Finding Bliss (15 page)

Seeing Bliss wave at him, as if she knew exactly where to
look, made Eric jump in surprise. He thanked Stemley once again for helping in
his absence and walked across High Street to accept the meeting.

As Eric approached, Bliss opened the door for her
companions, an average-looking brunette in her mid-twenties and a small child
about three or four years old. Bliss let the door close after them, claiming to
need a moment to say hello to a friend.

Once they were alone, Bliss pulled Eric’s sleeve to draw him
closer. He resisted until she scoffed.

“Oh relax! I’m not going to assault you on High Street, for
heaven’s sake! I only want to say that you can pick me up at six-thirty this
evening and bring a closed carriage because it is going to rain,” Bliss said
stiffly.

Eric affected a painful expression of discomfort at her
pronouncement. She sighed and continued.

“It’s perfectly acceptable for an old family friend to
escort me, a dear correspondent and purveyor of sage advice, for an evening
outing. If it will make you feel better I have no objection to my maid coming
along,” Bliss replied.

Eric began to chuckle, which upset her a little. She gave
him a scorching look that didn’t demand so much as disapprove of what he found
so humorous.

“I’ve not asked you to go anywhere with me. So I will not need
to pick you up. I’m just recently returned from a holiday in London, so I only
want to attend to my most important clients and go home to rest,” Eric told her
with amused features.

“Yes, your ‘holiday’ was quite interesting. But I don’t see
how giving you a lecture on your poorer habits would be useful right now, so
I’ll get directly to the point. My aunt’s friend, Lady Westford, has an
emergency that needs medical attention right away. Naturally I suggested you. Even
if you’re not very good at midwifery,” Bliss added in scathing retort.

“I have never claimed to be a childbed expert. What’s wrong
with your aunt’s friend that is so pressing you dragged her to the office the
minute I returned? Let me guess, she’s about to have an attack of hives? No, a
severe episode of flatulence you want to head off before her garden party?

“Or wait, I know! She’s pregnant, but she doesn’t believe in
your exemplary medical diagnosis based on the fact that you have absolutely no
medical training whatsoever! Am I close?”

His voice was mean with sarcasm, and the implication of
patronization was nearly overwhelming to Bliss’s usually stalwart control. He
watched in horror as her chin quivered almost against her will, but she lifted
her face level with his out of sheer spite.

“No, her son has something lodged in his nose. I brought him
to you because I am
certain
you will know how best to deal with it. As
for the rest, the only one of us who is full of hot gas is you when you
continue to say such cruel and unnecessary things to me.”

Bliss concluded her steely disdain by turning on her heel
and entering the office. His door banged shut so hard he felt certain the
window glass would shatter.

Eric felt an overwhelming sense of chagrin. He knew he’d
hurt her feelings. And the thought of that made him suddenly morose.

Being arrogant and sarcastic wasn’t
the best way to deal with improper feelings. As a medical doctor, with some
experience in dealing with irrational behaviors in the infirm and even a few of
the insane, Eric knew better than to let emotions get in the way of his
professional demeanor. He had insulted her not only as a client, but also as a
friend.

Insulting Bliss was suddenly unforgivable. She continued to
trust his judgment for medical treatment of her acquaintances. And they must
have walked past seven other surgeons’ offices to reach his place. In a budding
medical district where many of his St. Thomas’s alumni fought for the first
available positions at the newest hospital in England, Eric really couldn’t
afford to be flippant with his client list!

Entering his office he discovered Scarlet looking much more
refreshed after a couple of days of rest. She had taken the previous week off,
only turning up when summoned by Dr. Stemley. It was no great distance for her
to walk down from her room in the boarding house above the office.

Eric sent word to her that he would be coming in on the
afternoon of his return to check with Dr. Stemley and attend to any dire
circumstances. Scarlet was about to tell Lady Westford that he hadn’t returned
from his vacation when Bliss and Eric walked in within moments of each other.

“Afternoon, Scarlet. Please show Lady Bliss and Lady
Westford into my examination room. I’ll be in momentarily,” he explained.

