How Far the World Will Bend

How Far the World Will Bend - Chapter 11

Chapter 11. The Lion and the Unicorn

The night watch at the clinic seemed endless. Rather than wake Dr. Donaldson at midnight, as he had requested, Meg let him sleep. He had tended the victims of the fire for much of the day until he became overwhelmed and sent for Meg; it seemed logical to her that he was in greater need of rest than she was.

The evening was quiet after Mr. Thornton's visit. The injured men rested comfortably, and, to her great relief, did not succumb to their injuries but showed some signs of improvement toward the morning. Two were actually able to sleep, and the third drank some water and asked for something to eat. Meg had plenty of time to think, but rather than the fire, she found her thoughts drawn to the Master of Marlborough Mills. He was a man of such principle and honor, she thought warmly, but that principle was tempered by a kind heart. A woman would be very lucky to win the heart of such a man, she mused, and she hoped with some bravado that he would find a woman worthy of his love. A small voice inside of her insisted that he had found her, but she sternly silenced that voice.

As he had promised, several servants from Marlborough Mills arrived shortly after dawn, bringing bandages and pots of soup and broth. Meg gave the men bowls of broth, and all were able to eat and managed to keep the food down. When Dr. Donaldson, unshaven but rested, came into the examination rooms that morning, he found two of the injured men drinking broth, and Meg in the process of removing the bandages of the third so that she could examine his wounds.

Looking up from her ministrations, she greeted the doctor in a relatively cheerful manner.

He crossed his arms on his chest and glared at her sternly. "Miss Hale, I asked you to awaken me at midnight. Have you been up the entire night?"

"No, I managed to steal a few hours of sleep on a cot in the back room," Meg replied serenely, "once I determined that our patients were either sleeping or resting comfortably. I would have heard them easily had they called out. Please tell me if I am hurting you," she said in an aside to her patient, who shook his head stoically.

"Who brought this food?" Dr. Donaldson inquired. "Was it Miss Dixon? I would have thought she'd be exhausted after the day she had."

"No," Meg replied quietly, "It came from Marlborough Mills."

Dr. Donaldson whistled, and leaned against the doorjamb. "So Thornton heard about the fire and sent to see how we made out-that was good of him."

Meg nodded, unwinding a length of clean bandage. "He came himself to find out how we got on. It was very good of him, considering that we have heard nothing from Mr. Hamper."

Dr. Donaldson snorted in disgust. "I would have been downright shocked to learn that Hamper had come to check on his men. I have no very high opinion of that man, and this has done nothing to alter that opinion."

Meg fussed with keeping the bandage in place about the man's wound. "It shows the high regard in which Mr. Thornton holds you that he came to offer us assistance," she remarked.

An amused smile lit the doctor's features. "It does indeed show his high regard, but I doubt very much whether that regard is directed at me."

Meg ignored his provocative remark. "Thanks to Mr. Thornton, we have nourishing food to feed the men, as well as clean bandages to replace our supply. When I am finished here, I shall go around to the apothecary for more salve."

When she completed her bandaging, Dr. Donaldson grasped her by her elbow and propelled her from the room.

"Indeed, you most certainly will not go to the apothecary," he said sternly. "I shall send Boucher when he arrives. You are going home to bed, and I do not want to see you back here until much later today."