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  From there he began to recount the amount of suffering he had seen since the Famine had started eighteen months before. People had started flocking into the already overcrowded slums of Dublin, the Liberties, to look for work, and that had been when he had felt he simply had to act.

  "I've never been to the capital. Tell me about it, Dr. Woulfe."

  "People living on the land have no idea what urban deprivation is like. We have factory, brewery and dock workers, all laboring long hours seven days a week. There are swarms of people coming to Dublin looking for jobs and shelter, only to be turned away. Many of them have no skills to speak of, having never known anything other than farm work. With them they bring dirt and disease, yet they are crowded into the slums and workhouses to die.

  "I'm sure the dirt is part of the plight. Doctors in the past believed diseases could be transmitted in all sorts of ways, not just by touching. Why couldn’t they be passed along through dirt and bad air, the damp, and the conditions in the streets, which are running with filth, animal and human waste?" Lucien argued.

  Riona nodded, listening to his every word with interest.

  "People say the potato blight came through the air," Lucien continued. "People reported bad smells, like sulphur, and a black mist. The weather was also particularly wet all of last year. I’ve seen the worst cases of disease in crowded houses where the people are all huddled together for warmth, and the walls are running with damp. It can’t be a coincidence. That’s why I wanted to start a clinic, to give these people a warm, dry place where they can get cleaned up, get good food inside of them, and hopefully recover."

  "That's a noble endeavor," she said, looking at the handsome doctor with increasing admiration.

  "But it's been hard getting charity subscriptions. Plus, I doubt many doctors will be willing to work there. There is of course prestige in being involved with a well-funded charity clinic, but it will mean long hours and horrendous cases. I have to make staff selections when I go back. I dread to think what some of them will be like, arrogant, overbearing, upper-class, you know..." Lucien trailed off with an impatient gesture of his hand.

  Riona, though listening avidly, at this point began to shiver in her sodden clothes. Lucien immediately moved over to her side and threw his cloak around the both of them.

  "I say, I'm rattling on about warmth and dryness, and there you are soaked though. Here, lean up against me for warmth. We’ll soon be in Strabane, and I’ll order you a hot bath."

  "No, sir, really, don’t trouble yourself on my account," she said, alarmed by his nearness.

  "It’s no trouble at all. We don’t want you to catch a chill. Not if you are going to be working for me, now do we?" he said in a reasonable tone.

  Riona continued the conversation, as much because she found it stimulating, as to prevent it from taking any intimate turn as he continued to sit so close beside her.

  "What you were just saying a minute ago about diseases and how they can be passed on to others was very interesting. I wouldn’t want to pass anything on to you. I would be grateful for a bath at the inn, if we're staying over night, but in the meantime, please don’t sit so close to me," Riona urged.

  Lucien was surprised, but he could see she was making the request out of a sincere desire to avoid putting him at risk, rather than from maidenly bashfulness.

  He wrapped the cloak more tightly around her, and moved to the opposite side of the carriage, where he resumed his conversation until the coach driver gave a shout that they were approaching Strabane.

  "There we are, we’ll soon get you warm and fed."

  "I’ll have the bath first and then hurry down to join you."

  "No, no, that wouldn’t do at all. Your hair will still be wet, and the downstairs rooms might be chilly and drafty. I think it best if you have your meal in your room," Lucien said as he began to gather up his beaver hat and several other items from the interior of the coach.

  "But it seems so rude to not join you after your kind invitation," Riona said shyly.

  "Well, we could have the meal by your fireside, if you had no objections. I mean, if it didn’t seem too informal and forward of me to suggest it," Lucien added hastily, as he looked at her sapphire blue eyes, which positively glowed.

  "No, not at all. I shall have a good long soak, and we shall have the meal at say, nine?" Riona suggested.

  He nodded. "That will certainly give me enough time to do one or two errands here in the town, and get washed and changed myself."

  Descending from the coach outside the inn, he helped her down carefully. He took her small parcel from her, and then issued instructions to the inn’s landlord as they made their way up the stairs to their separate rooms.

  Riona had seen he was a large man. She now noticed as she walked beside him that Lucien towered over her by at least a foot.

  She found this fact comforting rather than threatening. He had a very reassuring manner, and she felt certain that he meant her no harm. It was a luxury for her to let someone else take charge for a change.

  Thus she made no demur at any of the arrangements he made for their stay. She could only remark to herself how lucky she was to have met such thoughtful, thorough man, even if she suspected he was also one accustomed to getting his own way.

  The landlord beamed and said nothing was too much trouble for Dr. Woulfe. He found them two of the best rooms, right next to one another on the second floor. Servants immediately began scuttling to and fro with hot water to fill Riona’s bath.

  After having put her things in her chamber, Lucien went to his own to deposit his personal articles on the bed, then waylaid one of the serving girls.

