R
Robert Harrison
Guest
The bright sun dripped dappled sunlight onto the Bluebells, and the shadows of branches and new leaves added texture to the scene as Molly, and her mother walked the narrow path that was covered with the dead leaves of past Autumn's. Molly kicked at the leaves sending them dancing into the air. She cupped her small hands and gathered as many as her hands would hold, then turning to her mother she shouted with glee "Look mummy brown snow" and tossed the leaved into the air, and as they fell around her she giggles once more and pulled her blond curly haired head into her shoulders, at the same time pressed her clenched fists against her rosy red cheeks, her elbows tight into her chest.
"Oh darling you will get your hair all dirty" said her mother smiling as her daughter bent to gather up more leaves.
"No mommy the leaves are all clean, look" and she shook her head sending two leaves that had landed onto her blond hair falling to the pathway, "See my hair isn't dirty at all".
Molly skipped along the pathway humming happily a tuneless tune, and then turning she skipped back to her mother. Jenny smiled again as Molly took hold of her gloved hand.
"Darling I think that you aught to but your mittens back on, it is still cold and you know how you cry when you get hot aches". Molly did as she was told and then took hold of her mothers hand again.
It was the end of March and the sun's warmth was still held at bay by the cold earth held fast in winters grip. The forest was a little warmer, blanketed by the thick canopy of Elm, Beech, Silver Birch and Oak trees. Jenny had made sure that she and Molly were well dressed for their daily walk in the forest that backed onto their home.
Jenny loved going for walks along the paths in the forest and was determined to teach Molly all the she had learned about the forest, taught to her by her father who was the best poacher in the district. As a child Jenny had wanted to follow in his footsteps but her father would have nothing to do with it. "There be better things in the 'ere life for ee to do lass" he told her. "I'll teach all I know but you'd aint a goin' to be any poacher, an' that's that. Youm'l be wantin' tu get married one day, an' I cant see yer 'usband wantin' a poacher for a wife". Her father made her promise "Tu grow up respectable like". Jenny had kept her promise to her father not to become a poacher, but had kept up her inherited skills by trapping a rabbit now and again.
Lord Waxford had deeded the house in which she and Dolly lived in to her father's father in the eighteen hundreds. Her grandfather had been head gardener for the lord for fifty-seven years, taking over from his uncle who had held the position for nearly as long. As long as there were direct descendants of Jenny's line alive, the house would always be theirs.
It was a modest house compared with some in the area. Built double bricked of hard red brick made from the local clay, and the foot and a half gap between the walls was compacted with rubble from a nearby quarry. The inner wall had been rough cemented and painted white. Sloping window sills beneath the casement windows held window boxes which were ablaze with yellow daffodils, helping to break up the planeness of the house. Plain but functional were Jenny's thoughts about their home.
The stout Dutch font door gave entrance to a large and spacious living room come kitchen, converted so with the permission of the lord by jenny's grandfather. The house was used, before the house came to the family as a guest house, so the lord could accommodate his guests who were in no condition to travel the long distances that they had to travel to attend the lords well attended functions.
As the front door of the house face towards the east, a spacious larder had been built at the end of the large room, providing a cool place for the households food supply. The room had one small window which let in enough light to see ones way. Opposite the front door, and set flush with the opposite wall, a set of banister stairs led straight up onto a landing and two hallways off which were four bedrooms. It was a curious place to have the stairs but as Jenny learned, they were placed there so that the heat from the room below would rise up and warm the bedrooms. Great grandfather having the notion that the fires in each of the bedrooms need not be lit until colder weather dictated so. With the kitchen area at one end of the large room and the living area at the others, the bedrooms were alway warm in the winter months. Jenny often thought the great grandfather was the first one to have open planning living.
Dolly was just four years and six months old, and next year would be attending school for the first time. Jenny did not like the idea of being left in the large house all be herself, but Dolly needed to start school and gain her education. Jenny’s divorce from her husband had been a messy affair for he had insisted that his mistress come and live with them. Legal battle had been fought in the courts until Jenny was given custody of Dolly, and her husband had been ordered to pay for her upbringing until she was of age. She and Dolly had lived happily at the house ever since, enjoying their daily walks in the forest, and the occasional trip to the sea side. Once being invited to the estates large manor house where Lord Waxford had one lived. Most of the small town of Prestwood had been invited to the lavish garden party put on by the now present owners of Waxford Manor.
