How to Heal the Marquess by Sally Forbes
Chapter Sixteen
Arthur held his breath as his daughter greeted Henry. He could tell she was quite a caught off guard, and his guilt amplified. He chewed his lip at the awkward exchange, praying Daisy would see the reasons for his decision and not just feel the hurt it was clearly causing her.
A moment later, she turned to her father, giving him a tight smile. There was the beginning of tears forming in her eyes, and Arthur’s heart broke.
“It has been a long day, Father,” she said. “May I be excused to my chambers now?”
Arthur tried to ignore the pangs in his heart at the wounded tone in his daughter’s voice. He gave her the fondest, warmest smile he could and nodded, kissing her on the cheek and trying also to ignore how her body stiffened as she did so.
“Of course, my dear,” he said.
Daisy nodded, quickly pulling away from her father and blinking her eyes rapidly before turning back to Henry.
“It was lovely to meet you,” she said, giving him a marginally bigger smile than she had her father.
“Likewise, Miss Gibson,” he said, giving her his own nervous smile.
With that, Daisy bade the men a good evening. Arthur’s smile faded as his daughter left the room. The hurt in her eyes had been almost tangible, and it was the very reason why he had put off telling Daisy about Henry for so long. It had been a necessity to take on the young man, as he was constantly exhausted from handling the bulk of his patient’s care by himself. Daisy had been, as ever, a tremendous asset. But the fact remained that she would never be able to take over the practice as a woman. No matter how much he trusted her or how capable he knew her to be.
It had been difficult enough for him to admit he needed help at all with his practice. His dream had always been to have his own medical practice, to devote his time to helping sick people and improving his medical knowledge.
He had been very blessed with the opportunities to do those very things, and he was happy at the prestige of his practice. But now he saw what his decision had done to his dear daughter, he could hardly bear the guilt.
“Did I say or do something wrong, Dr. Gibson?” Henry asked, startling the physician.
Arthur looked at the young man, whose cheeks were a shade of pink, his eyes wide and fearful, no doubt for the job he had so recently acquired. He shook his head, smiling warmly at the man.
“Not at all, Henry,” he said. “I am afraid the tension and awkwardness you witnessed is all my fault. I had been meaning to discuss our arrangement with my daughter well before now, but with our recent busyness and my tired mind at the end of every day, I simply had not done so. This came as a terrible surprise to her, the poor dear.”
Henry listened attentively and thoughtfully, nodding as Arthur spoke. For a moment, Arthur feared the young man would tell him that Daisy was right to be angry. Or worse, that he would agree with Arthur and his actions. But another moment later, Henry merely cleared his throat.
“Well, I should be off,” he said, rising from his seat.
Arthur winced. With so much tension in the air before the young man had even started his work, Arthur was sure he would never see Henry again.
“I understand,” he said softly. “I do hope you are not regretting your decision to accept employment with me.”
Henry blinked with bewilderment.
“Not at all, Doctor,” he said with a small smile. “I very much look forward to working with you. I shall be here first thing tomorrow morning.”
Arthur felt relief, albeit only a little. He shook Henry’s hand and walked him to the door, seeing him off. Then, he took a deep breath and rubbed at his throbbing temples. He only had himself to blame, of course. If he had only been honest with Daisy from the beginning, perhaps she would have been more understanding and less upset.
He was sure the last thing she wanted right then was to see him, but his heart was heavy, and he could not bear the thought of his daughter hurting because of him. Reluctantly, he went up the stairs, praying she would agree to speak to him.
When he reached her bedroom door, he knocked gently. He heard nothing within, and he feared she would simply ignore him. He was trying to decide whether he should knock again or call out to her, or just retreat into his home office when the door opened slowly. Relief flooded him, and he smiled sheepishly at her.
“May I have a word with you, darling?” he asked.
She bit her lip, saying nothing for a moment, and once more, Arthur feared she would send him away. But then she nodded wordlessly, opening her door far enough for him to enter the room. He waited until Daisy was seated on her bed, then he took up the chair beside it. He realized he was ill-prepared for what to say to her. But as he looked at her sad face, words began to come to him.
