“So he’s right,” Jack said. “You do hum when you’re asked a medical question.”
“I suppose so.” Anna rubbed a knuckle between her brows. “It’s a way to encourage the patient to talk without interrupting or giving away findings.”
“The patient doesn’t want to know what you’re thinking?”
Anna said, “Certainly. But it’s a truism that patients lie without reservation, and anything I say will only add to the confusion.”
“Patients often lie for no obvious reason,” Sophie added. “Most don’t even realize that they are lying.”
“There’s a trick to it. They tell you what’s wrong,” Anna went on, “and you have to try to sort out what’s true, what’s supposition, imagination, wishful thinking, and unadulterated prevarication. So you see, you can’t give your thoughts away.”
“I would guess it’s a lot like police work,” Cap said.
Sophie looked surprised. “In a way. People who are sick often feel guilty about work left undone or the people who need them. It’s one of the things that get in the way of figuring out what’s wrong.”
“There is some similarity,” Jack said. “There are people who will confess to any crime out of fear of the police.”
Anna thought again of her patient’s husband. “If Archer Campbell had been able to read my mind, he might well have shot me on the spot.”
Jack frowned. “What were you accusing him of in your mind?”
With some vehemence Sophie said, “A man has to be both blind and heartless to not see that the person he sleeps beside every night lives in terror.”
“That’s a strong word,” Cap said.
“Hardly strong enough. Look at what her desperation drove her to.”
Anna clapped her hands suddenly. “Too dark a subject for a beautiful summer afternoon. I came hoping for Mrs. Harrison’s wafer cake and coffee.”
Sophie got up. “I’ll tell her we’re ready.”
Halfway to the French doors that opened into the house proper, she turned back. “Cap, you’d tell me if you did have a stitch in your side, wouldn’t you?” And smiled, embarrassed, when they all laughed.
? ? ?
THEY PLAYED CARDS and talked, about the Greber house and Aunt Quinlan’s delight at the turn of events that would install Anna and Jack if not in the same house, close enough to see every day.
“It needs a lot of work,” Jack said. “The plumbing and gas lines and wall sconces have to be replaced, and none of the fittings in the bedrooms are sound. I wonder that the place didn’t burn down long ago.”
“It’s a big house,” Sophie said, the corner of her mouth curling upward. “It will take you some time to fill it up.”
Anna wrinkled her nose at her cousin. “Don’t start.”
“I’ve been wondering if you might like to put in a suite of rooms for a private practice,” Jack said to Anna.
Anna felt her mouth fall open before she could catch herself. She closed it on a click, trying to find something sensible to say in the flurry of thoughts that were racing by.
Jack raised a brow. “Not a good idea?”
“I don’t know,” Anna said. “I’ll have to think about it.”
“You are grimacing,” Cap said.
“Am I?” Anna shook her head to clear her thoughts. “I suppose I am. It’s just that there are so many decisions to make. Jack’s sisters have been bombarding me already about drapery fabrics and table linen and bedding.”
“Poor Anna,” Cap said. “Forced to choose between periwinkle and primrose, silk and brocade and linen.”
“It’s worse than that,” Anna said. “I have to talk about prices.”
“There you have it,” Cap said to Jack. “Our Anna’s biggest secret. Any merchant can overcharge her without fear of accusation. I think she’d break out in a rash before she challenged a price.”
“I’ll have to pay attention now,” Anna said. “Or I’ll bankrupt us before we get started, and send Jack’s sisters to the poorhouse while I’m at it. He says I can’t pay them or even reimburse them for materials.”
“They would be insulted,” Jack agreed. “And you won’t put them in the poorhouse. My mother has everything well in hand.”
“You see,” Anna said. “I’m doomed.”
“But you like the house,” Sophie prompted.
“Oh, I love the house and I especially love the garden. Weeds and all.”
“Then everything will work out in the end.” Sophie leaned over and kissed Anna’s cheek. “You must tell yourself that every morning and every evening. And Jack must remind you when you forget.”
? ? ?