“Thank you, Lady Belmont, it is greatly appreciated,” Lady Beaufort said, her eyes gleaming so that Melissa knew her gratitude was genuine.
Melissa gulped past the lump in her throat when she watched Lady Beaufort hurriedly remove some coins from her purse. “How much?”
Shaking her head, she gripped Lady Beaufort’s hand and tightly wrapped her fingers around the money. “I do not need payment, Lady Beaufort.”
“Lady Belmont, you really must allow me to pay you,” Lady Beaufort protested, looking shocked at her refusal. “You deserve it.”
“Your gratitude is enough,” Melissa said. Silently, she added to herself,and I am no doctor in this line of business for profit.
“Are you certain?” Lady Beaufort asked.
Melissa did not need time to think. Instead, she nodded and smiled. “Perhaps your company for tea shall be payment enough?”
It was clear that such a suggestion eased Lady Beaufort a little, and Melissa quickly asked Betty to hand them both a cup before the older woman could try to force payment into her hand again.
“I really shouldn’t remain too long,” Lady Beaufort said as she took the cup that Betty offered to her. “I have other errands to run.”
Melissa knew well what she really meant, that she did not wish to be seen associating with Oxfordshire’s resident witch, but Melissa could not blame the woman. The trouble her company often brought to the door was something few would welcome.
“Fear not, Lady Beaufort, I understand,” Melissa said, taking a cup from Betty herself. The sympathetic look the maid gave her made Melissa aware that even she knew what Lady Beaufort was really saying.
Melissa sighed deeply and wondered,would things be this way if Thomas were still around?
She quickly forced the thought away again. If her husband were still alive, she would likely not even be sat there now. No woman like Lady Beaufort would have dared to approach her for help if they believed she would go running to her husband for advice.
Though it made her feel guilty to think of her late husband as an inconvenience, she couldn’t deny that her life was much simpler without him and far more rewarding.
Thank you, Thomas,she thought, knowing that even though their last few weeks together had been fraught with lies and betrayal, she still had a lot to thank him for. And she would not change her life now for anything. At least, that was what she told herself whenever she found Lord Spurnrose popping into her head again.
Deep down, she knew it was better to have learned about his lying, betraying nature now rather than later, though as she sat talking pleasantries with Lady Beaufort for a short while, she couldn’t help wishing she had never found those letters at all.
When Melissa opened the front door to see Lady Beaufort out, she never anticipated seeing someone else approaching on the other side.
“Oh! Mr Spurnrose, what a pleasant surprise!” Lady Beaufort exclaimed before Melissa even had the chance to react save for her grip tightening hard on the brass door knob.
Mr Spurnrose looked just as surprised to see them as she was to see him, his hand raised as though he had been about to take hold of the door knocker.
“Lady Beaufort, a pleasure to see you as always,” Mr Spurnrose said, bowing his head in greeting as he removed his hat.
Melissa’s stomach tightened at his very presence upon her doorstep, and instinctively, she glanced behind him, half expecting Lord Spurnrose to be there as well. Even as she did, she thought,he should be at home resting.
And when she saw that, in fact, Mr Spurnrose was quite alone on the porch, she couldn’t help feeling a wave of disappointment.
More than that, she felt disgruntled by the fact that Mr Spurnrose had even appeared at her door. What could he possibly want from her? Though he smiled warmly to Lady Beaufort, Melissa couldn’t imagine the facial expression would remain long once they had been left alone.
“Forgive me, Lady Belmont, I was not aware that you had company,” Mr Spurnrose admitted, and Melissa thought she saw a hint of colour flush his cheeks as though he was genuinely embarrassed. “Perhaps I should return another time.”
“Oh, no. Do not leave on my account,” Lady Beaufort said before Melissa could get a word in edgewise. The lady glanced at Melissa then with an almost knowing look, though it sent a cringe through her to see it. It was abundantly clear that the woman had got the wrong end of the stick. Likely after all their talk of bedfellows and widows having more fun, Lady Beaufort had got the wrong idea.
Just imagining what Lady Beaufort was thinking about the two of them made Melissa feel sick to her stomach. She had to bite her lip to stop snapping at Mr Spurnrose that he should indeed leave and not even bother returning when they had so little to interact over.
Why is he even here?Melissa thought, though she did not dare to ask the question out loud, at least not with Lady Beaufort present. She would either get a lie from the man’s lips or be utterly humiliated by whatever foul confrontation he had come to give her this time.
“I was just departing,” Lady Beaufort continued, sweeping out through the door in a flurry of her silken brown gown. “Please, do not let me get in the way of your business.”
With that, Lady Beaufort turned to Melissa, smiled, and added, “Good day, Lady Belmont, and thank you for your time.”
The elder lady curtseyed then to Melissa and bowed her head to Mr Spurnrose before she began heading down the porch steps. No doubt she had ordered her carriage man to wait down the lane not to have her carriage found at Melissa’s estate. Yet another thing that many of her patients liked to do to keep their business private.
