Stone Dreaming Woman (35 page)

“This is all too much for one day,” he sighed. “My mind is running over.” She took out her father’s handkerchief and blotted his eyes, then her own.

“I know, I know. It’s been too much for me, too.” A stray tear escaped her left eye and she attacked it with the handkerchief. “I’m sorry. I must look an absolute fright.”

He reached out and touched her left hand. “You’ve never looked more beautiful to me than you do right now, not even on the night of Adrian Beaufort’s ball.”

She paused with the handkerchief halfway back to her reticule. “I know you have a headache. I can tell by your eyes. This has been a difficult day. Let me give you something so you’ll sleep.”

“As long as you’re a doctor again.”

“I can find one. I’ll be right back.” She kissed his forehead. He leaned back, close to total exhaustion, but when she tried to leave, he reached for her hand and clung to it stubbornly.

“Jenny, this may not be the time or the place, but before you get away from me again, please marry me? I love you with everything that’s in me. I have for a long time. If I’d only had the courage to ask you sooner, all this might never have happened. You’d have been able to tell your father you’d committed to me and you didn’t need either Phillip Hildebrand or Northtown. I don’t want to take a chance on anything coming between us again. Please say you’ll be my wife?”

She turned back, giving him her full attention. “Of course I will. I love you, too, in a way I could never love any other man. You’re right, you know. If you’d declared yourself to me sooner, I would have had more ammunition for the firefight I’ve been in for the last two weeks. But better late than never, as the saying goes.” Her labile emotions swept her along like a whitewater river. She stifled the laughter that welled up inside her.

“What’s so funny? I just asked you to marry me and you just accepted. That’s the most monumental step in anyone’s life.”

“I was just thinking what I could possibly say to people when they asked me where we were when you proposed. I can’t very well say ‘in bed.’” Then the humor of the situation dawned on him, too, and his amused smile echoed hers.

“I promise I’ll propose properly, on my knees, as soon as I’m able. But you know, I should play the love flute for you and leave a gift of meat at your door, and in accepting it you would accept me.”

“I can do without the meat. And honestly, knowing your music ability, I wouldn’t want you anywhere near a flute. You can commit murder just trying to sing.”

“That’s true, but since the flute only has five notes, there’s really no way to do it wrong.”

“I think you’d find a way. All right. Enough talking for a while. Let me go find Angus and get your medication so you can sleep.” He nodded in acquiescence. She squeezed his hands, then disappeared.

She applied the handkerchief to her eyes one last time as she went to find Angus. The charge nurse on the floor directed her to the lobby, where she encountered Angus, Richard, and her father. Their conversation ceased too abruptly when she approached.

“Yes, Jenny?” Angus asked.

“I need to ask you to order medication for Shane. He’s complaining of pain, and now that I’m no longer on the staff here…”

“I’ll come, then,” he interrupted her. “And you’ll be back on the staff by morning. Not tae worry aboot that.” He levered himself up with his cane. She did not look at her father or her uncle for the moment.

“I’ll see that you’re reinstated as soon as the director is here tomorrow,” John Weston said. She had never seen him so subdued. “Is Inspector Adair all right?”

“I think he’s just overtired. He’s had too much excitement for one day. With a good night’s sleep, he’ll be fine.”

“Good. I’ll admit I was concerned when the nurse reported he had fainted.”

“I don’t think he hit his head,” Angus replied. “His eyes look all right, but one canna tell in a situation like that. I’m just going to watch him closely for the next twenty-four hours or so. We’ll be back shortly.” Angus ushered Jenny ahead of him up the flight of stairs to Shane’s room.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to check him again,” he said.

“Since this afternoon, you’re the physician of record on this case. I couldn’t mind.”

“What happened with your father? A miracle?”

“Just about. It’s as close to a miracle as either of us will ever see.”

The older man nodded. “It must have been, lass. I’m just glad everything will be all right.” She sighed in agreement.

“Me too,” she replied. “Me too.” They climbed the last few steps in silence, and then she pushed Shane’s door open. It was darker inside the room than it had been a few minutes before, but she could see he was lying in his favorite sleeping position, curled on his right side with his head inclined toward her and his right fist next to his face. She tiptoed up to him, trying to cushion the heels of her high shoes, but the care was wasted. He was asleep, his entire body relaxed and his breathing deep and regular.

