“In truth, I usually do not customarily know doubt until the surgery is over. My movements are well rehearsed, and I tick off the necessary steps in my head. Afterwards, is when I second-guess myself.” Rheem chuckled lightly. “You have no idea how many times Icheck my supplies after I return home. Heaven forbid even one needle is missing. I am surprised I have one hair left upon my head.”
“Yet, you love it?” Benjamin asked.
“I love it,” Rheem confirmed. “Sometimes more than my next breath.”
Benjamin understood. He had always wanted to emulate men with Rheem’s skill—had taken an interest in medicine after his father’s death, though he had always wondered about nature and the unexplained. He had wanted to be in a position to save others. He had been too young to save his own father, but he had been instrumental in saving Duncan. A bit of pride slid into his chest. Now, he was assisting in saving Alexander. He had the ability to assist others. His tenants. His mother. Others in his community. It was not necessary for him to be a surgeon like Rheem to change other people’s lives. He only was required to look upon Miss Whitchurch and the boy, as well as those in Cheapside, to know the truth.
“Have you never considered marriage?” he asked, again thinking of the lady. “A family?”
The surgeon extracted a sliver of metal from Alexander’s side, and Benjamin moved to staunch the bleeding. “It would be nearly impossible to discover a woman, beyond a mistress, who would tolerate my lifestyle,” Rheem said matter-of-factly.
“What of a nurse? Would not such a woman be more understanding of your chosen lifestyle?” Benjamin asked as he placed a pad over the previous cut while Rheem continued to search for bullet fragments.
“Most nursing females look like Duncan’s Mrs. Braylon,” Rheem countered with a pretend shiver of dread.
“I saw the woman with Sir Thurmond at the early hearings for Bellingham’s shooting of Perceval, but only one time. Afterwards, the baronet’s valet wheeled Thurmond’s chair about the grounds.”
“I recently noticed her near Harding and Howell, near the draperyshops in that area,” Rheem commented. “She has not asked for more referrals from me.” He knotted the thread and trimmed it. “I believe we are clear. Let us close Marksman’s wound.”
Benjamin had no time to think upon Rheem’s comment until much later when he was alone in Marksman’s room, overseeing his brother’s care. He held Miss Whitchurch’s note in his hand. He had read and reread it a dozen times or more since his valet had delivered him several changes of clothing and had set up Benjamin’s quarters at Duncan Place.
“The child was very upset when you were not available to join us this evening. The boy missed you nearly as much as I. I have said a prayer for your brother’s speedy recovery and for your equally as speedy return to your home. I shall add an additional prayer of thanksgiving that you survived today’s altercation. Neither the child nor I would know what to do without you in our lives. You have become quite essential to our hopes for a future.”
Benjamin said his own prayer that the lady’s “hopes for a future” meant spending the remainder of her days with him. He tucked the note into his pocket to read again and again when his days were full of confusion. He had found the woman with whom he wished to spend his life. Now, he must convince her that they were better together than apart.
“Pardon,” the girlsaid when she came to sit with her brother. Benjamin knew if it was up to Theodora, only she would be permitted to sit with Alexander. However, Duncan had said otherwise, and so the girl who had been identified as Alexander’s younger sister had been brought to Duncan Place. Reportedly, they had been separated since they were children. Though Benjamin had originally been one of those who had watched Lord Honfleur’s house and this particular girl, it hadbeen several weeks—nearly a month—since he had been called upon to continue his participation. Naturally, he should have asked someone what was going on, but he had been too consumed with his own life to care about Honfleur or John Yates beyond his actions early yesterday morning.
Benjamin felt a bit guilty, but he would have taken his turn at observing the comings and goings at Amgen House if someone had insisted. He supposed, after Alexander learned of his sister’s existence, he wanted to be close to where she was being held by a man who claimed to be her uncle. Benjamin assuredly would have lived in the house across the street to watch over a sister, if he had been fortunate enough to have one.
According to Duncan, in the last few weeks, it had been only Alexander and Beaufort and Lionel Carter and James Kepper, one of the new agents, who had watched the house with any consistency. Naturally, from what Graham had shared, Alexander’s interests were familial, but Beaufort’s were something more like desire.
The girl’s red hair and fair complexion reminded Benjamin of many of the Irish living in London. He could easily understand Beaufort’s attraction to the lady. They would make a striking pair.
“I had hoped to sit with my brother,” she told Benjamin.
He rose to his feet and bowed. “Assuredly. Marksman specifically asked for you when we transported him to London. I am, as someone has likely told you, Lord Thompson. Alexander and I were the last two boys that Duncan brought to live with him.”
She nodded her head in understanding as she placed her hand lightly on her brother’s leg. “I admit I am at a loss as to what should be done for my brother,” she explained. “But I am not afraid to tend a wound. I did so quite often on my uncle’s—I suppose he was never my uncle,” she said with a sigh. “I have tended many wounds in the past.”
Benjamin had heard bits and pieces of the young woman’s story, but this was the first time he had interacted with her. “Permit me toshow you what I have been doing,” he said encouragingly. “Come sit in this chair.”
The lady did as he instructed.
“You will take the cloth from this bowl of water, wring it out, and wipe your brother’s face, neck, and arms. He has a fever we must manage before he can begin to heal properly. Just do not permit the bandages covering his wounds to become wet,” he explained. “Though others do not believe it to be so, I am one who thinks though Marksman is not conscious, he can still hear you. Tell him of your gladness at his survival and encourage him to fight the fever and come back to you. Remind him of his promises to you and yours to him. Provide Alexander a reason to live and he will latch onto it and come back to all of us.”
“Then I should talk to him?” she asked with a bit of shyness.
“Alexander asked for you several times, so I think it might calm his mind to know you are near. I believe he can hear you even if he does not respond. Tell him how you survived the day. I understand you were quite formidable. Speak of the joy you feel at being reunited. Anything and everything a brother and sister might share. It is important for him to hear your voice and realize he must set himself the goal to survive.”
“Thank you.”
“If you do not mind, I will slip to my room along the hall and claim a robe instead of this jacket. I will not be more than a quarter hour.” She appeared a bit frightened, but he said, “My room at Duncan Place is only two doors removed. I will hear you if you call out. By the way, have Orson and Beaufort returned from the scene?”
She shook her head in the negative. “Lady Emma says her husband sent a message that he is not likely to arrive until early morning, and I understand Lord Beaufort has joined Lord Liverpool’s men in a search of John Yates’s home in some shire to the west.”
Benjamin made no comment, for he had heard how Beaufort wasquite besotted with Alexander’s sister, which more likely meant Navan Beaufort required time to decide how to proceed, just as did Benjamin. Instead of commenting, he nodded his gratitude for the information. “I will hurry my steps,” he promised and disappeared.
“Have we receivednews from Duncan Place?” Victoria asked as she took her seat at Lord Thompson’s table. She had thought to claim a place in the kitchen instead, but she knew such would bring a frown to Lord Thompson’s features when he discovered her doing so.
