“Better?” he asked, his lips twitching.
Her eyes were round.
“I fear I have scandalized you,” he said with a grimace, belied by his twinkling eyes, “and I apologize. I truly am no libertine. You are quite safe with me. As I am a physician, I study the human body, both male and female, and I am very comfortable with my own. I forget all the strictures of Society at times, especially if I am worried for a patient.”
She shook her head, pointing to her journal and pencil on the bedside table.
Beckett retrieved the items and handed them to her. He placed several more pillows behind her head and helped her to sit up.
Mary scribbled on a page and handed it to him.
“‘Thank you for taking such good care of me,’” he read aloud. “‘I am sorry to be so much trouble.’ What balderdash is this? You could never be any trouble to me. I am only glad that I was the one who found you.”
He shuddered. “Someone as beautiful and innocent as you must be more careful, Miss Bennet. Not every man will look out for your best interests. Now open your mouth so I can examine you.”
Beckett held her chin with his fingers, turning her face to the light and peering down her throat. He then bent over beside the bed to rummage in his bag. When he straightened up, he held his thermometer. “Open your mouth and allow me to place this under your tongue.”
He held the device steady, pulling his watch from his pocket, holding it in his hand.
When he finished, he put the watch away, reading her temperature before fixing his gaze on her. “The fever has come down a bit since last night, but I still am wary of leaving you. I wish to listen to your heart before I make a decision.”
She nodded, and he returned to his medical bag, holding up a tube for her inspection. She watched as he put one end of the tube on her chest over her heart, bending to place his ear to the other end. He then moved it to several different places on her chest.
His wavy hair tickled her nose, and she held her breath, offering up a silent prayer.
Please, Lord, do not let my heart betray me.
After a few minutes, he straightened and put the instrument away. “Quite strong, though a bit rapid. However, I hear a wheezing sound in your lungs which I cannot like. While I go home to make myself presentable, for heaven knows I would not risk offending you again, you must eat whatever you can, preferably with honey and lemon. Broth is healthy and should be easier to swallow than solid food. Be sure to drink plenty of hot tea. It will make your throat feel better. I will order a hot bath for you. After that, stay in bed, keep warm, and do not try to talk. I shall return shortly.”
She nodded and pointed to Gulliver’s Travels.
“No,” he said, wagging his finger at her as he returned thermometer to his medical bag. “You shall rest while I am gone. I shall read to you later this evening. Meanwhile, enjoy your concert.”
He stopped to listen, the side of his head turned towards the hall as he made a comical face.
Mary smiled broadly at his antics.
Beckett put his hands on his hips, obviously continuing to act for her amusement. “Whoever is playing seems determined to spend the entire morning regaling you with Beethoven. How shall you sleep with all that pounding on the keys? And the 'Moonlight Sonata' is much too somber for your mood.”
He cupped his ear, leaning towards the door. “What’s that? Finally! A more relaxing, cheerful Haydn sonata. After all, not everything has to be a virtuoso performance,” he sniffed with a foppish air.
Mary tried to giggle, but instead put her hand to her throat when the effort hurt her.
Beckett immediately was contrite. “That was my fault, and I am sorry for it. I would never willingly hurt you.”
She shook her head, smiling.
The door opened, and Elizabeth bustled in, followed by Susan bearing a tray for the invalid.
Beckett bowed. “Mrs. Darcy, right on time. I must leave for a few hours, but I shall return as soon as I am able to do so. After your sister has a hot bath, please make certain she stays in bed and has as much broth and hot tea as she can manage. If that goes well, have your cook make some chicken soup, cutting the fowl and vegetables very fine.
“Her head hurts, and she has trouble breathing, so I shall try a treatment to alleviate that when I return with the medicines I need. She cannot talk, and ’tis better if she does not try, as that could further irritate her inflamed throat. Miss Bennet will be well within a week, if she does not develop an infection.”
Elizabeth nodded, hurrying to her sister’s bedside, smoothing her hair, glancing quickly back at him. “I shall take very good care of her. Thank you for being so attentive. We are in your debt.”
He looked back at Mary before he left, winking at her behind Elizabeth’s back.
Mary was determined not to make the same mistake she had made with Landini. She would guard her heart fiercely.
Mr. Beckett must act that way with all his patients in an attempt to make them feel better. He is an extremely pleasant, unusually handsome gentleman, and I am not accustomed to attention from such a paragon. It means nothing at all, but I shall do what he says and enjoy his kindness while he attends me.
Beckett returned as he had promised, finely turned out in a suit of hunter green, accented by a green and gold striped waistcoat. His hair was neatly combed and his boots freshly polished.
Mary had thought him handsome in the clothes he had worn when he rescued her from the rain. To her mind, he had been perfect when he woke in the morning, those same clothes rumpled from sleep, boots splashed with mud from the park, his messy hair missing the ministrations of his valet.
Had she not been ill, she could have decided which way she liked him best. As it was, she resolved she would try very diligently not to think of him in that way.
She tried not to think of him while he read to her.
She tried not to think of him when he held her face over a steaming bowl of something aromatic, covering her head with a towel.
She tried not to think of him as he fed her chicken soup.
Mary finally fell asleep, exhausted from trying not to think of him.
The music continued for several hours, growing increasingly mournful, until it stopped in the early afternoon.
Chapter 6
Music is the universal language of mankind.
The following morning, Mary awakened in the dimly lit room. A few rays of sunlight filtered through a slight opening between the heavy curtains.
Hazy memories flooded through her mind. Georgiana and Ale. Sitting in cold rain, chattering teeth, Mr. Beckett.
She slowly turned her head and saw Elizabeth, asleep on the couch. I have made things difficult for everyone with my stupid behaviour, she thought. How could I have been so thoughtless?
Susan rose from her chair across the room and came to Mary’s bedside. “The mistress told me to awaken her as soon as your eyes opened.”
Mary shook her head a little. “You must allow her to sleep,” she whispered. “Please. She must be exhausted. I feel better.”
“I shall go to the kitchen for your breakfast, then, but I must awaken your sister when I return,” replied the maid. “She will be vexed with me if I go against her orders.”