The Artist's Healer - Regina Scott Page 0,44
her again the next couple of days. It was rather disappointing. Of course, she hadn’t encouraged his kiss and had not planned on a courtship, which usually went with such a kiss. She’d met very few men who could be trusted, in the long run. Yet, Linus seemed like he should be added to that number.
She watched him at the spa on Saturday and at services and the spa on Sunday. Militiamen came and went, and the French agents made no more attempt on his person. She and Eva had worked out the details of running the spa, and all went well. Everyone seemed happy, healthy. Four more gentlemen Newcomers arrived, and she or Eva interviewed them closely.
“Distressingly normal,” Eva said with a sigh.
Abigail couldn’t argue. Then again, she couldn’t complain either. She wasn’t afraid to jump into the heat of battle, but peace was nothing to cry over.
She still wondered about Mr. Donner, but he too behaved with distressing normality. While Mr. George slept late Sunday, Mr. Donner attended services and appeared to be a model congregant. The only oddity about him was the length of his stay. Some spent the entire summer or even the year at Grace-by-the-Sea, but most visited between a fortnight and a month. Mr. Donner and his friend were approaching a month now and showed no sign of leaving.
She went so far as to ask Mrs. Kirby about their leases.
“Neither has a lease,” the lady reported as they walked out of the services that Sunday to a trickle of rain. “I believe they are staying at the Swan. Mrs. Truant mentioned she was glad for such accommodating gentlemen. It’s not often she and her husband have such long-term guests. Not many can afford it, and those that can usually lease instead. Of course, Doctor Owens and Mrs. Rand have also extended their stays, I understand.”
Which raised the question of Mr. Donner’s income. He dressed well, but not extravagantly, and wore neither gold fob nor diamond stickpin. Could he have stolen those clothes? From whom? Surely any gentleman in the area missing clothing would have reported it to the magistrate’s house, even if James Howland was out of town at the moment.
“Any news on whether Doctor Bennett will be taking that house?” Mrs. Kirby asked hopefully, glancing to where Linus and Ethan were visiting with the vicar. “I had another inquiry.”
“Perhaps you could hold off on giving an answer,” Abigail said. “I want to bring up compensation at our next board meeting. That may sway the decision one way or the other.”
“Well, I’d certainly prefer to see it go to the doctor,” Mrs. Kirby assured her. “If the income from the spa warrants it, I’m all for increasing his salary so he can take the house.”
With everything so prosaic at the spa, they certainly had the income, at least at the moment. Somehow, she knew Mr. Greer would argue nonetheless.
On Monday morning, Linus removed her stitches.
“The scar will remain, I’m afraid,” he told her as he examined the wound. At least she didn’t have to wear her nightgown in front of him anymore. Eva’s slashed-sleeve gown could also soon be returned to its owner, after a thorough brushing, of course.
“Only to be expected,” Abigail allowed. She caught herself admiring the wave of his hair over his forehead and made herself look at the white pucker of flesh instead.
He leaned back. “I’d give it a few more days before you start painting again. I’ll continue to check it when I stop by for Ethan.”
Once she would have railed at the delay. Now she could only smile and thank him, grateful that their quiet conversations would continue a while longer. She was even a little disappointed when Jess and Lark returned from their honeymoon later that morning, and her friend took up her place at the spa.
“The two of you were wonderful to step in while I was gone,” she told Abigail and Eva as they stood around the welcome book. “Everything looks just as it ought, and everyone seems content. I cannot thank you enough.”
“It was our pleasure,” Eva assured her. “I’ll just take my leave of Doctor Bennett. I want to prepare Butterfly Manor for James. He should return from London by this evening.”
Abigail shifted on her feet as Eva hurried away. She should leave too. Mrs. Truant would want to return to her duties at the Swan instead of staffing All the Colors of the Sea, Abigail’s shop. Yet she felt as if she’d