Earning her living as a kinder garden teach at the small school in Prestwood, Dolly was able to stay with her mother during her teaching periods. An ideal situation as Jenny was able to give Dolly a good start to her education before she started school. Dolly had made good friends and the house had rung with children’s merriment whenever her friends came to visit. It was a happy house, always warm and inviting and with plenty of bedrooms to play hide and go seek. The kitchen was their most favourite room in the winter months as that large wood burning stove was always lit. The children always enjoyed the rabbit stew which Jenny had simmering on the hob. They would all sit at the scrubbed wooden kitchen table, which had been part of the kitchen ever since it had been built, and there the children would tuck in to the stew, dipping in chunks of home made wholemeal bread. Jenny enjoyed their childish chatter and happy laughter as she sat in her rocking chair set next the stove. She would knit or just doze only to be on her feet again at the first cry of “Can I have some more pleaseâ€Â.
They walked on, sometimes holding hands and sometimes Dolly running off to discover what lay here or there, for there was always something new to discover after the snows had melted. “Mommy come and look†shouted Dolly who was standing under an Oak tree. Jenny walked over to where Dolly was pointing. “Look†said Dolly in one long drawn out word. There under the tree were three Dog Violet and a Wood Anemone growing happily together.
“Do you remember what they are called?†asked Jenny.
“I can remember the purple ones, They are Dog Violets, I think†remarked Dolly.
“Well done†said Jenny encouragingly. “Now what is the white flower called?â€Â
“I can’t remember†said Dolly somewhat dejectedly.
“It begins with the letter A†Jenny said.
“Oh I know, it is a Anenone†said her daughter triumphantly.
“Nearly right†smiled Jenny at her daughters attempt to say the word. It is a Anemone, sometimes called a Wind Flowerâ€Â.
“Why?†asked Dolly with a questioning look at her mother. “There is now wind here in the forestâ€Â.
“I don’t know why darling, perhaps a little bird dropped the seed here, but it does seem to be happy growing with the Dog Flowers don’t you think so?
“Hum†exclaimed Dolly, “I expect you are right Mommyâ€Â.
Jenny thought to herself “Oh my darling you are growing upâ€Â.
They continued on their walk going deeper into the forest. Snow sill lay at the feet of some of the more shaded trees, but that was beginning to melt making it hard for Dolly to make onto snowballs.
“Remember the hot aches†said Jenny.
Remembering the pain that the hot aches had caused her only a few weeks ago Dolly quickly put on her mittens. “Its my blood vessels freezing up in my fingers isn’t it mommy†she said “And when they thaw out it hurtsâ€Â.
“I’m glad you remember darling†said Jenny, and they turned round to make their way back home.
At ten o’clock they arrived at the house to see a red car standing at the front gate, and at the front door blowing on his hands and stamping his feet on the door mat was a well dressed young man. He stopped when he saw the pair and waited until they had walked up the path to where he was standing.
“Hello†said Dolly unashamedly as she looked the stranger up and down.
“Hello to you young lady†he replied offering to shake her hand. Dolly took it and gave his hand a ladylike shake and was rewarded with the most charming of smiles.
He looked at Jenny. “Good morning Mrs. Taylor†he said still smiling, and Jenny was struck by the sincerity she saw in the smile. She said nothing at first for she was fighting back a strange feeling that seemed to come from the pit of her stomach and fill her chest.
“Good morning†she finally said.
Dolly was still staring at the man, somehow not able to take her eyes off him.†You’ve got a nice smile†she said.
“Dolly†said Jenny somewhat apologizing for her daughters forward manners.
“Well he has a nice smile†protested Dolly
“What a delightful daughter you have Mrs. Taylor†said the man.
“Thank you Mr., I’m sorry but I don’t know your nameâ€Â.
