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“It isn’t impossible,” she said “Another seven ave him a smile as wobbly as her voice “If I were an elephant, it would be different The gestation period is twenty and a half months”
He ht side At least you are not an elephant”
“I shall look like one at the end,” she said “You wouldn’t want to miss that, would you?”
He wove his fingers through her wild hair “No, I wouldn’t, sweet You present me with an irresistible temptation”
“I hope so” She patted his chest “The patient’s motivation can have a pronounced effect on treatment, Mr Eversham says” Her voice was nearly returned to its normal cool efficiency “I should have told you about the baby sooner, but this is an uncertain period, and I did not want to get your hopes up for nothing Still, perhaps I was overcautious It is rare for the women of my family to miscarry”
Seven iven less than that before she came, and she’d been here for two months now
Yet he was doing better than his e The visual chimera had not worsened, blossomed into demons His temper remained relatively even No sudden black e
Instead, there was the fierce rapture of their love-, and thewith her, planning so hile
According to Borson’s account, Mother had continued articulate to the last Mad, and living in a perverse world of her own, but articulateand cunning, even devious at tiued world of her own if the real world had offered understanding and joy and a sense of being useful and valued and worthy of affection Perhaps she er and died more peacefully
It was not impossible
A few extra h to see their baby That would be wonderful And if it did turn out to be iiven Gwendolyn a child, which would surely gladden her heart and banish any sentimental inclination to mourn for him
Nevertheless, her wishing to ren She needed to start a new life, in a new place, away from sad memories But Eversham would arrive eventually, Dorian assured hiht
Dorian drew his wife tightly against him “I shall try to maintain a positive attitude,” he promised softly
“And you must speak to Cook,” Gwendolyn muttered into his shirt front “Remind her who is the doctor in this house I ordered a curry for dinner—and it must be hot”
He chuckled “Yes, crosspatch” He kissed the top of her head “But first, let us see what Doctor Dorian can do to sweeten your temper”
Chapter 7
TEN DAYS LATER, Gwendolyn was recalling that conversation and the methods Dorian had employed to sweeten her te and caressing the irritation away, drawing her out of her annoyingarms, to take her to heaven and back, and leave her dazed with bliss
Now, sitting in Mr Kneebones’s surgery, she focused on those blissful sensations in order to keep her te her to do the physician a severe, possibly fatal, bodily injury
It was hardly the first time she’d humbled herself with doctors, she told herself, and Dorian was far more important than her pride
She treated Kneebones to an apologetic smile “I only want to knohether those materials prove absolutely whatdown”
Kneebones scowled at her, then at the autopsy report in his hand “One cannot prove anything absolutely in such cases One ical inferences based on observable facts and the patient’s history Mrs Ca, which rules out toxic insanity She had not sustained a high fever prior to or during the decline And if she had suffered a blow to the head, as you sure, the family physician, would have mentioned that little detail in his account of her medical history?”
“What if he didn’t knoendolyn persisted