The Heart Specialist by Claire Holden Rothman

Author:Claire Holden Rothman [Rothman, Claire Holden]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2010-07-11T22:00:00+00:00

I HAD NO IDEA how I’d manage but I knew that Laure couldn’t live under Huntley’s roof any longer. So I bundled her into a dress and a shawl and fixed her hair as best I could. I was keenly aware of the irony of doing my sister’s toilette, haphazard as it was that day. She sat utterly uninterested, allowing me license with her combs and pins as if her appearance no longer meant a thing.

In the vestibule Huntley came to talk to us while I was searching for Laure’s boots. He had been alerted by Peter that Laure was out of the bedroom. “You got her out.”

I was on my knees rooting in the coat closet. Beside me Laure cringed, trying to get away from him. “Yes,” I said, fishing out a pair of women’s galoshes. “You can address her directly, Huntley. She still speaks English.”

Huntley stared at the galoshes. “What are you doing with those?”

I handed them to Laure, who began putting them on. “She needs them to protect her shoes.” I was now rummaging for a coat.

“Hold on,” said Huntley. “You can’t just take her.”

I turned. “I’m not taking her, Huntley. She’s coming with me freely, of her own volition. It’s quite obvious she can’t remain here with you. She’s stopped eating and sleeping. She needs care.”

“There are places for this kind of thing.”

I was a full head shorter than he was but I stepped forward. I could smell the scent he’d applied after his morning shave. I could practically count his nostril hairs. “I won’t allow that, I’m afraid.”

Laure began to cry.

“She’s ill,” said Huntley. “She needs a doctor.”

I stared at him in wonder. “And what in the name of God am I?”

“Look here, Agnes, you work full time at that museum. You’re not really a doctor of the type your sister needs right now. And besides, I can’t have news of this leaking out. If you take her from me and keep her like a pet in your flat the whole city will hear of it. I’ll be the talk of the town.”

So that was it. Huntley Stewart had scandal on his mind. He wanted to send Laure far away, out of sight and mind, where the stain could be hidden, or at least covered up, and perhaps, with time, forgotten.

A plan came suddenly into my head. “She needs a place that is calm,” I said, choosing words calculated to soothe Huntley as well as my poor sister. “Why couldn’t she move out to the Priory until she feels strong again? Is that far enough away? It will allay gossip more than any institution, Huntley. You can tell people she’s organizing Grandmother’s things. Out there we will hire someone to give her proper care.”

Huntley seemed relieved. He summoned a cab for us and saw us off at the front door.

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