  "Excuse me, but could you tell me if there's a good seamstress in the town?"

  "Yes, Maggie Mitchell, who has a small shop just behind Main Street, in a small mews," the girl replied.

  "Good. Can you go next door to the young lady’s room, and remove all her articles of clothing from her bundle, and take them downstairs to be boiled and scrubbed? But before you do that, take one of the cleaner articles and bring it here to me, so I can determine her size," Lucien instructed.

  The girl stared at him for a minute and then nodded. In a few more minutes she came back with a plain brown dress, not cheap, but certainly having seen better days, and handed it to him.

  "Thank you, my dear. Now, I’ll want some hot water up here myself in about half an hour. As soon as I come back with some new clothes, please put them in Miss Connolly’s room. Then help her dress, and make sure she eats. Tell her to start without me, but make sure these items are on her tray."

  Lucien listed milk, bread, only a pat of butter, a small amount of fish, some vegetables, and rice, since the girl told him there were no potatoes to be had.

  "But no sauces, is that clear?" he insisted.

  The girl promised to do as she had been instructed.

  Satisfied, Lucien strode out towards the shop the girl had directed him to, leaving Riona to take her bath and settle into her room.

  Chapter Three

  As luck would have it, as Lucien neared the dressmaker’s shop just off the main street in Strabane, a small lamp was still burning in the window. He entered and quickly made clear to Mrs. Mitchell what he wanted by handing her Riona’s old dress. Fortunately there were several ready-made items for him to choose from which were just about the right size.

  Lucien found a pale grey linen dress, and a similar one in an unusual shade of royal blue which reminded him of Riona’s eyes. He also found a lightweight but very feminine flowered calico with a deep neckline, and slightly flouncy sleeves, and several serviceable blouses and skirts. The blouses were white and cream linen and cotton, and the skirts were black, hunter green, and dark navy. Lucien also found some tartan and patterned shawls in colors which complemented the skirts. He then directed Mrs. Mitchell to give him some underthings and stockings, and at the last moment espied a ladies’ dressing gown in gold with a purple paisley floral design, which he also adde
d to the growing pile.

  "Would the lady be requiring a cloak, sir?" Mrs. Mitchell asked shyly. "I just got it made this morning, for another customer, you see, but it seems that she thinks with hard times being what they are, she might not be able to afford it."

  "By all means, let us see it. I wouldn’t like you to be out of pocket after all your hard work."

  It was a solid black cloak, only of a summer weight, but certainly far better than anything Riona might have ever owned. It was made of black worsted wool, and trimmed with velvet frogs down to the waist. The whole cloak was cut in a large circle at the bottom, making it long and flowing, and both the skirt and the hood were lined with silk. The hood was quite deep, and trimmed with a velvet scrolled pattern, making the whole article eye-catchingly feminine.

  Lucien knew no woman could fail to be delighted by it, and so he added it to his pile of purchases, and paid for all the items.

  He wondered abstractedly as he counted out his notes why his married friends always seemed to complain about the amount their wives spent on clothes. He could recall paying ten times as much for one of his own waistcoats.

  The thought of wives suddenly brought him up short. How extraordinary. He had actually gone into a woman’s shop to buy clothing without a trace of embarrassment!

  Lucien had always been extremely diffident with the opposite sex, ever since a mild acquaintance with a woman many years before, when he was in his early twenties, and struggling with his medical studies, had nearly forced him to get married. Not that he had behaved improperly in any way. He had simply taken the young lady’s supposed interest in his work as friendship, until he discovered everyone was asking him when the wedding day was to be.

  Lucien had been livid when he had found out that Antoinette had been the source of the rumors, and moreover, that she had been telling people that his phase of doctoring was a load of nonsense she would soon talk him out of once they had settled down together.

  Lucien had had to quite publicly inform her and everyone else that he had never even held her hand, let alone asked her to marry him, and had gone off to America to complete his medical studies in Boston in order to avoid any unpleasantness from the girl or her family.

  He had been somewhat chagrined to find that not long after this incident, his brother Quentin had married the girl in question. At least they seemed to have settled down happily enough, and now had two lovely children and appeared content.

  But since that time, Lucien had avoided entanglements of any sort, shunning social occasions in the town unless absolutely necessary, making sure he was never left alone with any young lady, even in a crowded room. He rarely danced, and seldom said more than two words to the daughters of any household he visited.

  He even restricted his female patients to those sent to him for special consultation, and he always made sure there was at least one other person in the room when he examined them to prevent any accusation of impropriety.

  In truth, Lucien was married to his work, though of late he had begun to wonder if perhaps he had cut himself off too ruthlessly from women in the last few years. Most of his friends were now married and seemed comfortable enough, although he did notice that hardly a single one of the young wives of his acquaintance were even remotely interested in their husbands’ work.

