practice permanently?”
“Of course not. I’m very pleased to see you.”
“Your countenance says otherwise, though I suspect your distress is rooted in another matter. Come. Sit. It seems you have a tale to tell, and I am keen to hear it.”
Tossing the letter back onto the desk, Alwyn dropped into a chair and found the good doctor’s teacup was being pressed into his hands.
“You look as if you need this more than I do.”
Heartened by the warmth of it against his palms, Alwyn took a deep draught.
Felix sat down at his desk. “So tell me, which of my patients died in my absence?”
Recoiling, Alwyn nearly sloshed tea onto his cuffs. “Sir?”
“Come, boy – patients die! If it’s a jolly profession you want, go apprentice yourself to a minstrel.” He chuckled, then pinned Alwyn with a gimlet-eye. “So if not death, what is it that troubles you — money or a woman?”
Alwyn took a long sip before answering. “The latter.”
“Miss Everson, I presume?”
At this, Alwyn did splash tea across his sleeves and lap.
“How did you know?”
“You puppy, I am not the dullard you think I am. I well recall how your chest would puff up every time she entered the room — how your voice would register lower whenever you spoke to her. When I received your letter reporting that Mrs Rose Caspar had sought out our services, I hoped for your sake that you might see her niece again. So tell me, has some other fellow secured her affections?”
“Not that I’m aware of, no. Rather...” Alwyn stared into his half empty cup for a moment. “…it seems I have offended her.”
Felix gasped like an actor on stage.
“Mr William Alwyn — what sins have you committed? Did your muddy boots sully the Caspars’ carpet? Or— ” He grew somber. “Were you caught up in a moment of passion whilst alone together?”
“Certainly not,” Alwyn replied, knowing that Felix meant something much more involved than the kiss he had placed on Miss Everson’s wrist.
Since that moment, however, she’s thought me a rakehell, and now she thinks me a toff who fancies himself a doctor.
Running his hand through his hair, Alwyn sighed. “I’ve admired her for so long. Every moment I’ve spent with her has convinced me further how well-suited we are for one another, but I haven’t dared to speak of it.”
“Why not? You’re on the verge of being set up for life. You sit for the exam when…the 29th?”
“Assuming I still will.”
“What claptrap is this?” The elder man’s face went from empathic to perplexed in a blink. “You will pass, Alwyn – there’s no doubt of that.”
“That is not my fear, sir.”
“Well then what could possibly tempt you to throw away your last seven years of toil and study?” Felix sniffed. “As well as a good portion of my time and efforts, I might add.”
Hearing the doctor’s indignation, Alwyn’s blood ran cold with a new realization.
Even he, my mentor — my closest friend! — may spurn me when he learns the truth!
“Come now — out with it,” Felix said with a frown.
Swallowing hard, Alwyn replied, “I am not who you think I am.”
The last of the day’s light coming through the window illuminated the doctor’s staid expression as he shook his head. “I beg to differ. When one has laboured alongside another through delicate and despairing tasks, one learns exactly who their companions are, to the very quick of their beings.”
“A sage thought, but I may ruin it for you entirely with my next statement.”
Leaning forward, Felix rested his elbows on the desk. “Go on, then.”
“When I told you at our first meeting that I am called ‘William Alwyn’, a more complete introduction of myself would have been, ‘William Alwyn Charford Wirth’.”
With a lift of his eyebrows, Felix shrugged. “If you are a notorious highwayman, your brigandry is unknown to me — forgive my levity. Please explain yourself.”
“You will recall, of course,” Alwyn said, “that at this time last year, I was called home at my father’s passing. It was then that I succeeded to…the title of Viscount Farrmore.”
The smug assurance on Felix’s face shifted into disbelief. Then, slapping his palm down on the desktop, he shot to his feet.
“We’ve been wondering all of these years!” he hooted, then righted the inkwell he had just upset. “Oh dear boy, you must give me leave to tell Aggie! Her theory was closer to the mark than mine — oh, how she will gloat!”
His laughter grew and became so violent that Alwyn feared he might be choking.
“Dear me, Archie! Are you alright?” Mrs Felix had opened the door to peer inside. She blenched at the sight of the young apprentice, and patted at her disheveled hair. “I beg your pardon, Mr Alwyn. I intrude only to ensure my husband will live another day.”
“Oh, Aggie!” Felix cawed. “I’ve just been told a story for the ages! Do come in and hear it!”
“Certainly not,” she huffed. “I’ve already donned my nightclothes!” Drawing her head back out, she shut the door firmly.
Finally spent, Felix tightened the sash on his dressing gown, his aged face awash with satisfaction.
“You’re not angry with me?” Alwyn asked.
“I hardly think your desire for privacy should warrant my ire.”
“But how will patients have confidence in me if they learn of my title?”
Pursing his lips at this apparent departure from reason, Felix replied, “The ailing and their families will measure you by your capabilities, not your rank or wealth.”
“But sir,” Alwyn spoke slowly as yet another possible misfortune formed in his head. “What if you are denounced for having taken me on as your apprentice?”
“Me, denounced? Impossible!” Felix glowered at such absurdity. “Everyone acquainted with me knows I am an excellent practitioner. And they will know the same of you!”
As the doctor’s words sank in, Alwyn’s heaviness lifted.
He knows me truly now, and remains convinced. Looking steadily at the man, he said, “Thank you, sir — I’ve never had a friend as good as you.”
“Yes well, it has been my pleasure, I assure you. Now Lord Farrmore, let’s think this through, shall we?
” Felix sat back down. “In two weeks’ time, you will sit for your exam, pass it with ease, and by dinnertime you will declare yourself to the young lady.
A faultless plan, think you not?” He leaned back, resting his hands upon his paunch.
Though Alwyn may have appeared thoughtful at the man’s suggestion, his mind was elsewhere.
Felix holds nothing against me. But Miss Everson…
He shook his head faintly.
“No? Do you fear she’ll reject you even then?” The doctor chortled. “Perhaps she’ll hold out for someone with a duchy?”
…she may want to settle with the Hartleys straightaway.
“I must speak with her tonight, or she may go off to Lancashire,” Alwyn muttered.
Felix frowned. “Lancashire? How does that fit in?”
The young man shot up from his chair. “I’ve no time to tell you now.”
In a few quick strides, he had snapped up his satchel and was through the front door.
If only she will listen! To which theatre was she going?
Dashing down the steps to the street, he hailed a hansom cab, and told its driver, “To the Adelphi — hurry, man!”