Page 20 of Not Quite a Lady
Lily whisked out of the door before he had a chance to change his mind. Her voice drifted back through the opening. ‘Now remember, Percy. No clothes for Mr Lovell until the doctor saysso.’
There was a pause and the sound of the footman whispering.
‘And I do not care what excuse he comes up with, not even if the house is on fire.’
Damned managing, bossy, infuriating, vulgar, brazen faced…
‘Your breakfast.’ Percy placed a heavy tray squarely and painfully in Jack’s lap. ‘Did you say something, sir?’
‘I was merely grinding my teeth.’
Castration by breakfast tray. That at least was one path to continence.
‘Thank you. Please will you fetch me the portfolio which is with my luggage. I give you my word it does not contain so much as one neck cloth.’
The faintest tremor of a smile passed over the young footman’s face. ‘Very good, sir.’
By the time Doctor Ord was ushered in, Jack had demolished a substantial breakfast of eggs, ham and sausage and was scribbling notes in the margins of a report to the Royal Society on a new type of valve for steam pumps.
His headache had subsided from penetrating to merely pounding and he had regained his temper.
‘Good day, Mr Lovell.’ Doctor Ord placed his case on the table and advanced on Jack, giving him ample opportunity to notice his fashionable suit of clothes and the handsome signet on his left hand.
A very large doctor’s bill indeed.
‘And how are you feeling this morning?’
‘Stiff in the back. I have an evil headache and a sore jaw, but other than that I am perfectly fine and I would be deeply obliged to you, sir, if you would prevail upon Miss France to have my clothes returned to me so I can get out of bed.’
‘Tsk, tsk. Well, I am sure you know best, but I suggest yousubmit to an examination. Miss France will no doubt be most disappointed if I do not stay for a reasonable length of time.’
‘I will be paying your bill,’ Jack pointed out with some difficulty as the doctor manipulated his jaw.
‘Of course. But Miss France will still expect the most thorough treatment for her guest.
‘No bleeding anywhere? No? Excellent. Vision blurred? How many fingers am I holding up? Good, good. Bend forward so I can see your back. Tsk, tsk. Shall we remove the bandages? I applied them more to prevent Miss France glimpsing the extent of the bruising than for any other reason. It looks most alarming, but no doubt you are used to that.’
‘You have noticed some scars? I imagine you will have cautioned Miss France about me as a result?’ Jack said it amiably and the doctor responded in kind.
‘I did. I have known Miss France for many years and have a concern for her welfare.’
‘I own a coal mine. I have been involved in a few accidents and in the collapse of a gallery which caused most of the more dramatic marks on my back.’
‘Well, you have a hard head, sir. I see no problem with you getting up, provided you take things easy and rest.’ The doctor glanced at the pile of paper on the bed. ‘And do less reading.’
‘I will promise anything if you will tell the young man on guard outside my door to bring me my breeches.’
Getting washed, shaved and dressed was more of an ordeal than Jack would have admitted. Somehow the prospect of taking things easy for a day or so was less onerous than it had seemed when he was trapped in his bed.
At last Percy hefted his portmanteaux and led the way out of the bedchamber.
Braced for further Egyptian assaults on his nerves Jack found himself blinking in what he assumed was supposed to be apassage in an Indian palace. The stuccoed arches and inlaid marble gave way abruptly to gilded Classical columns as the corridor opened out onto the landing.
He stopped to study the junction between the two, trying to decide whether such a clash of styles could possibly be deliberate
Percy put down the bags and came back. ‘Are you all right, sir? Not feeling dizzy?’
Yeswas the honest answer, but not because of the state of his head. ‘I was just interested in the different styles of decoration,’ he said mildly.