  As Lucien strode through Main Street on his way back to the inn, he found himself actually looking forward to telling the slip of a girl he had picked up on the road more about his clinic. But of course, she was only a governess, and one from the wilds of Donegal as well.

  She's intelligent, but just how much can she understand of what I'm telling her? She's only trying to be polite, Lucien thought with a sigh as he mounted the stairs to his room.

  A tap at the door just as he was stripping off his jacket and waistcoat heralded the maid with his hot water. He gave her the bundles he had purchased from the dressmaker.

  "Lay these out on the bed for her, if you please. I’ll be in shortly."

  The girl bobbed a curtsy, and did as she was instructed.

  When the maid entered the other bedroom, Riona was still behind the screen soaking in the tub, so she silently laid out the clothes, admiring the gentleman’ taste. The cloak was particularly fine, but the shimmering silk wrap was lovely.

  Riona thought she had never seen anything so fine as the purple floral paisley pattern on a gold background. She stepped out of the tub with her hair wrapped in one towel and her body in another, only to find such riches on her bed.

  She gaped. "My goodness, where on earth did all these things come from?"

  "The gentleman bought them down the road for you, Miss. He says he'll be in to dinner soon, but when the food comes, you are eat it while it's hot."

  "Good lord, what on earth should I wear?" Riona wondered aloud.

  The maid smiled knowingly. "Put this wrap on first, and then you can decide. But it will be time for bed soon anyway, so perhaps just a skirt and blouse will do, much as I know you’d like to try on everything."

  The maid helped Riona into the robe, and then tidied away the towels, while Riona stood by the fire admiring the clothes and trying to decide what to wear.

  She felt slightly uneasy at all the money Dr. Woulfe had obviously spent on her, but she honestly couldn’t see any suggestion of lewdness in his behavior, and didn’t like to make a fuss.

  After all, Riona concluded, if she was to be working for him in his clinic, she couldn’t really wear any of the clothes she and sisters had had to make do with once poverty had forced them to sell everything of any value in order to eat.

  "Here, Miss, I’ll help you with your hair," the maid offered as she held up a comb and brush set which Lucien had also bought at the clothes shop.

  Riona sat down by the fire then, and enjoyed the sensation of someone else brushing her long, waist length hair for a change.

  "You wouldn’t have any scissors, would you?" Riona suddenly asked.

  "Oh, Miss, you’re never going to cut it, are you?" the serving girl gasped, marveling at the silken auburn tresses.

  "Just a few inches off the end won’t make much difference, now will it? It will grow again."

  "All right, I’ll go fetch them."

  Just as the maid was leaving, the food arrived. Riona’s mouth began to water as she lifted the covers off the plates. She could see then that the tray had only been set for one. Perhaps he has decided to dine downstairs with the other guests, Riona reflected.

  She pulled the small table up to the fire, where she sat and warmed herself. Splaying her hair over the back of the chair to try to dry it, Riona began to slowly make her way through some of the food. She could see it was all good plain simple fare, with no fancy sauces. Even so, after a few mouthfuls, she began to struggle, so unused was she to any large amounts of food.

  Riona managed nearly all of the fish, as much because she liked it as she knew it would help build her up. She also drank all the milk and had a small slice of cheese.

  As Riona nibbled, the maid came back and trimmed about six inches off her hair, so that it reached to about the middle of her back. Then the girl combed it once more, and left the comb and brush on the side.

  "Will there be anything else, Miss?"

  "No, no, I can dress myself in a minute as soon as I've finished this," Riona said with a wave. "Thank you for all your help."

  "Not at all, Miss."

  She was just about to leave when there was a tap at the door, and she opened it to admit Lucien.

  Riona blushed scarlet at being caught sitting in her dressing gown.

  Lucien seemed to take no notice at all as he rubbed his hands together heartily. "I’m as hungry as a hunter," he said.

  Behind him a male servant wheeled in a trolley of food, and placed a chair for him by the fire just near Riona.

  Riona was mortified to have her underthings all laid out in plain view, but since Lucien had purchased them anyway, she decided it was silly to be embarrassed.

&nb
sp; Lucien peered over at her tray, and observed she had done her best with the food. "I hope everything was to your liking. Of course, I wanted to make sure nothing was too rich for you, hence the lack of sauces. In a few more weeks, you should be eating normally again."

  He smiled down at her and then began to tuck his napkin into his waistcoat. He lifted the covers of his dishes to unveil a rather large beefsteak and some rice, along with a chicken cutlet and a slab of ham.

  "It depends on what you mean by normally," Riona said with a wry smile, indicating his plates. "I haven’t seen so much food on one plate since Mr. Woodham’s Christmas ball three years go, when I helped serve the guests."