Scarlet looked at Eric bewildered, glancing at the woman
with the child and then at Bliss. Giving him a quick glance Bliss then turned
to the nurse.

“You’ll have to excuse Dr. Benchley. He’s trying to forget
that I was ever here the other day. He obviously doesn’t remember that I used
my actual family name of Porter that day instead of my courtesy title. I am indeed
Lady Bliss Penwood. There’s really nothing significant to it,” Bliss announced
dismissively.

Then she turned to her friend and introduced her to the
nurse.

“This is Lady Westford and her son, Lord Robert Westford. Eric,
if you don’t mind, we’ll wait in the room for you,” Bliss said dryly before she
ushered her companion into the room ahead of her along with the boy.

Eric could see the child’s face looked slightly distressed
and that his nostrils where extremely reddened.

“His mum says he’s got something stuck up his nose. Says he
won’t say what it is, but the nanny believes it’s the peas he refused to eat at
lunch. You’ve got your work cut out for you, I’m afraid. Would you like me to
help, sir?” Scarlet asked looking less helpful than normal.

Eric shook his head. Scarlet didn’t particularly like
children. It was ironic because she was in training with a local woman to
become a midwife on her days off. She only assisted Eric for the pay and the
extra experience in medical practices.

Eric walked toward his office and set his satchel on the
desk. He donned his oiled apron and rolled up his sleeves. Then he removed a
long, pointed instrument with a very sharp tip from a drawer. He tucked the
instrument into his apron pocket and prayed that the mother wasn’t known to
swoon if he had to use the instrument to retrieve the foreign objects in the
young child’s nose.

Bliss, Bristol, Late March 1811

Bliss couldn’t recall ever being so
angry in her life, not even when she saw the vision of Russ using her best
china doll as a sacrificial victim for one of his many reenactments of the
Battle of Blenheim.

Eric’s continued ridicule of her gift was beginning to make
her wish her future was linked to anyone else’s in the world. Surely there was
one person in Europe at least who would believe her without being blood
related?

She followed Lady Westford and her son into the exam room. She
helped little Robert up to the platform and told him to sit quietly and to
listen to everything Dr. Benchley told him as it was very important.

And she also told him that she would also know when he stuck
his tongue out at her the moment she turned her back, so if he wanted to risk
her turning about and lopping it off with her special tongue scissors to go
right ahead. The boy looked stunned by her admission of knowing his tongue
exposing preference in defiance of authority.

When Eric walked in Bliss was treated to a repeat of his
professional behavior. The difference this time was that she was fully clothed
and only there to pass the time waiting for him to propose. She’d gotten enough
of the visions now to know that he would be proposing to her just before being
caught with her in a delicate situation.

Unfortunately, the view of what happened in the visions was
still very murky and darkened, as though something could alter it or prevent
it. That made Bliss very nervous. Of course, given his most recent statements
to her, she wasn’t terribly keen to imagine him in her future. She focused on
the nearest events anyway.

Today in the office and a little of the evening with Eric
was as far as she could see ahead to their immediate joint futures. There was a
peculiar ruffling to the edges of the vision concerning the evening’s events.

Apparently they would be having dinner together when
something uncomfortable occurred—but it looked to Bliss as though she was the
only one feeling any stress. Bliss foolishly allowed herself to hope it related
to a dinner at his home! Perhaps Eric was thinking of something private?

Bliss watched Lady Westford’s gaze moving over Eric’s face
and body as he asked the particulars of Robert’s condition. She stiffened, but
forced herself to focus on the immediate issues.

“Robert was upstairs with his nanny when lunch was served. Nanny
Berta always insists that he must eat everything on the plate, which I disagree
with most of the time. I think if she makes him eat past the point of his
feeling full, he’ll learn to over-indulge and become portly!

“But that’s not important. Anyway, the nurse left the room
for just a moment to fetch a towel for his spilled milk, and when she returned
the peas were missing. She checked everywhere to make sure he hadn’t hidden
them in his napkin or under the plate edge, but there was no sign of the
missing peas. So she assumed he had eaten them.