“Please forgive my manners, my name is Doctor James Fielding. I am the new gynaecologist at the towns Cottage Hospital. Please let me explain my presence her if you will permit me to?
Jenny could not help but notice his polite manor, and felt that this young man was not there to do her nor her daughter any harm, in fact she felt confident enough to ask him into the house. “Would you like to come in and may I offer you a cup off tea, Dolly and I are just about to have a hot drinkâ€Â.
“That would be most welcome†he replied to her welcome invitation.
She opened the door and took off her and Dolly’s coats and scarfs and invited the man to take of his coat. She took it and hung it on the pair of stags antlers that hung at the side of the door.
“Please go into the sitting room and sit by the fire, you must be cold, how long have you been at the door†she asked as she made her way to the kitchen end of the large room.
“Oh about five minutes’ he answered. “It is kind of you to invite me into your home, me being a stranger and all thatâ€Â.
“I think we can trust you†said Jenny.
“Thank you†he said.
“Dolly darling will you poke a hole in the slack so that the fire will draw†called Jenny to Dolly who had sat herself opposite the Doctor. She got up, and taking the brass handled poker pushed it into the slack and twisted it round to make a decent sized hole. Fames replaced the yellow smoke and soon the fire was sending its warmth into the room. Dolly sat once more into the overly stuffed arm chair which seemed to gobble her up by its comfortable size.
“Do you cut people open in hospital?†she asked .
“Well not quite, I help deliver babiesâ€Â.
“Oo†exclaimed dolly her eyes widening. “I know where babies come from, shall I tell you?.
“Yes, please do†he said.
“Well, they come from a mommy’s tummy, but you knew that didn’t you†she said quizzing, but looking into the fire which was now burning with the brightness of a summers sun. She moved back into the chair to settle herself more comfortably, while the doctor stretched his hands towards the new heat.
“You will get hot aches if you are not careful†warned Dolly. “I have them sometimes and it really hurts. Did you know that it was the tiny blood vessels in your fingers freezing? and then when they get warm you get hot achesâ€Â.
“Thank you nurse Dolly†said the doctor. “I will do as you advise and be carefulâ€Â.
Jenny brought in the tea and placed the tray on a small Edwardian table left to her by her grand father. “Sugar and milk?†she asked.
“One sugar and just a little milk†he said.
She pored a cup for their visitor and one for herself, and handed Dolly a glass of warm milk. “Biscuit†she said, offering him a plate of assorted biscuits.
“Thank you†he said picking a Cream Biscuit and a Ginger Nut, this will be most welcomeâ€Â.
Jenny seated herself on a large puffé, took a sip of tea and looked at the doctor.
“I think that it is about time to explain why I have called upon you†he said.
“I wish you would†said Jenny. “I cannot imagine why a doctor would be calling upon us way out here, unless you are calling in on a prospective patient, and I cannot imagine being one of those†said Jenny.
He gave a soft chuckle; he liked this easy to talk to woman and equally delightful daughter. “No’ He said. “Let me explain. A colleague of mine was kind enough to put me up at his home when I first arrived in Prestwood, but he has little room with wife and brood of children. I have made enquiries around the town but things are a bit pricey for an up and coming doctor. Mrs. Moore at the Blue Angle pub said that you might have a room that I could rentâ€Â.
Jenny was somewhat surprised at what he said. “I do have a spare room†she said “But I have never thought about renting it out, and why Mrs. Moor would think that I would entertain renting a room I have no ideaâ€Â. It then dawned on Jenny, Mrs. Moor was the towns Match Maker. Though a kindly soul was apt to try and marry off all who she thought would make a good pair and therefore should be married, including divorcees if still of marriageable age. Jenny was on her list of such persons.
“May I also explain why I chose to come all this way from town. You see, though I work in a hospital, I do not enjoy living in towns, I much prefer the countryside and when Mrs. Moor said where you lived I just had to come and see for myself. As soon as I saw your home I was prepared to wait all day to ask you about a roomâ€Â. He looked at her with a look that seemed to plead for a positive answer. She looked away from him and looked at her daughter as if trying to read an answer in her young face, but Dolly was still looking at the doctor. She looked at him again as he went on “I have a passion for sketching trees and wild animals, I always have had ever since I was a youngster. To me this house is all that I could wish forâ€Â. He looked from Jenny to Dolly and back to Jenny again.
