Elizabethan Time Travel 01 - The Thornless Rose by Morgan O'Neill

Author:Morgan O'Neill [O'Neill, Morgan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Time Travel, Historical, General, Rose, Elizabethan, Romance, Suspense, Entangled, Time, Thornless, Select Suspense, Travel
ISBN: 9781633751767
Google: QnO-BQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2014-12-29T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Since the fight with Norfolk nearly a week before, the weather had grown brisk, and the business at the hospital had as well. The sound of the clapper at the main gate was sharp, startling in the morning fog shrouding the hospital grounds.

Rubbing his hands against the cold, Bob hurried out to admit the early caller. “What’ll be thy sickness?” he muttered through chattering teeth.

He opened the spy-slat. Oh—she’s a beauty! A tall woman—no, girl mayhap—stared back at him. Wrapped in a heavy woolen shawl, her sky blue eyes were soft and round, her nose tiny and upturned at the tip. And her lips! They were a shade of red that gave him an instant physical jolt deep in his gut.

“Aye, lass?” he asked, raking at his unkempt hair. “Art thou ill an’ needin’ t’ see the doctor?”

“Nay,” she replied, shifting the fabric so it fell away from her head, revealing flaxen hair, caught up loosely in a crimson ribbon. “I’m no’ ill. I’ve come t’ have a word with Mistress Anne an’ t’ bring her a bit o’ somethin’ t’ say ta.”

Shyly, the young woman held forth a small bouquet of blue and white flowers. “I was told she lived here.”

“Indeed, indeed.” Bob opened the gate and smiled his best smile as she came in. “Mistress Anne’s been feelin’ poorly o’ late, but I can tell the doctor thou art here an’ he might have a talk wi’ thee. Who’s callin’?”

“Just say ’tis Alice Potter, from away by the river,” she answered vaguely. “He’ll know who ’tis.”

“Right, then. C’mon into the great room whilst I fetch him.” Bob turned to go.

“Got that in a fight, did thee?” she said, indicating his bruised face.

Immediately, Bob raised his hand, covering his nose. Blushing, he nodded. “’Twas hopin’ it didn’t show much anymore.”

“There’s still a bit o’ swellin’ and, besides, the black eyes give it away.” Alice considered his injury frankly for a moment. “Doesn’t look likely to disfigure. I hope ’twere thee that won. Thou seem a decent sort.”

He could feel the heat of embarrassment burn all the way to the tips of his ears. Nodding, Bob flashed a proud smile. After escorting Alice to the great room, he hurried off to call Brandon.

Tapping on the infirmary door, he peeped in. “Doctor, we have a visitor.”

Brandon was up to his elbows in soapy water, cleaning his medical instruments. “Yes?” he asked.

Bob considered the stitches over Brandon’s right eye and his bruised jaw, and had a sudden sinking feeling Alice would think the two of them had been brawling. He stammered, “One Alice... Mistress Alice Potter from down by the river, sir.”

Brandon wiped his hands on a towel, rolled down his sleeves, and followed Bob to the great room.

Bob hovered near the door, waiting to hear what Alice would say, hoping the visit would be a long one—he had never seen such a pretty girl!

He nervously watched her as she stared at Brandon’s face, then glanced over at him. Lord have

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