Page 11 of Seduced by an Irresistible Lady
Mister Frank had told him Miss Helena was not engaged when he asked about her from him.
“That’s sure to end soon,” Dr Frederick said aloud.
She was of age, and a very beautiful and engaging character. She would probably get married to a young man of very high station.
Dr Frederick turned the journal to the other page and saw a diagram of a dissected heart. He drew the lantern closer and started reading. He read these journals to be up to pace with the most recent information on his research focus: hearts and ailments of the heart. He had only been interested in general practice a few years ago, but the sudden death of his mentor, Dr Terry Agar had him changing his focus. Dr Terry was like a father to him and had one day slumped and died. Dr Frederick would find out much later that his mentor had died of a heart attack. Dr Frederick was gutted.
“We could have avoided it if only I had been more observant.”
He dedicated the rest of his practice to research on the heart and its ailments although he still did house calls for the families that were good clients. Now he spent most of his time in his laboratory, dissecting hearts of other animals and watching the effect of different chemicals on it. His hypodermal syringe and scalpel were his most useful tools. He remembered when he first started his research, how he was always confused on the next step to take. Now he was focused on extracting bodily produced compounds like hormones and enzymes, so he could observe their direct effect on the heart.
His laboratory was the only room that no one else was allowed to enter; no visitor that is. Mister Frank was allowed to enter and observe, but he couldn’t touch. Dr Frederick could not risk getting any of his potions, specimens, or tools contaminated. That could lead to false results, and he had been researching for too many years to allow one result lead him astray. His eyes drooped. Forcing each tired eyelid to stay up was a conscious chore. Dr Frederick laughed aloud after a few minutes of reading the same paragraph over and over again without assimilating.
The same thing used to happen in medical school. He would be too tired to read, but reading was a necessity. Dr Frederick closed the journal he was reading.
I am no more in medical school.
He had noticed long ago that forcing a tired body to do things led to making simple mistakes one would never make if fully alert. He could afford that while in school, but he couldn’t afford it in his research. He picked up the lantern and walked into his bedroom. There was a bucket of cold water waiting for him in his bathroom, and he needed the cold bath. He undressed and went into the bathroom.
After the cold bath, Dr Frederick went to bed. As he lay down with tired eyes closed, he could still see Miss Helena. Her white skin matched the benign nature of her eyes, conflicting strongly with the pink of her piercing nose and red puckered lips. She stirred an excitement in him. For the first time in a long while, Dr Frederick had felt like taking hold of a woman and kissing her till he lost his breath. He wanted to feel the soft press of her voluptuous body on his hard body. The gentle impact of her bust would make his heart triple its pace. Dr Frederick turned over in bed.
A woman can trouble one’s heart as much as physical exercise. Imagine what a beautiful woman could do to mine.
*******
Helena stood up clumsily from her bed. Everything still felt groggy even though the brightness of her room told her it was long past dawn.
I must have slept while waiting for Justina to come with the warm water.
She put her feet into a pair of slippers and walked to her window. The sun was still rising. Its rays were cool to feel, invigorating instead of beating. She walked to her mirror and noted her eyes were still puffy. Her red hair was a mass of jumbled wires, no direction and unruly. She picked up the brush from the table and brushed her hair backwards. Helena remembered her sister and father. She quickly dropped the brush and walked out of her room.
“Good morning, Miss Helena,” a passing steward greeted her.
“Good morning,” she replied.
She walked to her sister’s door, pausing for a second before knocking. She didn’t hear a reply, but she let herself in anyway.
There’s nothing Jackie would intend to hide from me.
Her sister was standing beside her bed, still in her sleeping robe and facing the door. She looked like she hadn’t been up long.
“Good morning, how are you this morning?” Helena asked.
Miss Jacqueline sat down on the bed.
“I feel much better. The potion works, even as bitter as it tastes. I still feel sleepy, but I expect that to wear off,” Miss Jacqueline replied.
Helena strode to the table beside her sister’s bed and picked up the bottle. The level of the liquid had been further reduced.
“You drank more of this after I left?” Helena asked.
“I noticed it calmed me down and reduced the pain, so I took a bit more. That is probably why I am feeling so sleepy,” Miss Jacqueline replied.
”Has mother been here this morning?”
“No, but she’ll be here any minute,” came the reply.
“I’ll be back,” Helena said before she left her sister’s room.
