A LITTLE TWIST OF FATE
Chapter 24
Thérèse frowned as she searched through the drawers in Auguste's study. She knew
it was here, he told her it was. All she had to do was find the damn things. She
smiled and shook her head. She couldn't believe how devious she had become and
in such a short time. She had gotten Armand and Rodmilla together after all
these years and now she was working on her niece and nephew. Well, Adrienne
anyway. She was now walking in the front garden with Pierre. Now if she could
just find Alex, everything would be even better. She could get him to change his
mind about Danielle and break off that engagement. She wanted to see Henry and
Danielle together and she would use everything in her power to make it happen.
"Have
you always wanted to become a doctor?" Alex asked as Camille tied up the splint
around his ankle.
Rodmilla stirred. She tried to sit up, but she felt something hard restraining
her from doing so. She looked up and discovered that the hand belonged to the
court physician, Armand de Vol.
"You are not going anywhere, Baroness, you are too ill to do so."
"But Armand," she started, but he shook his head. "No, you will lie here for a
few days and I will be back once a day to check up on you."
"Armand," she answered, sitting back up, "I do feel better than I did and I
think that."
She stopped, closed her eyes for a moment and sank into the sheets. "I suppose
you're right, I'm not feeling so well."
Armand laughed and placed his hand on her forehead. "Take it easy, Rodmilla and
lie back. I do remember you being sick once, when the world was younger than it
is now. I can't believe that we played together as children."
She smiled weakly. "Yes, and you took care of both my girls."
"At the King's request, Jean de Ghent was a good friend of mine, as well as
Auguste."
"That was a long time ago, Armand, she replied, smiling up at him. "Tell me,
what do you think is wrong?"
He removed his hand and looked down at her. "Nothing, milady, actually you are
doing quite well. Your fever has gone down considerably." He pushed the hair out
of her face. "Actually, It was your illness that led me into the world of
medicine."
Rodmilla laughed. "You did concoct some potion that made me feel better. Do you
remember?"
Armand smiled. "I'll never forget it. You had a stomach upset. I just used a
little bicarbonate of soda and spring water. Worked like a charm."
They both laughed. "You always liked to experiment didn't you?"
He smiled. "Still do," he answered, pushing her back down. "Now you just rest
and you'll be right as rain. I'll check up on you tomorrow."
Wait. She felt something hard and almost metallic. She pulled the ring of long
black keys out of their hiding place. She smiled as she held them up. Perfect.
Now all she had to do was get down to the root cellar and find those papers.
She had to hurry while everyone was still occupied.
"Yes, Alex. I have been fascinated with the art of healing ever since I was a
little girl, but polite society seems to frown on women doctors and so I have to
be content helping with my father's patient's. I am trained well enough to deal
with most any illness that arises in the wake of his absence. " Alex was
fascinated. "You have bound my ankle rather well." He smiled and shook his head.
"You are a great healer, Camille. You and your family saved my life."
Camille smiled. "Here, see if you can stand on it." She stood up when he did.
"There are no broken bones, just some small fractures, but in time these will
pass. It will take a week to two weeks for everything to set and heal up, but as
I told you, everything will be fine."
Alex stood and found that he could move his ankle around just a bit. He shook
his head. She was miracle worker, a good woman to have around in case of
urgency.
He smiled as he thought of his aunt. They had discussed this very thing after
breakfast this morning. He hadn't realized it then, but he knew Thérèse had been
right.
This was the girl for him. Whatever had he been thinking proposing to Danielle
that way?
Back Home Ever After Main Page Next