Chapter 21

Olivia did her best to keep her mind off what had occurred with Xavier and tended to the children.

She should be happy that they were recovering and not one child had been lost.

Since the worst of the illness was past, she set her mind back to earlier tasks and returned to her office. There were journals to read and papers to write if she found discrepancies in reported research.

One paper she would like to submit was on the treatment of chincough, but as Westbrook House had been the only place where the illness had spread, at least according to Dr. Valentine, she feared if she penned such a paper that those reading it would come to realize that O. W. Brook was her, an identity that she hid.

There was also the possibility that Dr. Sinclair may wish to present his own findings and likely would not mention it to her since she was not a physician.

Besides, she could not write the paper until all children were recovered successfully and put her mind to studying the latest in medicine.

Except, she could not concentrate on a word that she read.

This was maddening.

Would her brain be useless and unable to concentrate until she got her courses?

That truly was her only worry, and not of contracting the pox.

She also had avoided Xavier today, and if he was in a chamber with patients, she chose a separate one.

This could not continue, however. Nor was there a need for him to spend his nights at Westbrook House any longer. The children were out of danger, and it was unlikely that she would need him.

It was for the best that he was gone, or she might be tempted to repeat what they experienced the night before.

Olivia’s body heated when she recalled how he had touched and caressed, and where he had kissed her and the pleasure that had swept through her entire being right before the release exploded within.

She never dreamed such was possible to experience.

It was a shame it would not ever happen again.

Olivia shuffled the papers on her desk. Then straightened the other belongings in her office before she remembered that books and journals were missing.

She crossed to the parlor and retrieved everything that had been taken from the shelves and returned them, then instructed Fern that the blanket and pillow could be removed as Dr. Sinclair would no longer need to spend the night.

She had just settled behind her desk again when Xavier appeared in the doorway.

“Am I no longer welcome?”

“Of course you are. The children have not recovered so much that they do not need your care.”

“But I am not welcome to spend the night in case I am needed.”

“It is not necessary now that the crisis has passed.”

“Is it because of last night?” he asked after shutting the door and taking a seat in the chair across from her desk.

“It is not wise that we spend so much time together.”

He grinned. “Is it because I am too much of a temptation?”

His arrogance had returned. At least that is what she wished to believe it to be, as it was much better than thinking it was simply good-natured teasing.

“It is simply a coincidence.”

“Because I asked you to marry me?”

“We both know that you made the offer because you are an honorable gentleman and likely felt obligated to do so.”

“And now, we are to be nothing more than colleagues?” he asked.

Why did he seem so affronted? Most gentlemen would be relieved that a woman was not insisting on further entanglements after one night of passion. She was only freeing him his assumed obligation. “I hoped that we could continue to be friends as well.”

“Very well, Olivia. We will be friends and colleagues, but certainly not lovers.” He stood and marched from her office, nearly slamming the door in his wake.

What had she said to upset him?

Yes, he offered marriage, which she turned down, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t go back to the way they were before. Or was it too late?

Oh blast! This was what came from an intimate encounter, and she’d not be involved in one again.

Used and discarded!

How many misses had experienced the same emotions after a rake or rogue had taken advantage and then dismissed them?

Well, he certainly sympathized with their plight much more than he ever had in the past.

He’d pitied them because they had fallen for the sweet, honeyed words of a despicable rake. Now he understood their heartbreak all the more.

At least he wasn’t required to return to the country and hide for the rest of his days because he was ruined.

Heartbreak!

Did that mean he was in love?

Oh, if only he knew.

Xavier gathered his coat and hat and left Westbrook House. The children were recovering, and he was no longer needed.

He would return tomorrow, check on them again, but he would not spend any unnecessary time because he was clearly no longer wanted.

Olivia had gained the experience that she had once lacked, and it had been at her insistence. Not that Xavier had any will to deny her. But now she was done with him, and it not only made him angry, but hurt.

“I was not expecting you today.”

Xavier stared at Valentine as his words intruded on his thoughts.

So angry and upset over being dismissed, he’d not even been aware that he had traveled to where Valentine saw patients. But this is what he needed to do.

“The children have recovered enough that I no longer need to remain at Westbrook House for so long. Most no longer whoop and simply need to rest to recover.”