“Well, it seems our intervention won’t be necessary,” Angus whispered. “I think the lad’s exhausted. And I don’t think he’s the only one.”

She looked down at Shane’s sleeping form for some moments before she said softly, “He’s not the only one, Angus. It’s been too long for me, too.”

“Let’s just leave him be for now. You go back to the hotel and get a good night’s sleep. I think I’d like to turn his case over to you and go back on the noon train tomorrow.” He ushered her out and closed the door behind her.

“That was quick,” her father remarked as they returned to the lobby.

“He was asleep when we got back to the room,” Angus said, folding stiffly into a nearby chair. “I think we’ve all had a long day. I’ll stay for a few hours, until I’m certain he won’t wake up. The rest of you go to the hotel and get a good night’s sleep yourselves. As I told Jenny, I’m going to leave this in her hands and go home tomorrow. I’ve left my practice too long.”

“I’m about to leave mine a little longer,” John Weston said, with a barely concealed yawn; “though I do have a
locum tenens
to take up the slack. Richard has convinced me to spend a week or two with him, at least until Inspector Adair is discharged and Jenny gets back. Admittedly I could use a vacation. I haven’t seen Richard to speak of in two years, and I haven’t taken a proper holiday since before Catherine’s passing. Someone else can handle my cases while I’m away.”

“I wish I could say the same. I expect I’ll be besieged day after tomorrow.”

“If you’re under an avalanche, I’d be glad to assist you in any way I can,” John volunteered.

“Oh, no!” the older man crowed. “You don’t know what you’ve just volunteered for! And I’ll certainly take you up on your offer. You can handle Jenny’s part of the practice until she returns.”

“Very well. I’d like to see where my daughter will be practicing.”

“Has been practicing,” Angus corrected. “She’s been doing a stellar job, too.”

John nodded in agreement. “After all, she is a Weston,” he said with no small pride.

“I’m ready for bed,” Richard interjected with a heartfelt yawn.

Jenny rose, shaking out the folds of her skirt. “I am, too. Good night, Angus. Don’t stay up too late,” she said.

“Nae, lass. I won’t. I only want to make sure Shane stays asleep.”

The next morning dawned cooler, the air thin with the first coming of fall. The four dawdled over breakfast, then showed up in Shane’s room. Bathed and shaven, he had brightened considerably since the previous day and greeted everyone with a smile.

“Inspector Adair, may I have a private moment with you, then?” John asked. Richard, taking a big cue from his brother, ushered Jenny and Angus out of the room.

“I suppose you may, Doctor Weston, since there’s really nowhere for me to go.” Shane was full of suspicion. When the room was empty, John came to his bedside.

“Sir, I have wronged you deeply, and I tender my most humble apologies,” he began, his voice an echo of the Old General’s. “When I told you Jenny was betrothed to Phillip Hildebrand, I lied to you, deliberately and unconscionably. Jenny never gave her consent to any such betrothal. I tried to force her into it, in part by driving you away. She is not now, nor has she ever been, engaged to marry anyone. Yes, she agreed to come back to New York with Phillip and me, but she did so under duress. I have begged her forgiveness and I beg yours, too, if you can find it within you. Please accept my apology, for Jenny’s sake if for no other reason. And I have another apology to make to you, too. I am sorry for impugning your family honor. No gentleman ever makes allegations like that unless he expects to be called out. It was beneath me, and I apologize.”

Shane drew a deep, thoughtful breath. Then he raised his eyes and his level Scorpio gaze transfixed the other man like a spear that went in one side and came out the other. He meant it to leave no doubt as to his opinion of John Weston.

“Doctor Weston, you do not have to apologize to me. What did you do but call me a few names I’ve heard before?”

“Oh, but I do have to apologize to you. I did something very wrong, and both honor and conscience dictate that I make amends.”

“Then I accept your apology in the spirit in which it was given, as you said, for Jenny’s sake, because no matter what occurs between her and me I love her, and despite the conflicts you and she have had, I know she loves you. I’d hate to see her torn between us again.”