That same feeling came again into the pit of Jenny’s stomach and began to creep up towards her chest, and she clasped the pearls about her neck as if she were trying to choke off the feeling that seemed to overwhelm her. “I don’t know†she managed to say “as I have said I have not considered renting a roomâ€Â. She felt a tug at her skirt; Dolly was nodding her head and smiling at her.
“Please mommy†she whispered so as not to let the doctor hear. “He is nice, I like him and he does like the forestâ€Â.
“I don’t know Doctor Fielding†Jenny finally said. “Dolly and I are happy here by ourselves since my divorce, I suppose that Mrs. Moore told you that I was divorced?â€Â
He looked at her somewhat embarrassed . “Well yes she did, but I can assure you that my intentions are quite honourable Mrs. Taylor, and I do have references from my doctor colleagues if you would care to see them?â€Â
“No†she said quickly, “That will not be necessaryâ€Â. She got up from her chair and walked towards the window that looked out upon the forest. She heard him rise from his chair and he came and stood beside her and she felt the warmth from his coat on her bare arm, but when he moved slightly away the warmth was gone. He had walked to where his coat hung from the antlers and put the coat on.
“I am sorry to have troubled you Mrs. Taylor. I can understand your reluctance to have a stranger disturb the tranquillity you have hear, but id you do reconsider you can reach me at this numberâ€Â. He placed a card on the ledge of the Dutch door.
“It is not that†Jenny said “It is because it all came as a surprise to me, would you give me a day or two to think it over. He smiled that smile that had captured the heart of her daughter.
She closed the door behind him and listened to his car as it drove away. Her back was up against the door, he one arm across her waist and her other arm across her chest with the hand feeling the flush on her face. Jenny knew that it was not the heat of the fire that had caused the redness in her cheeks.
The next evening with Dolly in bed, Jenny sat near the fire. She looked across at the chair in which the young doctor had sat, and then looked at the grandfather clock that was striking seven o’clock, it’s mellow tones filling to long room with it’s comforting sound; Jenny picked up the phone and dialled the number on the doctors card.
"Oh darling you will get your hair all dirty" said her mother smiling as her daughter bent to gather up more leaves.
"No mommy the leaves are all clean, look" and she shook her head sending two leaves that had landed onto her blond hair falling to the pathway, "See my hair isn't dirty at all".
Molly skipped along the pathway humming happily a tuneless tune, and then turning she skipped back to her mother. Jenny smiled again as Molly took hold of her gloved hand.
"Darling I think that you aught to but your mittens back on, it is still cold and you know how you cry when you get hot aches". Molly did as she was told and then took hold of her mothers hand again.
It was the end of March and the sun's warmth was still held at bay by the cold earth held fast in winters grip. The forest was a little warmer, blanketed by the thick canopy of Elm, Beech, Silver Birch and Oak trees. Jenny had made sure that she and Molly were well dressed for their daily walk in the forest that backed onto their home.
Jenny loved going for walks along the paths in the forest and was determined to teach Molly all the she had learned about the forest, taught to her by her father who was the best poacher in the district. As a child Jenny had wanted to follow in his footsteps but her father would have nothing to do with it. "There be better things in the 'ere life for ee to do lass" he told her. "I'll teach all I know but you'd aint a goin' to be any poacher, an' that's that. Youm'l be wantin' tu get married one day, an' I cant see yer 'usband wantin' a poacher for a wife". Her father made her promise "Tu grow up respectable like". Jenny had kept her promise to her father not to become a poacher, but had kept up her inherited skills by trapping a rabbit now and again.
Lord Waxford had deeded the house in which she and Dolly lived in to her father's father in the eighteen hundreds. Her grandfather had been head gardener for the lord for fifty-seven years, taking over from his uncle who had held the position for nearly as long. As long as there were direct descendants of Jenny's line alive, the house would always be theirs.
