Page 34 of Seduced by an Irresistible Lady
He pushed his hands higher, watching them get lost in her gown. His left palm was on her knee. He squeezed.
“Ouch,” she said softly.
Dr Frederick didn’t feel any swelling or injury there. She wasn’t injured. The only things he felt was an increase in temperature as his hands neared her centre and a tight tension that held his body taut. He rubbed gently underneath her knees, and the grip of her left hand on his right increased. He moved his hand back down.
“I don’t think you are injured anywhere else,” he said.
She nodded her head. There was a shuffling of feet behind him. Dr Frederick turned back to see two of her friends move backwards. He looked at their faces, they looked very alike.
They must be twins.
The steward’s face appeared between their shoulders. There was a black bowl in his hands. He dropped the bowl in front of Dr Frederick. There was a wet leather skin bag inside. The steward picked up the leather skin and gave it to him. It was cold and heavy.
“The block is inside,” he said.
“Thank you,” Dr Frederick answered as he collected it from the steward. The steward was eager to drop it as it seemed his hand was already numb from the cold block.
Dr Frederick took out the leather skin and smashed it against the floor, twice. The ice broke into multiple parts in the bag. He opened the bag’s mouth and poured some of the broken ice into the bowl. He only needed a small part. When he had the size he needed, about the size of a fist, he closed the mouth of the bag. He looked at Miss Helena whose wide open eyes told him she was preparing herself for the bite of cold ice.
Dr Frederick held the bag by its mouth, pushing the ice to the end of the small bag. He placed the ice on the purple ankle without applying pressure. Miss Helena beat her left hand rapidly on her lap. She bit down on her lower lip causing Dr Frederick to briefly lose his attention on the clash of white teeth on rouge lips. He refocused on her ankle and applied a bit of pressure. There was a faint hissing sound as Miss Helena drew in air from the tiny slit between her lips. Dr Frederick turned the position of the ice bag to just above her heel. Miss Helena threw her hands on his shoulders and held tightly. The force of her grip bit into Dr Frederick’s shoulder blades.
After close to a minute, he removed the ice bag from her ankle. It was still purple but had reduced in size. He poked gently at it. It didn’t feel so tender anymore though still more tender than normal. He placed the leather skin back in the bowl. Miss Helena exhaled loudly.
“No more?” she asked.
“No more,” Dr Frederick responded, smiling broadly.
She nodded her head.
“You have to be still for a while. I’m going to get an unguent for you now. I’ll apply it on the ankle. It’ll ease the pain,” Dr Frederick said.
Miss Helena nodded.
“Thank you. You can take it away,” Dr Frederick said to the steward who stood behind him.
The young man nodded and picked up the bowl. He carried it away, around the back of the house. Dr Frederick stood up and walked back to the stable where the steward would have tied his horse. When he got there, he looked into it from the door without going in. The stable was full of horses. Dr Frederick didn’t want any horse kicking up a foot or straw that would stain his outfit. He looked at his jacket. He had managed to keep it clean despite his ministrations on Miss Helena. He turned back and saw the steward who collected his horse from him bringing in another mount.
Thank goodness.
“Please where did you keep my mount?” he asked the steward.
The man looked at his face for a few seconds. He was trying to recognise him.
“Dr Frederick?” Dr Frederick said, pointing a finger to his chest.
“Oh yes, the physician,” the man said.
“Your horse is not here. You asked that it be close, so I put it in the shed outside,” the man said.
“Thank you,” Dr Frederick said.
He walked outside and turned to his left. There was an arrangement of horses tied beside the stable. His horse was the second to the last from the right. He walked to the mare, rubbing it on the nose before moving to its side. He opened the flap of the bag hanging by its side and looked in. He picked up the small metal case at the bottom, opened it, and lifted it to his nose. The stinging sensation from the open unguent made him turn up his nose. He pushed back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.
What a biting odour.
Dr Frederick placed the lid back on top of the case. He double tapped his mare on its head and walked back to the front of the house. He could see Lady Lavinia and the other dark coloured woman, probably Miss Helena’s personal maid, talking to her. The tall man who had kissed her hand stood behind Lady Lavinia with his hands crossed; he was the first to see him approaching. He said something that had the chattering twins turn to face him before the others turned to look at Dr Frederick. He looked at Miss Helena’s face. It was far pinker than it had been when she first fell. She was flushed. She tried to smile when she saw him, but it came off as a grimace. She wiped even that off before he got to her.
When he got to her, he bent beside her.
