“Here she is,” Ernest said. “I was telling my fiancée that you missed your calling and should have been a coiffeuse.”
The nurse, whom Rose had never seen before, smiled at him, and he smiled back.
“Can I get you anything, Your Grace?”
“A drink!” He shot back immediately. The nurse just smiled.
“We will have that lined up for you in about three months.”
She walked over to the corner of the room and started folding linens.
“I take it your view of the medical profession has undergone a conversion,” Rose said.
“These people have been very kind,” he admitted. “Even the doctor. But the night nurse is a bit of a bully.” He lowered his voice so the other nurse wouldn’t hear. “I have been sleeping for 12 hours in a row just to avoid her.”
“Well, it is obviously doing you a power of good. I should start practicing that myself.”
He peered at her closely from the bed.
“You do look somewhat peaky. Have you seen Browning?”
“No,” Rose shot back too quickly. “Why do you ask?”
He gave her an inquisitive glance, but she barreled on.
“I mean, I saw him last weekend when he came to see you?”
“He was here at the beginning of the week, but then he vanished. I wanted to talk boats with him.”
“I am sure he will return,” she assured him.I hope so too.
“You and he are very close.” It was said as a statement rather than a question, and Rose thought it was the return of the belligerent Ernest. But he was looking at her without rancor and simply seemed interested.
“We lived close by as children. His house was near my parents’ estate. Our families were friendly before my parents died, so we had good knowledge of each other. We were nearly the same age.” She hoped her tone was neutral enough and her jumpiness had not betrayed something deeper.
“He did well for himself as a commoner,” Ernest said in an admiring tone. She hoped he never used that sentence on Will.
“Yes, he worked very hard,” Rose agreed. “He dedicated himself to it.”
Ernest stared at her searchingly, she felt, but then he turned away.
“So, what have you been doing all week?”
“Nothing,” Rose said again, too quickly.
“Nothing?” He asked. “You must do something, rattling around this huge castle.”
“Not really.” She shook her head. “Reading mainly. In fact, your injury sparked my interest. I was reading up about liver lacerations and realized medicine is quite interesting. Maybe I could do something charitable.”
She waited for him to be his usual lewd self, telling her he would never let her out of bed with him long enough to work, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “Women are supposed to be dutiful, even-tempered, and without opinion.”
“They are,” Rose agreed, lowering her head, bracing for the attack.
“But I find you a fascinating woman,” he said.
She looked at him to see if he was being sarcastic, but it appeared he wasn’t. He was actually complimenting her.
“That is very kind of you, Your Grace.” She smiled, and he nodded. “If you don’t mind me saying, you do seem to be more… reasonable,” Rose ventured.