It was a modest house compared with some in the area. Built double bricked of hard red brick made from the local clay, and the foot and a half gap between the walls was compacted with rubble from a nearby quarry. The inner wall had been rough cemented and painted white. Sloping window sills beneath the casement windows held window boxes which were ablaze with yellow daffodils, helping to break up the planeness of the house. Plain but functional were Jenny's thoughts about their home.
The stout Dutch font door gave entrance to a large and spacious living room come kitchen, converted so with the permission of the lord by jenny's grandfather. The house was used, before the house came to the family as a guest house, so the lord could accommodate his guests who were in no condition to travel the long distances that they had to travel to attend the lords well attended functions.
As the front door of the house face towards the east, a spacious larder had been built at the end of the large room, providing a cool place for the households food supply. The room had one small window which let in enough light to see ones way. Opposite the front door, and set flush with the opposite wall, a set of banister stairs led straight up onto a landing and two hallways off which were four bedrooms. It was a curious place to have the stairs but as Jenny learned, they were placed there so that the heat from the room below would rise up and warm the bedrooms. Great grandfather having the notion that the fires in each of the bedrooms need not be lit until colder weather dictated so. With the kitchen area at one end of the large room and the living area at the others, the bedrooms were alway warm in the winter months. Jenny often thought the great grandfather was the first one to have open planning living.
Dolly was just four years and six months old, and next year would be attending school for the first time. Jenny did not like the idea of being left in the large house all be herself, but Dolly needed to start school and gain her education. Jenny’s divorce from her husband had been a messy affair for he had insisted that his mistress come and live with them. Legal battle had been fought in the courts until Jenny was given custody of Dolly, and her husband had been ordered to pay for her upbringing until she was of age. She and Dolly had lived happily at the house ever since, enjoying their daily walks in the forest, and the occasional trip to the sea side. Once being invited to the estates large manor house where Lord Waxford had one lived. Most of the small town of Prestwood had been invited to the lavish garden party put on by the now present owners of Waxford Manor.
Earning her living as a kinder garden teach at the small school in Prestwood, Dolly was able to stay with her mother during her teaching periods. An ideal situation as Jenny was able to give Dolly a good start to her education before she started school. Dolly had made good friends and the house had rung with children’s merriment whenever her friends came to visit. It was a happy house, always warm and inviting and with plenty of bedrooms to play hide and go seek. The kitchen was their most favourite room in the winter months as that large wood burning stove was always lit. The children always enjoyed the rabbit stew which Jenny had simmering on the hob. They would all sit at the scrubbed wooden kitchen table, which had been part of the kitchen ever since it had been built, and there the children would tuck in to the stew, dipping in chunks of home made wholemeal bread. Jenny enjoyed their childish chatter and happy laughter as she sat in her rocking chair set next the stove. She would knit or just doze only to be on her feet again at the first cry of “Can I have some more pleaseâ€Â.
They walked on, sometimes holding hands and sometimes Dolly running off to discover what lay here or there, for there was always something new to discover after the snows had melted. “Mommy come and look†shouted Dolly who was standing under an Oak tree. Jenny walked over to where Dolly was pointing. “Look†said Dolly in one long drawn out word. There under the tree were three Dog Violet and a Wood Anemone growing happily together.
“Do you remember what they are called?†asked Jenny.
“I can remember the purple ones, They are Dog Violets, I think†remarked Dolly.
“Well done†said Jenny encouragingly. “Now what is the white flower called?â€Â
“I can’t remember†said Dolly somewhat dejectedly.
“It begins with the letter A†Jenny said.
“Oh I know, it is a Anenone†said her daughter triumphantly.
“Nearly right†smiled Jenny at her daughters attempt to say the word. It is a Anemone, sometimes called a Wind Flowerâ€Â.
“Why?†asked Dolly with a questioning look at her mother. “There is now wind here in the forestâ€Â.
“I don’t know why darling, perhaps a little bird dropped the seed here, but it does seem to be happy growing with the Dog Flowers don’t you think so?
