The Fire's Center (14 page)

 
"I hope you don’t mind an old man’s presumption, but might my wife and I join you for coffee?"

Lucien raised his eyebrows, but with a quick look at Riona to see that she didn’t mind, he moved two chairs over to the fire, flanking Riona on either side, and escorted the woman towards one.

"I hope I haven’t been monopolising the fire all night," Riona apologised. "You should have said."

"Not at all my dear, and besides, we didn’t want to disturb a couple so obviously in love." The old man beamed. "I may be old and grey now, my child, but the wife and I remember what it was like to be young once. I must say, there is nothing like a happy marriage, when the two partners have so much to talk about as you two obviously do."

Riona blushed to the roots of her hair and avoided Lucien’s piercing golden gaze. But the husband and wife, oblivious to her discomfort, began to introduce themselves as Francis and Millicent Crozier, of Dublin, and chatted amiably about their journey from Donegal.

"We’ve just come from there ourselves," Lucien remarked with a small smile. He didn’t trouble to correct them over their error, merely introduced Riona and shook Mr. and Mrs. Crozier’s hands.

Riona listened silently, wondering why everyone mistook them for a married couple. Perhaps it was just the fact that they were a man and woman travelling together. Or was there something more that people had noticed burgeoning between them?

Don’t be silly, it’s just that you have a lot in common, many things to discuss, that’s all
, Riona scolded herself.
Besides, they had no way of knowing I was getting yet another anatomy lesson,
she thought with a small smile.

Lucien joined in the elderly couple’s lively conversation every so often in his own quiet way, was perfectly polite, and did his best to make them feel at ease at the table.

Riona for her part said little, for she was interested to watch Lucien deal with members of his own class. It was really no different from the way he treated her, she was happy to observe.

Once again, Riona started to have some misgivings about moving into Lucien’s house when they got to Dublin the next day. After all, wouldn’t the servants gossip, or jump to the same wrong conclusion the way these kind old people had?

She poured out the coffee mechanically when it came, and Mrs. Crozier, noticing her quiet demeanour, began to try to draw her out concerning books and poetry.

Here of course Riona could demonstrate her knowledge without seeming too unusual, and so the rest of the evening was spent in a lively conversation about the Romantic poets, with a few jolly rounds of anagrams to finish off the evening.

Mr. and Mrs. Crozier then rose. "Thank you for allowing us to join you, and blessings on you both, my dears. Perhaps we shall meet in town sometime, though admittedly we don’t go out very much now that I’ve retired."

"That would be very nice," Lucien said with obvious enthusiasm, and then gave a small wave as they left the room.

"I hope you weren’t too bored," Lucien apologised after they had left. "You were very quiet."

"I didn’t want to say anything to embarrass you, that’s all. But no, they were a great deal of fun, really. But then so is doing a bone test with you."

"Well, it’s the first time a conversation about the bloody flux has ever been rated as a sign of my having a lively, sociable disposition," Lucien laughed.

Riona giggled as well, and after a last sip of their coffee, they blew out the candles and lamps in the dining room, and mounted the stairs.

"Shall we get an early start tomorrow, Dr. Woulfe? I’m sure you must be anxious to get home."

"Yes, I am," Lucien admitted, "but only because the weather still bodes ill. If we had had better conditions, I would have been contented to stay out in the country a while longer.

"I was brought up down in County Wicklow, you know, but the house is empty now apart from my uncle Oliver. I moved to the townhouse to give him some room, and because it is a little bit too far for me to travel if I have many patients to see. I would in any case have needed consulting rooms in town, so the townhouse seemed just the right thing.

"My brother Quentin has a lovely home just on the outskirts of the city, on the road to Maynooth, which he built a few years ago. I must say I envy him, having the best of both worlds. But then of course, he’s married, with a wife to look after the household affairs. You’ll find the townhouse a bit rough and ready, especially with my clients coming in and out, and very few servants."

"I’m sure it will be fine. I’ll see you at nine for breakfast?"

"In your room?"

"Fine. Good night, and thank you for a lovely evening."

"No, thank you, Riona," Lucien said, kissing her briefly on the lips before closing the door to his room softly.

As she got ready for bed, Riona thought uneasily once more of moving into Lucien’s townhouse. Would it spoil all they had shared so far on their journey together?

The last thing Riona wanted was for them to start behaving like polite strangers. Not when they had the makings of a wonderful friendship, and had got past the rigid class-based social conventions.

On the other hand, to dream of sharing more with him was almost unthinkable.
 
She knew she was responding to him more and more as a man, not just her employer. Everyone seemed to be mistaking them for a
 
couple in love.
 

