Isabelle and Alexander by Rebecca Anderson

Author:Rebecca Anderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Published: 2021-04-20T15:43:56+00:00

Leaving the room, Isabelle climbed the stairs to find Mrs. Burns straightening the bedchamber.

“How did you find Mr. Osgood today?” the housekeeper asked.

“Very handsome,” Isabelle said. A laugh of surprise burst from her. “I mean well. He is very well. The chair seems to be helping, and he is happier.”

Mrs. Burns did an insufficient job of hiding her smile. She trimmed the wick of the lamp on the dressing table and refilled the oil.

Isabelle chose not to notice her housekeeper’s response. “At least I hope he is. Doctor Fredericks is here now,” she said, making a face of displeasure.

“We all miss Doctor Kelley,” Mrs. Burns said, kindly ignoring Isabelle’s own slip into informality. “Even so, I am hopeful that the visits with Doctor Fredericks will benefit Mr. Osgood.”

Isabelle sat at the dressing table Mrs. Burns had recently dusted. “Shall I tell you what I think?” Isabelle asked.

Mrs. Burns nodded in a display of proper interest.

Leaning forward, Isabelle confided, “I believe he’s beginning to regain sensation.”

The housekeeper set down her dusting cloth and stared at Isabelle. “How do you know, ma’am? What have you seen?”

Isabelle mentioned what Alexander had said about feeling a pinch. As she spoke the words, her heart ran faster with the hope they carried.

Mrs. Burns brought her hands together as if saying a prayer. “That would be most welcome.”

“If Doctor Kelley’s predictions were correct,” Isabelle said, a warning in her voice, “such a recovery would entail a fair amount of pain.”

Mrs. Burns said, “And if I could take his pain upon myself, I would.”

“As would I.”

Isabelle saw the housekeeper’s face fill with a look of contentment.

“May I offer a suggestion?” Mrs. Burns said.

Isabelle nodded.

“Keep in mind that one is not at one’s best when there’s a great deal of suffering.”

Isabelle smiled. “Nor when there is a significant life change. Nor a relocation. Poor Mr. Osgood,” Isabelle said. “He may not be at his best now, but his wife hasn’t been in particularly good form at all since the marriage.”

Mrs. Burns patted Isabelle on the arm, her maternal nature overcoming her strict and businesslike propriety for a moment. “Isn’t it a joy to know that the best is yet to come?”

Isabelle caught at Mrs. Burns’s hand. “Do you think,” she said, her voice trembling, “he can learn to love me?”

“Oh, my dear lady,” the housekeeper replied. “It is simply impossible to imagine otherwise.”

Isabelle wished she had the words to properly convey her gratitude for such a generous statement. In place of words, she pressed Mrs. Burns’s fingers and trusted the good woman to understand.

Embarrassed at her emotion, she picked up a decorative wooden bowl from the table beside the window. She turned it in her hands and replaced it.

“I believe a new lamp and matching mirror would look lovely on this table,” Mrs. Burns said. “I have received sketches from a shop for several options for drawing room tables, as well. Let us create a list of each of the furnishings that need to be replaced to make this room more a bedchamber for a married couple and less a compartment for a single man.

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