The Duke Effect (The Rogue Files #7) - Sophie Jordan Page 0,10

started in her belly. “What then are you doing here, sir?”

“I’ve business here, and as for my swim in the pond . . . I merely wished to refresh after my long ride and make myself presentable.”

“Hmph.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve business with Warrington then?”

“I did not say that,” he replied rather vaguely. “It was not he with whom I’ve requested an audience.”

They had fetched Nora to attend him. That was true.

Presumably then, he had asked for Nora. She frowned. That made no sense.

“If you’re not here for Warrington . . . who then are you here to see?”

“Why, Dr. Langley.”

She flinched.

It was strange to hear her father’s name uttered in a manner that implied he still lived, that he still walked among them. It had been years since his passing and his absence had faded to a dull ache, but hearing his name spoken out loud by this man was jarring. The dull ache of his loss flared anew to a stinging pain.

“Dr. Langley,” she echoed at a whisper.

“Yes, I said as much to the housekeeper.”

She nodded, contemplating that. Of course. Mrs. Conally would have sent Nora to answer such a caller rather than make the explanations herself. It was not her place to inform a seemingly well-bred stranger that Dr. Langley was no longer of this earth. Such a task would fall to one of his family members, and Nora was the only one at home presently.

Or perhaps Mrs. Conally even thought their guest meant Nora when he asked to see Dr. Langley. Nora did attend to many of the locals, after all, serving their medical needs. No physician had replaced Papa in the community. There was no doctor in Brambledon. Only Nora. She had jokingly been called doctor on more than one occasion.

“You’ve come here to see Dr. Langley,” she murmured, seeking clarification, but also, perhaps, stalling. Her mind raced as she contemplated how best to proceed in this situation.

He was beginning to look a fraction exasperated. “Yes, is he not in residence?”

“Ah, he is not . . .”

Why was this so dreadfully awkward?

She was not one to usually stumble over her words. Rather, she often spit them out like torrents of mortar without forethought.

In this moment, however, she was discomfited and at a loss for words.

“When might I return to see him?” he pressed.

“You may not . . .” she murmured.

“Now see here.” He was fully exasperated now, a dull flush of color creeping over his cheeks. “I realize we got off to a bad start, but that is no reason to deny me audience with—”

“He is dead, sir.” At last. She’d said it. Baldly declared it to a man whose name she still did not know as there had been no proper introductions. Charlotte would be appalled at her lack of gentility. She was always telling Nora she needed to be more mannerly.

Except proper could not be applied to any moment of their interactions thus far, so why should Nora now care how bluntly she revealed the news of her father’s death?

She must have shocked him. He stared at her for long moments without response.

He blinked a few times and, after some moments, cleared his throat. “I—I am so very sorry to hear that. I was unaware, of course.”

She nodded stiffly. “How is it you knew . . . Dr. Langley?”

She believed she would have remembered this man if he’d ever come to Brambledon, but Papa could have met him when he attended one of his conferences in London or Edinburgh.

“I . . . We have never met, that is not in person, but we have corresponded for years.”

“I see,” she managed to get out.

Corresponded for years . . .

The words sent a chill through her. She squashed the unwelcome sensation. No one would attempt to track Papa down here. She had been writing on his behalf for years now, dispensing medical advice and then signing (er, forging) his name to those missives. It was subterfuge, true, but she did not see the harm in it. She wasn’t hurting anyone. Quite the opposite. The people who wrote to Papa wanted help and she possessed the knowledge to assist them. Papa had trained her himself, after all.

The individuals she corresponded with never lived close to Brambledon. She made certain these were not people she would bump into out and about in Society. Some of them were military men who lived on distant shores and were seeking medical advice for their fellow soldiers