son, Ethan, when he had been ill and abed for weeks had been more receptive to his suggestions than Miss Archer, who seemed determined to thwart his care of her.
“You cannot get up immediately without risking a fever,” he said, catching hold of the bandage to tie it off. “You could also break the sutures and reopen the wound. The bullet grazed your bicep, madam. Unless it heals properly, you will never lift your lower arm without pain. I imagine that would be rather inconvenient for a painter.”
He leaned back to find her green eyes narrowed and her lips working as if she was piling up words to hurl at him. Her color had only gone higher, and this time he was fairly sure of the cause.
She was furious.
“It would be more than inconvenient, and you know it,” she finally said. “But my paintings aren’t the only things in the shop. Nearly every woman in the area helps support her family through the crafts I sell on commission. If I make no money, neither do they.”
The workings of this village continued to amaze him. He’d visited the famous spas at Harrogate and Scarborough and knew of inland Bath and Lyme Regis along the coast. None had such a generous arrangement. At Grace-by-the-Sea, families lived from the income of the shops, the goods and services sold to the spa where he had been appointed physician, and the visitors it brought in. The Spa Corporation that paid his salary divided profits among the village families quarterly.
“Perhaps one of your ladies could watch the shop for you,” he suggested, snapping shut his bag.
She started to cross her arms over her chest and seemed to think better of it. “I prefer to manage things myself.”
That came as no surprise. “Unfortunately, this injury requires more attention than you can give. If you have any sign of a fever or swelling, you are to send for me immediately.”
Her face settled into tight lines. Her cheekbones were high and firm, the maxilla and mandible of her jaw well defined. Sculptors must long for such a face to model.
“I do not appreciate being ordered about, sir,” she informed him.
Neither had Catriona.
He shoved the thought aside. Miss Archer was nothing like his late wife. Catriona had been blond and buxom, with a focus on her own pleasures. Miss Archer had a slender physique and hair the color of the bruised ginger the apothecary used in Linus’s preparations. It fell about her shoulders now in thick waves that seemed to beckon him closer.
All while the light in her green eyes warned him to keep his distance.
“Ordering my patients about is my duty,” he said, picking up his bag. “So is helping them understand the ramifications of ignoring my counsel. Wounds that are not allowed to heal can turn gangrenous. I prefer not to perform amputations, but I understand there’s a surgeon in Upper Grace who is delighted to pull out his saw.”
The color that had concerned him fled, and she dropped her gaze to the quilt covering her lap.
He felt a twinge of guilt. He hadn’t intended to frighten her, but she had to know what could happen if she didn’t take care. Catriona had refused to listen to him. He would not lose another.
“No need to trouble him,” Miss Archer murmured as if far more contrite. “I’ll do what I must to heal.”
Linus drew in a breath. “Good. Any other questions for me?”
Her gaze rose once more. Oh, but he’d been wrong. Not contrite. Merely gathering more ammunition.
“Have you reinstated Jesslyn Chance and Maudlyn Tully to their positions at the spa yet?” she asked.
He should have known she’d bring that up. Miss Chance and her aunt had managed the spa between the time the previous physician—Miss Chance’s father—had passed last year and Linus had arrived. Was it only a week ago, now? The Spa Corporation president and his wife did not see the need for the ladies’ services now that Linus had taken charge, but he began to think them indispensable. For one thing, many of the ongoing spa guests refused to set foot in the Grand Pump Room without them. For another, he was having trouble just getting the fountain that dispensed the mineral waters to operate correctly.
“I regret that I have been too busy to make Miss Chance’s acquaintance,” he said. “But I have asked everyone who mentioned her to have her visit me at the spa.”
She puffed out a sigh. “When you intend to apologize, sir,