But men of Lucien's class didn't marry for love. They married for duty, wealth, social connections. If they ever got involved with a woman of a lower class, it either meant scandal and ruin for the girl, who was labelled fallen thereafter, or it meant the same for the man, flouting society's mores.
 

She knew sexual relations out of wedlock were a sin, with any child of such a union given an ugly name, and without rights.
 
They might even end up in an orphanage, or a workhouse, cast aside by both parents.
 

Yet if love of that nature were so wrong, why did so many fall prey to its wonders?

Riona wasn't sure, but the more time she spent with Lucien, the more she was coming to believe that for a man like him, she might indeed be prepared to risk everything.

The only question was, did he feel the same? Or would he once
 
more retreat into his cold, isolated world of books and social obligations, and leave her feeling like an outsider in her new home?

Riona needn’t have worried that her relationship with Lucien would deteriorate when she arrived at her new home, for once Lucien was back in Dublin, he commenced his plans to train Riona as fully as possible to be his assistant without a moment's hesitation.

After breakfast and a long chilly coach ride, with Riona and Lucien snuggled up together going over all he had taught her so far, they arrived at Merrion Square West at about dinner time, and immediately ordered hot food.

The surprised servants did their best to arrange for an impromptu meal, but Lucien hardy noticed what he ate as he sorted through his correspondence, while Riona leafed through a copy of
Gray’s Anatomy
which he had handed her almost as soon as he had walked in through the door.

Riona thought it an odd welcoming present, but she couldn’t fail to be impressed with the house and her reception there. All the servants were extremely polite to her, asked no questions, and were more than eager to show her the whole house and give her the pick of the guest rooms once they realized she was to be staying there for some time.

Riona wondered if their reception was due to the fact that Lucien had brought women there before, but she tried to push the jealous thought to one side as Lucien himself showed her the downstairs.

It was comprised of a drawingroom and dining room on the left hand side of a large foyer, and a small waiting area, consulting room, dressing room and study for Lucien’s patients on the right.

Lucien then instructed her to make sure she chose whichever of the bedrooms she liked upstairs, and she ascended in the care of Niamh the young serving maid.

The second floor was again divided into a study-cum-office, full of papers and files, with a library on the one side, and a large suite of rooms comprising bathroom, dressing room, with a bathroom with a huge porcelain tub in between on the other.

Riona could tell these rooms were Lucien’s, and so she ascended to the next floor, where she had a choice of four guest rooms, each adjoining two slightly smaller and less luxurious bathrooms than the one she had seen downstairs.

The furniture in each of the rooms was dark and sturdy, but one was slightly more feminine than the others, and boasted a four-poster bed. The curtains of the bed were cream with a light floral pattern, and the Aubusson carpet underfoot matched perfectly.

There was a small pale blue chair and walnut writing desk by the window, and two larger wing-backed chairs by the fireplace. In the corner was a large walnut wardrobe, and next to it a small matching dressing table, above which hung a small bevelled mirror.

"I think this one would suit me best, don’t you?"

Yes, Miss," Niamh agreed, and offered her help getting settled.

"No, really, I am sure there is plenty to do downstairs, but thank you for the tour," Riona replied.

Once she was alone, Riona unpacked her valise, and after laying out her brush and comb on the dressing table, and hanging all of her gowns and two cloaks in the wardrobe, she sat down at the desk and began to read her anatomy book.

A tap at the door about ten minutes later heralded Lucien’s arrival.

"I see you’ve chosen the room facing east. You’ll get more sun in the morning, eh? At any rate, let’s see if we can’t make it a bit more cozy for you, with some cushions and so on," he observed.

He went into each of the other rooms and gathered up various items. He added more small pale blue frilled pillows to the bed, and a thick navy and red plaid blanket, which he folded and put at the foot.

"I see you’ve laid out your books, but choose anything you like from the library downstairs, and don’t be reading
Gray’s Anatomy
all the time. I’m not that harsh a taskmaster, you know."

She smiled. "You’ve been a very patient teacher so far. In fact, far more so than I am with my pupils."

"Nonsense," he said with a shake of his head, before continuing to make sure the room passed muster.
 
"I'm sure you were an admirable governess, with all you know. Here, let’s put a few more ornaments on the mantelpiece, and a fire screen. It’s too cold in here to sit without a fire, so why don’t you come downstairs into my study with me? You can help me write my letters, and do some reading, and there’s a fine blaze in there. I don’t expect you to hide in your room when I’m not around, either. You may use any of the rooms in the house. I have no secrets or inner sanctum, as it were," Lucien informed her.