“Hum†exclaimed Dolly, “I expect you are right Mommyâ€Â.
Jenny thought to herself “Oh my darling you are growing upâ€Â.
They continued on their walk going deeper into the forest. Snow sill lay at the feet of some of the more shaded trees, but that was beginning to melt making it hard for Dolly to make onto snowballs.
“Remember the hot aches†said Jenny.
Remembering the pain that the hot aches had caused her only a few weeks ago Dolly quickly put on her mittens. “Its my blood vessels freezing up in my fingers isn’t it mommy†she said “And when they thaw out it hurtsâ€Â.
“I’m glad you remember darling†said Jenny, and they turned round to make their way back home.
At ten o’clock they arrived at the house to see a red car standing at the front gate, and at the front door blowing on his hands and stamping his feet on the door mat was a well dressed young man. He stopped when he saw the pair and waited until they had walked up the path to where he was standing.
“Hello†said Dolly unashamedly as she looked the stranger up and down.
“Hello to you young lady†he replied offering to shake her hand. Dolly took it and gave his hand a ladylike shake and was rewarded with the most charming of smiles.
He looked at Jenny. “Good morning Mrs. Taylor†he said still smiling, and Jenny was struck by the sincerity she saw in the smile. She said nothing at first for she was fighting back a strange feeling that seemed to come from the pit of her stomach and fill her chest.
“Good morning†she finally said.
Dolly was still staring at the man, somehow not able to take her eyes off him.†You’ve got a nice smile†she said.
“Dolly†said Jenny somewhat apologizing for her daughters forward manners.
“Well he has a nice smile†protested Dolly
“What a delightful daughter you have Mrs. Taylor†said the man.
“Thank you Mr., I’m sorry but I don’t know your nameâ€Â.
“Please forgive my manners, my name is Doctor James Fielding. I am the new gynaecologist at the towns Cottage Hospital. Please let me explain my presence her if you will permit me to?
Jenny could not help but notice his polite manor, and felt that this young man was not there to do her nor her daughter any harm, in fact she felt confident enough to ask him into the house. “Would you like to come in and may I offer you a cup off tea, Dolly and I are just about to have a hot drinkâ€Â.
“That would be most welcome†he replied to her welcome invitation.
She opened the door and took off her and Dolly’s coats and scarfs and invited the man to take of his coat. She took it and hung it on the pair of stags antlers that hung at the side of the door.
“Please go into the sitting room and sit by the fire, you must be cold, how long have you been at the door†she asked as she made her way to the kitchen end of the large room.
“Oh about five minutes’ he answered. “It is kind of you to invite me into your home, me being a stranger and all thatâ€Â.
“I think we can trust you†said Jenny.
“Thank you†he said.
“Dolly darling will you poke a hole in the slack so that the fire will draw†called Jenny to Dolly who had sat herself opposite the Doctor. She got up, and taking the brass handled poker pushed it into the slack and twisted it round to make a decent sized hole. Fames replaced the yellow smoke and soon the fire was sending its warmth into the room. Dolly sat once more into the overly stuffed arm chair which seemed to gobble her up by its comfortable size.
“Do you cut people open in hospital?†she asked .
“Well not quite, I help deliver babiesâ€Â.
“Oo†exclaimed dolly her eyes widening. “I know where babies come from, shall I tell you?.
“Yes, please do†he said.
“Well, they come from a mommy’s tummy, but you knew that didn’t you†she said quizzing, but looking into the fire which was now burning with the brightness of a summers sun. She moved back into the chair to settle herself more comfortably, while the doctor stretched his hands towards the new heat.
“You will get hot aches if you are not careful†warned Dolly. “I have them sometimes and it really hurts. Did you know that it was the tiny blood vessels in your fingers freezing? and then when they get warm you get hot achesâ€Â.
“Thank you nurse Dolly†said the doctor. “I will do as you advise and be carefulâ€Â.
Jenny brought in the tea and placed the tray on a small Edwardian table left to her by her grand father. “Sugar and milk?†she asked.
“One sugar and just a little milk†he said.
