Page 127 of The Secrets of Ashmore Castle

And as she thought about what he’d told her, she began to move away from her first instant idea of rejection. Because it was a way out for her, wasn’t it? It was an answer to more than one question.

Richard had never been to a hospital before. The Middlesex, with its strange smell, hushed atmosphere, and the disagreeably large number of sick people everywhere, daunted him, and he found it difficult to maintain his usual devil-may-care attitude, even before the relaxed Dr Dangerfield. But Dangerfield had persuaded him to undergo an examination of his bones by the Röntgen method. The Middlesex Hospital had been the first to obtain one of the machines, which was installed in a small room above the out-patient department.

Dangerfield was at his most chirpy. ‘Did you ever as a child hold your hand up against the sun? Remember how your fingers glowed red? That’s because the flesh is partially translucent – that is, light passes through it.’

‘I suppose so,’ Richard said sulkily. He was out of his place and out of his element – both sensations he resented.

‘Very good. Well, a German physicist called Röntgen discovered a special sort of extra-strong light that can be passed right through the human body – flesh, organs and all – and is only stopped by the bones.’

‘Very clever. What’s the point of that?’

‘It means that we can see inside you, Mr Tallant, and take a photograph of your bones,’ Dangerfield said happily. ‘We can see if they’re broken and, conversely, if they’ve healed. The rays are also stopped by foreign objects,’ he added, as though Richard were interested, ‘so, for instance, if someone is shot, we can see where the bullet is. Makes it an awful lot easier to get the thing out. I tell you, this machine is going to change medicine! We’re only just beginning to work out all the applications.’

‘All I care about is that you want to apply it to me,’ Richard said.

‘Your fractures were severe,’ Dangerfield said, ‘and you are an impatient patient. I want to be sure they’ve healed before I let you loose. The alternative,’ he added casually, ‘is to lock you up for a few more months to stop you using your arm and foot.’

‘You don’t deceive me for an instant,’ Richard said. ‘You’re just hell-bent on using this new thing-a-ma-jig.’

Dangerfield grinned. ‘I am. It’s a beauty. Well – don’t you want to make medical history?’

‘You mean I’d be the first person to use it?’ Richard asked, half excited, half appalled.

‘Well, no – they’ve had it since ’ninety-six,’ Dangerfield admitted. ‘But you’d be the first of my patients,’ he added temptingly.

The result of this disagreeable experience was that Dangerfield dismissed him as ‘healed, as near as dammit’. His arm and his foot were usable now, ‘though the muscles will need to be built up again’. The shoulder fracture had healed, but Richard found it stiff, and if he lifted his arm too high, or rotated it too far, it hurt. Dangerfield told him he might never have a full range of movement with it. ‘However, gentle exercise will improve it to an extent. The more you use it, the better, but don’t strain it. And,’ he added wisely, ‘I advise you not to break it again. Try to keep out of accidents, especially those involving the high impact of your body with immovable objects.’

‘Such sage advice,’ Richard said. ‘How much am I paying you for it?’

Giles rarely came in to breakfast, eating earlier than the females of the house and getting straight to work. So Kitty had to seek him out in the library, much as she disliked disturbing him. But she found him looking more cheerful than usual, and before she could speak he said, ‘Come in! Adeane has suggested it’s time I went about the estate and looked at some of the things he’s proposing. He was for going in the dog-cart, but I haven’t been astride a horse for so long, I decided to ride. Would you like to come too?’

Her heart lifted – he wanted her company! ‘Oh, yes – yes, please,’ she said. ‘Is there a horse for me to ride?’

‘You can have Queen Bee – my mother’s mare. I checked and she isn’t riding today. Can you be ready in half an hour?’

‘Oh, yes – but, Giles, there is something I wanted to ask you.’

‘Fire away, then.’

‘I ought to pay a visit to my parents. I haven’t called on them since we got back. And I thought, if you agree to it, I could take the girls too. Not so much to see my parents – I shan’t stay long there – but for a day in London, to give them a change of scene. We could look at the shops, and have luncheon somewhere – now I’m a married woman,’ she parenthesised shyly, ‘I can chaperone them, so it would be quite respectable.’ He smiled at the thought of her, a chaperone. In her eagerness she looked no older than Alice. ‘And they’re so much confined here, I think it would do them good. What do you think?’

‘You should ask—’ he began.

The shine went out of her eyes. ‘You’re going to say I must ask your mother. And she’s sure to say no.’

‘I don’t think so. She doesn’t mind much what the girls do, as long as they’re kept away from young men. But, if you like, I’ll mention it to her myself today. You may go ahead and make your plans. It will be all right.’

‘Oh, thank you!’

He gave her a quizzical look. ‘Is their company such a treat for you?’

‘I like them very much,’ she said, not understanding his point.

He waved it away. ‘I was going to suggest that while you’re in London, you should call on Aunt Caroline. The girls will like to see her, and she was very helpful in bringing us together. We both owe her a debt.’

‘I’ll do that, gladly,’ Kitty said. ‘I’ll go and tell the girls. And Rose – she’ll have to help Daisy find them something to wear.’ She paused, looking at him doubtfully. ‘They ought to have a new dress each. While we were looking at the shops, do you think … ?’

He anticipated. ‘Yes, of course, buy them whatever you want. Set up accounts at the shops and they’ll send the bills here.’ He didn’t add, ‘It’s your money, after all,’ but he puzzled to himself as to how she could still be so humble about spending it. And then, remembering Lady Bayfield, puzzled no more.