exclaimed Rose. ‘How are my dear friends at Dromore?’
‘Both well and they both send their love. It’s you we’re all concerned about. When is it you and Uncle John are planning to go off?’
‘Some time this week or early the one after. As soon as he can organise a particular Lagonda he’s set his heart on. Don’t ask me for its model and number, I’m just so relieved that you and your father managed to persuade him to hire in Kerry. He really was quite prepared to drive all the way there and back.’
Richard smiled and followed her through the kitchen, down the hall and into the sitting room.
‘And what about
your
back, Auntie Rose? Do you think the journey will do it any good?’
‘It’s getting better, Richard. I
have
done what you told me, really I have. Mrs Love said I was walking much better this morning than I was when she went off to see her sister on Friday.’
He shook his head.
‘I know how much it means to you both, but you really must take it gently. It is a long way.’
‘It’s another world, my dear. But I’ve wanted to go back all my married life and we’ve never managed it. This might be our last chance,’ she said quietly, looking up at the long, sensitive face and the grey eyes.
He was just so like his mother, in manner as well as looks. Cool, calm, competent on the surface but underneath full of restless energy. There was nothing that passed before his sharp gaze that he did not observe, question and try to understand. Ithad been no surprise to her when he’d won the gold medal for the best student of the year on the results of his Finals in Edinburgh.
‘And what about your wee granddaughter, Auntie Rose? Is there anything you want to tell me about her?’
‘No, Richard dear. It’s the other way round. I need
you
to tell me all you can about her and this accident she’s had,’ she explained, looking up at him. ‘I’m not coming up with you. You know your way.’
She followed him as he moved towards the sitting-room door.
‘She’s not usually shy or awkward,’ she added thoughtfully. ‘If she’s uneasy, it’ll tell
me
something.’
‘I’ll see what I can do. Uncle John seemed more concerned about her mother than about the bang on the head.’
Rose laughed as she left him at the foot of the stairs.
‘Like your dear father, Richard, you don’t just look at a set of symptoms. I confess freely that I think my daughter-in-law Martha is probably a greater danger to my granddaughter’s health than any bang on the head.’
Rosie looked up from her book as she heard a light tap on her door. In answer to her soft ‘come in’ a tall, trim, young man with thoughtful grey eyesslipped quietly into the room and crossed to her bedside.
‘Good morning, Rosie. You look very comfortable.’
‘Yes, I am. It was worth a bang on the head just to be here,’ she responded cheerfully, as he picked up the battered leather-bound volume she had just put down.
‘
Pride and Prejudice
,’ he commented, as he ran his eye over the bruise that stood out so sharply from the creamy skin.
‘Granny and Aunt Sarah’s favourite book. I always read it when I come here,’ she said, answering his unspoken question and beaming at him, as he drew a chair across to her bedside.
‘And what do you read at home?’
In the two years since qualifying as a doctor he had become adept at asking innocent questions, but even with two years’ experience he was shocked at the effect of his words upon this young girl.
The whole set of her face had changed. The bright sparkle in the dark eyes disappeared. Even her shoulders, draped in a light bedjacket, took on a rounded shape quite out of keeping with her years.
‘I don’t have much time to read,’ she said awkwardly.
‘You live on a farm, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘I expect it’s very busy at times.’
She nodded, her face closed, the bright smile so completely erased he began to wonder if he had imagined it.
Deciding that
‘Both well and they both send their love. It’s you we’re all concerned about. When is it you and Uncle John are planning to go off?’
‘Some time this week or early the one after. As soon as he can organise a particular Lagonda he’s set his heart on. Don’t ask me for its model and number, I’m just so relieved that you and your father managed to persuade him to hire in Kerry. He really was quite prepared to drive all the way there and back.’
Richard smiled and followed her through the kitchen, down the hall and into the sitting room.
‘And what about
your
back, Auntie Rose? Do you think the journey will do it any good?’
‘It’s getting better, Richard. I
have
done what you told me, really I have. Mrs Love said I was walking much better this morning than I was when she went off to see her sister on Friday.’
He shook his head.
‘I know how much it means to you both, but you really must take it gently. It is a long way.’
‘It’s another world, my dear. But I’ve wanted to go back all my married life and we’ve never managed it. This might be our last chance,’ she said quietly, looking up at the long, sensitive face and the grey eyes.
He was just so like his mother, in manner as well as looks. Cool, calm, competent on the surface but underneath full of restless energy. There was nothing that passed before his sharp gaze that he did not observe, question and try to understand. Ithad been no surprise to her when he’d won the gold medal for the best student of the year on the results of his Finals in Edinburgh.
‘And what about your wee granddaughter, Auntie Rose? Is there anything you want to tell me about her?’
‘No, Richard dear. It’s the other way round. I need
you
to tell me all you can about her and this accident she’s had,’ she explained, looking up at him. ‘I’m not coming up with you. You know your way.’
She followed him as he moved towards the sitting-room door.
‘She’s not usually shy or awkward,’ she added thoughtfully. ‘If she’s uneasy, it’ll tell
me
something.’
‘I’ll see what I can do. Uncle John seemed more concerned about her mother than about the bang on the head.’
Rose laughed as she left him at the foot of the stairs.
‘Like your dear father, Richard, you don’t just look at a set of symptoms. I confess freely that I think my daughter-in-law Martha is probably a greater danger to my granddaughter’s health than any bang on the head.’
Rosie looked up from her book as she heard a light tap on her door. In answer to her soft ‘come in’ a tall, trim, young man with thoughtful grey eyesslipped quietly into the room and crossed to her bedside.
‘Good morning, Rosie. You look very comfortable.’
‘Yes, I am. It was worth a bang on the head just to be here,’ she responded cheerfully, as he picked up the battered leather-bound volume she had just put down.
‘
Pride and Prejudice
,’ he commented, as he ran his eye over the bruise that stood out so sharply from the creamy skin.
‘Granny and Aunt Sarah’s favourite book. I always read it when I come here,’ she said, answering his unspoken question and beaming at him, as he drew a chair across to her bedside.
‘And what do you read at home?’
In the two years since qualifying as a doctor he had become adept at asking innocent questions, but even with two years’ experience he was shocked at the effect of his words upon this young girl.
The whole set of her face had changed. The bright sparkle in the dark eyes disappeared. Even her shoulders, draped in a light bedjacket, took on a rounded shape quite out of keeping with her years.
‘I don’t have much time to read,’ she said awkwardly.
‘You live on a farm, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘I expect it’s very busy at times.’
She nodded, her face closed, the bright smile so completely erased he began to wonder if he had imagined it.
Deciding that
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