He walked to the window, still twisting his hat in his hands. She’d never seen him nervous before.
“Saturday, the day we spent together as doctors, was a monumental day in my life. Until that day, I would have wagered anything that I owned that a woman couldn’t be a good doctor, but you proved me wrong. On that day, you showed me that a woman can not only be a good doctor, but might even become better than most men.”
“Thank you,” Blair said, and a small thrill of pleasure ran through her at his words.
He turned back to face her. “And that’s why I’m giving up the race.”
“The race?”
“The competition, then, whatever you call it. I realized yesterday, while I was working alone in the hospital, that I had changed after the day we spent together. You see, I’ve always worked alone, but on that day when we worked together…Well, it was like everything that I’d imagined and more. We fit together so well, so rhythmically, almost like lovers.” He stopped and looked at her. “I meant that allegorically, of course.”
“Of course,” she mumbled. “I’m not sure that I understand any of this.”
“Don’t you see? I may have lost a wife, but what I’ve gained is a colleague! I might treat a woman with little or no respect, might trick her to show that her friend is such a Willie boy that he can’t row, swim or even ride a horse, but I could never, never do that to a fellow doctor whom I’ve learned to respect and even admire.”
Blair was silent for a moment. There was something wrong in what he was saying about Alan, but his words of praise were too sweet to cause her to quibble over details. “Are you saying that you no longer want to marry me?”
“I’m saying that I respect you, and you’ve said that you want to marry Alan Hunter, and I now know that I cannot stand in your way. You and I are equals in the medical profession, and I cannot further humiliate a fellow doctor in the manner that I have in the past few days. Therefore, you are no longer held captive here. You may leave with the man you love at any time, and I can assure you that I’ll do everything in my power to keep Gates from letting anyone know about your loss of…of chastity.”
Blair stood. “I’m not sure that I understand. I’m free to go? You aren’t blackmailing me any longer, and you won’t cause Alan further embarrassment? And you’re doing all this because you believe that I’m a good doctor?”
“That’s exactly right. It took me a while to come to my senses, but I have. What kind of marriage could we have if it was based purely on lust? Of course, we do have a mutual attraction to one another, and perhaps that one night was extraordinary, but that isn’t a basis for marriage. What you and Alan have is real, that you can spend time together and talk, that you have mutual interests, and I’m sure that you have the same…ah, reactions to his touch that you have to mine. Maybe you two have made love several times in the last few days, for all I know.”
“I beg your pardon!”
Leander hung his head again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you again. I always seem to put my foot in my mouth around you. Now, you’ll never listen to what else I have to say.”
“I’ll listen,” she said. “Tell me the rest of it.” She was feeling strangely let down. Of course, the fact that he respected her as a doctor was wonderful, but at the same time she wanted something else, and she didn’t know what it was.
When he looked back at her, his eyes were glowing intensely. “I know you want to get back to Pennsylvania, and I don’t blame you, but working with you was such a joy and a pleasure and, since I know that I’ll never have the chance again because I’m sure that you’ll never want to come back to Chandler after what’s happened in the last few days, I’d really like to ask if I could have the honor of working with you for the next few days. My father has agreed to persuade the board to allow you into the hospital under my care, and you and I can work together until after Houston’s wedding. Oh, Blair, I could show you my plans for the women’s clinic. I’ve never shown them to anyone before, and I’d really like to share them. Maybe you’d even help me plan it—if you had time, that is.”
Blair walked to the far side of the room. She didn’t think that she’d ever enjoyed anything as much as she’d enjoyed that day with Leander, and if they were no longer engaged, perhaps Houston would not feel that she had to marry that man Taggert and—.
“And Alan can work with us. Gosh, if he’s half as good as you are…Is he?”
Blair came back to the present and realized with a bit of guilt that she hadn’t even thought of Alan. “You mean, is he as good as I am? I guess so. Of course he is! Although I don’t think he’s had the opportunity to work with doctors as I have. I mean, I was very lucky. My Uncle Henry is quite well respected, and ever since I was little more than a child, I’ve assisted in surgery and helped with emergency cases and had the opportunity to assist many eminent men, but—.” She stopped. “Of course, Alan is an excellent doctor,” she said firmly.
“I’m sure he is, and I’m sure it’ll be a joy working with both of you. By the way, did Alan take that exam for St. Joseph’s Hospital?”
“Yes, but he didn’t—.”
“Didn’t what?”
Her mouth was set in a firm line. “They only accepted the six highest scorers.”
“I see. Well, perhaps it was a bad day for him. May I come for you tomorrow morning at six? Until then, my library is always open to a fellow colleague.” He quickly kissed her hand and then was gone.
Chapter 14
Blair was dressed and ready to leave at five thirty the next morning. She sat on the edge of her bed and puzzled over what to do. Should she wait downstairs or would he come through the window again as he’d done last time?
When the downstairs clock chimed six, she opened her door and thought she heard the front door. She flew down the stairs and got there just as a sleepy Susan was opening the door to Leander.
“Good morning,” he said, smiling. “Ready to go?”
She nodded in answer.
“You can’t go, Miss Blair-Houston. You haven’t had anything to eat and Cook doesn’t have breakfast ready yet. You’ll have to wait until she gets dressed.”