“An hour or so later she noticed him worrying his nose and
breathing open-mouthed like a dog. That’s when we discovered that the peas
weren’t eaten. We believe he stuffed them up his nose! Now he can’t breathe
properly, and I’m afraid they’re going to take root in his head and grow
sprouts out of his ears and nose!” Lady Westford said with agitated worry.

Eric didn’t say anything during her monologue, merely nodded
and drew the sinister looking tool from his apron pocket, fingering the very
sharp point absently as he did so. Lady Westford was so absorbed in her story
that she missed the instrument entirely.

Eric made sure little Lord Westford didn’t miss anything,
though. He allowed the child to gaze for a good while at the tool. He had
artfully tucked it back into his pocket by the time Lady Westford finished.

Bliss realized she was seeing a master’s hand in this bit of
doctoring. It was exactly like something Dr. Benchley, Sr. would have done.
Eric replied to Lady Westford’s concerns with calm assurance.

“That’s probably what happened. Children often put things in
their body openings out of curiosity. I’ve seen gravel, yarn, bits of every
type of food you can imagine, and even bugs in ears, noses and sometimes
navels.

“Now then, getting them out of the ears and navels is usually
fairly simple since the openings are big enough and shallow enough to tweeze
with pinchers. The nose, however, is a different story. For that I have a very
special tool!”

Bliss was watching Lord Robert’s eyes widening with each
word. Eric stopped abruptly to speak directly to Lord Westford.

“Oh, I’m sorry, my lord. But did you happen to count the
number of peas? I’ll want to be positive I’ve dug them all out,” Eric asked in
mock innocence that was easily missed by the stubborn, yet petrified child.

“If you can’t recall, it could take a while for me to
explore all the recesses of your nasal passages. My lord, you look positively
pale. I suppose we could try an alternative method first. If you know the
number of peas, of course,” Eric said still playing his innocence up.

Bliss covered her mouth to avoid smiling at how brilliantly
Eric was coercing the child.

“Id was four peas! I pud do in each side!” Lord Robert
announced frightfully.

“Ah, only four! Well, that’s a relief. If it had been twenty
peas the alternative wouldn’t have worked at all! But four itty bitty peas
shouldn’t cause much trouble. Alright, Lord Robert, I’m going to need you to do
something very important for me. Listen to all of my instructions before you do
anything, okay?” Eric asked firmly. Lord Robert merely nodded in mute relief.

“First I’ll need you to open your mouth wide as you possibly
can. Then I want you to use the tip of your tongue to make circles on the roof
of your mouth.” Eric paused to demonstrate the motion, looking completely at
ease.

“I want you to keep doing that until you get the urge to
sneeze. I’ll help you with that, too. When you get the feeling the sneeze is
almost here, I want you to clamp your mouth shut and let every bit of the
sneeze force out through your blocked nose. We might have to do it more than
once. But as soon as we get enough movement you might be able to dislodge them with
vigorous blowing. Alright, are you ready?” Eric asked the bewildered child.

Lady Westford removed a handkerchief out of her reticule and
handed it to Eric with a muted grin.

Bliss waited until the boy began using his tongue as
directed. She nudged Eric and raised her eyes to the ceiling. She didn’t
intentionally indicate the feather, just an exasperated affect. But she knew
what the result would be.

Eric, without preamble, unpinned the feather from the side
of Bliss’s cap and brought it down over the child’s face. Then he used the
feather to tickle the boy’s nose, the roof of his mouth and when his tongue was
resting, his uvula. The effect was nearly instant.

The boy squinted a little, shook his hands frantically for a
few seconds while making slight pre-sneeze sounds. A few seconds later he
clamped his hands over his mouth just in time for Eric to cup the handkerchief
over his nose as the sneeze blew outward.

“Did it work?” Lady Westford and Bliss asked, though with
differing levels of concern. Eric opened the handkerchief to reveal all four of
the prune-skinned peas.

“My goodness! Bless you, Robert! And bless you, Dr.
Benchley! That was brilliant! You are, from this moment onward, our new family
physician! And to celebrate our fortune at finding you, I am inviting you and a
guest to dinner this evening! I will not take no for an answer, either! Oh,
thank the Lord! And thank you! Oh, my husband will get such a laugh when I tell
him about this!”