She pored a cup for their visitor and one for herself, and handed Dolly a glass of warm milk. “Biscuit†she said, offering him a plate of assorted biscuits.
“Thank you†he said picking a Cream Biscuit and a Ginger Nut, this will be most welcomeâ€Â.
Jenny seated herself on a large puffé, took a sip of tea and looked at the doctor.
“I think that it is about time to explain why I have called upon you†he said.
“I wish you would†said Jenny. “I cannot imagine why a doctor would be calling upon us way out here, unless you are calling in on a prospective patient, and I cannot imagine being one of those†said Jenny.
He gave a soft chuckle; he liked this easy to talk to woman and equally delightful daughter. “No’ He said. “Let me explain. A colleague of mine was kind enough to put me up at his home when I first arrived in Prestwood, but he has little room with wife and brood of children. I have made enquiries around the town but things are a bit pricey for an up and coming doctor. Mrs. Moore at the Blue Angle pub said that you might have a room that I could rentâ€Â.
Jenny was somewhat surprised at what he said. “I do have a spare room†she said “But I have never thought about renting it out, and why Mrs. Moor would think that I would entertain renting a room I have no ideaâ€Â. It then dawned on Jenny, Mrs. Moor was the towns Match Maker. Though a kindly soul was apt to try and marry off all who she thought would make a good pair and therefore should be married, including divorcees if still of marriageable age. Jenny was on her list of such persons.
“May I also explain why I chose to come all this way from town. You see, though I work in a hospital, I do not enjoy living in towns, I much prefer the countryside and when Mrs. Moor said where you lived I just had to come and see for myself. As soon as I saw your home I was prepared to wait all day to ask you about a roomâ€Â. He looked at her with a look that seemed to plead for a positive answer. She looked away from him and looked at her daughter as if trying to read an answer in her young face, but Dolly was still looking at the doctor. She looked at him again as he went on “I have a passion for sketching trees and wild animals, I always have had ever since I was a youngster. To me this house is all that I could wish forâ€Â. He looked from Jenny to Dolly and back to Jenny again.
That same feeling came again into the pit of Jenny’s stomach and began to creep up towards her chest, and she clasped the pearls about her neck as if she were trying to choke off the feeling that seemed to overwhelm her. “I don’t know†she managed to say “as I have said I have not considered renting a roomâ€Â. She felt a tug at her skirt; Dolly was nodding her head and smiling at her.
“Please mommy†she whispered so as not to let the doctor hear. “He is nice, I like him and he does like the forestâ€Â.
“I don’t know Doctor Fielding†Jenny finally said. “Dolly and I are happy here by ourselves since my divorce, I suppose that Mrs. Moore told you that I was divorced?â€Â
He looked at her somewhat embarrassed . “Well yes she did, but I can assure you that my intentions are quite honourable Mrs. Taylor, and I do have references from my doctor colleagues if you would care to see them?â€Â
“No†she said quickly, “That will not be necessaryâ€Â. She got up from her chair and walked towards the window that looked out upon the forest. She heard him rise from his chair and he came and stood beside her and she felt the warmth from his coat on her bare arm, but when he moved slightly away the warmth was gone. He had walked to where his coat hung from the antlers and put the coat on.
“I am sorry to have troubled you Mrs. Taylor. I can understand your reluctance to have a stranger disturb the tranquillity you have hear, but id you do reconsider you can reach me at this numberâ€Â. He placed a card on the ledge of the Dutch door.
“It is not that†Jenny said “It is because it all came as a surprise to me, would you give me a day or two to think it over. He smiled that smile that had captured the heart of her daughter.
She closed the door behind him and listened to his car as it drove away. Her back was up against the door, he one arm across her waist and her other arm across her chest with the hand feeling the flush on her face. Jenny knew that it was not the heat of the fire that had caused the redness in her cheeks.
The next evening with Dolly in bed, Jenny sat near the fire. She looked across at the chair in which the young doctor had sat, and then looked at the grandfather clock that was striking seven o’clock, it’s mellow tones filling to long room with it’s comforting sound; Jenny picked up the phone and dialled the number on the doctors card.
