Page 14 of A Fearless Heart
“My…workroom, essentially,” she said, not wanting to explain the details at the moment. “Now, if you please, sit down there so I can clean up those cuts.”
He dutifully sat. Cady shook her head. “I still can’t believe that Mr Pollack did that. It was completely unacceptable.”
“Well, at least he apologized to you for the harsh language,” the man noted, a hint of humor in his voice.
Cady rolled her eyes. “The lesser offense, I assure you. My goodness, what was that cane made of? You look as if you’ve been pelted with stones!”
“It felt a little like that.”
She soaked a cloth in warm water and then turned to him. It was good that he was sitting down—he was much taller than her. Her arms would grow tired just reaching up to his head. She first cleaned the trail of blood down his face, then dabbed lightly at the wound, careful to not press down and cause him pain.
She leaned over to clean the nastiest cut. His quick intake of breath made her pause.
“I’m sorry, does that hurt, Mr Court?” she asked.
“Only a little,” he grunted. “And everyone calls me Gabe.”
Cady assumed he was being manly about the pain, and guessed it would require a bit of numbing. She bustled over to her medicine cabinet, unlocked it, and reached for a few bottles that she used for treating the inevitable scrapes and bruises that occurred when people worked for a living.
“What’s that?” he asked warily when Cady returned to the worktable and opened a bottle.
“It’s very safe, I assure you. I make an ointment that will help stop the bleeding, and also keep the bruising to a minimum.”
His eyes widened. “You make it?”
“Yes, using plants I grow here at Calderwood.”
He seemed apprehensive, and she supposed that made sense. “What plants?”
“Feverfew, arnica, calendula, and chamomile comprise the bulk of the herbs. And the beeswax and flax oil holds it all together.”
“Are those plants that grow in the gardens? I haven’t seen them.”
“You’ve not seen a great deal of the Calderwood gardens, Mr Court. Many of them are private.”
“But if you need help gardening, shouldn’t I know about them?” he asked. “And if there’s work to be done, aren’t you the best person to tell me how to do it? I know Rundle’s just passing on what you say. When I’ve got questions, I wish I could get answers straightaway.”
She paused, not expecting this topic, but considering it all the same. “There’s something in that, Mr Court. Perhaps it would be best if I could give the instructions directly.” Though that would require her to see him and talk with him every day. But maybe Gabe Court wasn’t quite as intimidating as he first seemed?
At the moment, he wasn’t intimidating at all, half slumped over and looking with suspicion at the bottle. “You’re completely sure it’s, um, safe?”
Cady smiled. “Absolutely. I’d never offer one of my concoctions to another unless I know it won’t hurt them. I test everything I make on myself first.”
He nodded, and let her apply the solution to his cuts. He winced slightly, because of the astringency, but otherwise sat still.
But then he said, “How did you test it? Did you have to wait until you got a bruise?”
She chuckled. “No, I gave myself a small cut.”
“With aknife?”
“A scalpel,” Cady corrected him, then saw the expression on his face. “Oh, don’t be so shocked. It’s important to be rigorous in all scientific inquiry. Otherwise, it’s just alchemy and superstition.”
He opened his mouth as if to argue with her, then checked himself. “You’re not what I expected of the lady of the house.”
“No?” She was so intent on examining his wounds that she wasn’t really thinking about what she was saying. “Funny, I spent a lot of time being exactly what everyone expected of me.”
“And what was that?” he asked, leaning forward as if he was truly interested.