“Darling, I know you are very upset right now,” he said. “And I would like to begin by apologizing to you. I never meant to hurt you so, Daisy. You must understand it was not an easy decision for me to make, taking on young Henry. I thought about it a great deal before I took any action, and I did so with great reservations and the heaviest of hearts.”
Daisy, at last, looked at him, the pain cutting through Arthur like a blade.
“Then, you have known for some time that you would be hiring someone,” she said flatly.
Arthur had to fight the urge to defend himself. Again, he could not blame his daughter for being upset with him. Moreover, she was correct in her assumption. As much as he wanted to gloss over what had just been said, he knew it would only hurt Daisy further. Instead, he looked at her and nodded.
“I have,” he said. “I have been corresponding with Henry over the last month.”
Daisy nodded slowly.
“I see,” she said. “What makes you so certain that he is qualified to help you with your practice, let alone take it over some day?”
Arthur could not help smiling despite himself. Upset though she was, she was able to see past her own feelings and think of the practice's best interests.
“As it happens, he is the son of a well-known doctor in the country,” he said. He instantly realized his mistake when Daisy looked at him with wide eyes.
“Your patient out in the country,” she said. Her words were no longer accusatory, but the hurt was palpable, almost suffocating.
Angry with himself, Arthur rose from his spot and began pacing, rubbing his head with his hands.
“I am sorry for not telling you these things sooner, Daisy,” he said. “I understand that was a terrible mistake, and I am filled with remorse. But you were so set on taking over the practice, and I knew you would not hear me out without begging me to allow you to take it on yourself.”
“And where is the harm in that?” she demanded, also standing. “It is not as though I am some young woman fresh out of seminary school, attempting to take over a medical practice with no knowledge at all about medicine. I am a doctor’s daughter, and I am more skilled than many of the current physicians in London.”
Arthur’s heart ached. Of course, she was right. Arthur often believed his daughter was even more skilled and better with his patients than he ever had been, especially when he first started practicing medicine. Her abilities were not in question and, if he had it his way, he would have given her his medical practice without hesitation.
“You are missing the point, darling,” he said. “I understand how unfair it is. But the simple truth is that the standards of society will never accept a woman as a physician. At best, you would be shunned by most of society. And, at worst, you could become married to some seedy man who, upon his marriage to you, would steal away the practice from you and either ruin your good name or sell it for gambling money. And you would be helpless to stop him. And I do not think I could stand to see your broken heart when your dreams were so brutally crushed.”
Arthur knew well that what he had just said could easily offend his daughter, especially since she was so upset. He had meant no offense, of course, but she was very strong-willed and very much in control of her emotions.
For him to say something to imply she was anything but those things would surely anger her even further. He steeled himself and looked up at her, prepared for anything she felt she needed to say to him. But when he saw her face, her expression was one of sad understanding.
“At the end of it all, I just wish you had told me before now,” she said softly.
Arthur’s heart ached. He had just betrayed her trust and taken away her dreams of taking over his practice. And yet, she was still gazing at him as though he had sprinkled all the stars in the night sky just for her. Tears filled his eyes, and he reached out and took her hand.
“You are right, my dear,” he said. “It was terribly wrong of me to keep this from you. My foolish father’s heart believed I was doing the right thing by not telling you. I forgot about the part where you would find out eventually, sooner or later. Darling, you must believe me when I say that I only wanted to protect you.”
Daisy nodded, and he felt the tears in his own eyes.
“I can see how you would think you were protecting me,” she said. “But I am no longer a child. I would have been willing to talk about it with you as an adult.”
Arthur felt shame as well as guilt creep over him. He nodded, stroking his daughter’s cheek.
“You are absolutely correct, my dear,” he said, the vice grip of emotions tightening around his heart too much to try to continue offering excuses to his devastated daughter. “I am a terribly foolish old man, and I have done wrong by you, no matter my reasons. I only hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
