Dr. Bones and the Christmas Wish by Emma Jameson

Author:Emma Jameson [Jameson, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyonnesse Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

4

Juliet spent the next several days meddling in Letty’s affairs and rearranging them to her satisfaction. The exercise not only played to her strengths, it kept her anticipation about the twenty-fourth of December to a manageable simmer. Allowing it to boil, to contemplate what amounted to an entire day with Ben and all the possibilities therein, rendered her useless in short order. But by the evening of the twenty-third, she’d run out of problems to solve. That meant the pot was on, the steam was billowing, and it was all she could do to sit still.

After dinner, she and her mother usually had drinks in the downstairs parlor. Lady Victoria liked what amounted to a thimbleful of brandy; Juliet preferred coffee, and plenty of it. Tonight, however, it merely exacerbated an ever-present stomach ache. Fortunately, their two very different houseguests were occupied elsewhere.

Ethan, who had been asked not to intrude on Juliet and her mother’s private time, was down at the Sheared Sheep, probably holding court. The old men who made up its core clientele seemed to regard him as something of a conquering hero, which she would have found unbearable if it wasn’t all for the greater good. Let them slap Ethan on the back and make lewd insinuations about how he’d supposedly put his wife in her place. This was Juliet’s first wartime sacrifice, and it probably wouldn’t be her last.

Letty, who would have been a welcome addition, had a standing invitation to join Juliet and Lady Victoria, but had thus far declined. She was on her feet again, albeit unsteadily, walking a few minutes each day with Dinah by her side. After an early dinner, she was too exhausted for anything but sleep.

As if reading Juliet’s mind, Lady Victoria said, “You’ve worked a miracle on Letty. And by extension, Dinah. I quite enjoy seeing them together.” Embroidery hoop on her lap, she was finishing up a Christmas present, something patriotic with the flags of Cornwall, England, and Great Britain.

“I can’t take much credit. She gave in rather easily. Perhaps she’s tired of living alone,” Juliet said. “I never realized Dinah had the makings of a nurse.”

“She’s sympathetic, but not soft. She sees right through Letty’s excuses,” Lady Victoria said. “I overheard them this morning. I used to consider Dinah closemouthed, but with Letty she sounded quite spirited.”

“You should hear her when she does my hair,” Juliet said, recalling their game of Impertinent Questions.

“Speaking of your hair, it’s lovely.” Lady Victoria looked up from her embroidery with a smile. “Have you learned to do it yourself?”

“No. But I finished The Buccaneers and moved on to The Code of the Woosters.”

“That’s probably a better use of your time. So. As you seem ready to launch out of that chair and fly around the room, I have to ask: Are you looking forward to tomorrow’s excursion?”

Juliet didn’t dare lock eyes with her mother, who saw too much. Settling for looking at something safer—three of the dogs, arranged by the hearth in a state of collapse—she said, “No doubt it will be jolly good.

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