“Thank you, sir. You are a gracious gentleman.” John extended his hand, and Shane gripped it after a short pause that plainly expressed his reluctance.

“And as for, as you put it, impugning my family honor? In point of fact, I am what is commonly called Métis. I am one-fourth Iroquois. My maternal grandfather, a French voyageur, married an Iroquois woman. That sort of thing was very common in the old days. My mother, their daughter, may or may not have married an Irish railroad worker. She had two children by him. My parents and my sister subsequently died in a smallpox epidemic. I was the only survivor. I was born in a railroad camp near River Bend, and my birth was not immediately registered. I had no birth certificate until I was sixteen years old and needed one to go to college, so one was issued for me,
nunc pro tunc
. The government accepted the testimony of a physician who certified that he attended my mother, and they recorded my birth as legitimate.”

“Then we must honor that.
De mortuis nil nisi bonum
, after all.” John paused again. “And, Inspector Adair, if you and my daughter decide to take up the thread of your relationship where I so brutally parted it, you have my blessing.”

“Thank you, sir.” His tone was cold. Nevertheless, John smiled.

“My father was a Brigadier General under Grant during the Civil War. He was an old-order gentleman, a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a military officer to the end of his days. Of course he had his shortcomings, but he did teach me about making amends. He always said when honor demands an apology, make it sincerely and make it well.”

“You certainly seem to have taken that lesson to heart,” Shane allowed.

“Another valid piece of advice I received years ago regarding the lady in your life is that if you truly love her, never be too proud to crawl. I did, more than once, and I was never sorry. My wife Catherine—Jenny’s mother—was a woman in a million. She was sweet and gentle and content to be a wife and a mother and let me make all the decisions. Jenny looks so like her that it’s difficult for me to realize she thinks like I do.”

“It surprised me when I learned she is a medical doctor, but I shouldn’t have missed it. There were simply too many clues that she is a cut above the ordinary.”

“Yes, truly. She may be many things, but never ordinary. Then, Inspector Adair, I will take my leave. I’m taking over Jenny’s practice for the time being, so she can remain here with you until you’re well enough to be discharged.” He held out his hand to Shane again.

“Goodbye, then, Doctor Weston. And I should thank you for helping me.”

“You’re welcome. I’m only glad that my skill was adequate. Yours was a challenging case. And I certainly do not blame you for disliking me. I’ll go a long way to go to prove myself to you. I intend to try to do so to the best of my ability. Not just for Jenny’s sake, either. I owe it to you after my abominable behavior toward you both. Well, then, Inspector, good day, and take care of yourself.” He took his leave, and Shane sat watching after him until Richard, Jenny, and Angus came back in.

“I just came to say goodbye to you for a while, Shane,” Richard began. He glanced down at a leather-bound book in his hands. “I know you’ll be bored now that you’re starting to feel better. This might help.” He handed over the volume. Shane took it and looked at the title. However, his thumb lay over the author’s name across the bottom of the front cover.

“Hmm.
By the Grace of God
. I’ve heard so much about it. I’ve heard that even as a work of fiction it’s quite historically accurate, and you know how I love history. I fully intended to read it, but I haven’t been here in River Bend long enough to pick up a copy. Thank you so much, Richard. It’s very thoughtful of you. I’ll return it as soon as I’ve finished with it.” He looked up at Richard and saw his wry smile.

“No need, Shane. I have several more where that came from. This copy is a gift. And rest assured that I have indeed read it thoroughly.” Then Shane set the volume down on his lap and his eyes went wide. The gold-stamped lettering across the bottom of the cover read
Richard T. Weston, Ph.D.
His cheeks colored violently.

“Richard, you actually…wrote this?” His voice went up, breaking like a teenager’s. With a cool smile worthy of a jade Buddha, Richard nodded slowly, spinning out the moment for all it was worth.

“It’s the reason I came out here to the wilds of Ontario. In New York I couldn’t even set foot outside my front door without being mobbed by autograph seekers.” Shane opened the cover. On the flyleaf, in Richard’s careful copperplate script, was the inscription,
To my good friend Shane Adair. Best wishes for a swift and complete recovery. Richard T. Weston.