Valentine nodded.

“What brings you here?”

“I thought I was to work with you?” Did Valentine not want him around any longer either? That was nearly as disturbing as Olivia’s rejection.

Valentine smiled. “I simply was not expecting you so soon, but glad that the changes I made are done.”

“What changes?” Xavier asked.

“Come along.”

Xavier followed Valentine down the corridor, passing the apothecary on one side and parlor where patients usually waited on the other, then passed Valentine’s library where he also examined patients to what Xavier believed had once been a drawing room at the back of the house. It was directly across from the back entrance to the kitchens.

Valentine stepped in and so did Xavier.

“You can arrange it how you wish. We can also have shelves built for your medical journals and books.”

In the center of the room sat a desk and chair as well as a table on which patients could be examined. There were also two wooden, straight back chairs, similar to those that Valentine had at the front of his desk. Xavier had assumed it was so the patients could sit in discussion with Valentine.

“This is for me?” he asked.

“If you wish to continue to work as a surgeon, now you have a place where you can do so.” He then left and crossed the corridor to the kitchens. Not so much a kitchen for cooking a meal, but one for preparing medicines and poultices. Everything within was necessary for an apothecary. “Dr. Sinclair, please let me introduce you to Lady Petra Drakos.”

Xavier frowned. What was a lady doing in an apothecary.

“She came to me the other day searching for a herb that she’d been unable to locate. My apothecary insisted that she did not need such. They argued and he quit.”

The woman’s cheeks started to turn pink. “He was not up-to-date on current treatments for ailments and injuries, which is why I was not surprised to find a jar of leeches.” She gave a shiver.

Valentine chuckled. “Lady Petra has offered to fill the position for a few hours each day until I find her replacement.”

Xavier supposed that a lady being an apothecary was no different than two ladies running a home for orphans and women in need of a safe place to live.

“Dr. Xavier Sinclair will now be assisting me with the patients,” Valentine told Lady Petra.

“It is a pleasure to meet you.” She smiled. “But please be mindful that if you request something antiquated, I will insist on a better solution.”

At one time Xavier would have taken offense but working with Olivia had cured him of such arrogance. Or at least he hoped. “How can medicine improve if we do not learn and open our minds to other possibilities?” he returned and received another smile. “I will listen to any suggestion you may have.”

“It’s nearly magical how she knows exactly what balance a patient needs and I hope I don’t lose her when her family returns to the country for the summer.”

“Thank you, Dr. Valentine, and I have told you that if I must leave, it will not be for long, as I truly enjoy working here.”

“Lady Petra would become a surgeon if only it were allowed.”

As would another lady he knew. “Have you introduced her to Lady Olivia Westbrook, as the two are of the same mind.”

Valentine pulled back in surprise. “I have not, but you are correct.”

“I know of Lady Olivia,” Lady Petra informed them. “We have not been introduced but I am aware she runs a foundling home.”

Xavier then quickly explained how it was more than orphans. Then Valentine described how Lady Olivia often assisted him when he was treating an illness or injury at Westbrook House and had assisted him with surgeries and acted as their midwife as well.

“An admirable lady,” Lady Petra acknowledged with delight. “And I will certainly seek an introduction the next time we are at the same function.”

The two gentlemen left the apothecary and returned to Xavier’s new office.

“Lady Petra is the daughter of the Earl of Wharton, and truthfully I am surprised that the father hasn’t demanded that Lady Petra end her association with me and the apothecary.”

“Some parents are more lenient than others, but you will likely lose her to a husband.” Petra was pretty and given her father was wealthy, it’s a wonder that she had not already wed.

He looked about his new office once again. It wasn’t as large as Valentine’s library, where he worked, but it wasn’t too small either. In fact, it was perfect and exactly what he needed right now.

“I will engage a carpenter right away about shelves.” Though he had a room in his home filled with all manner of medical books, his papers, and all kinds of journals. He would bring those that focused on ailments and injuries to the body here and leave the ones that had been dedicated to the mind at his home. Such would not be necessary in the office of a surgeon.

He was a surgeon and not a mere doctor who was called on to treat gout and an invented nervous condition and Xavier was suddenly overcome with a sense of purpose and belonging, as this is what had always been meant for him.