Page 48 of Miss Ashbury and the Anatomy of Mending a Heart

“Sheepish.” He huffed a laugh. “It’s a clever pun, considering.”

“I’m…I’m sorry for before. For getting in the way.”

He lifted a shoulder and smiled. “You’ll learn. Hopefully you’ll learn faster than I did—I think I got in the way of a sick patient a dozen times before I learned the telltale signs.”

Vera nodded and watched the greenery go past.

“Do you enjoy it, though? The work, I mean.”

“I think it’s too soon to tell.”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked you on a day when someone was ill upon your shoes.”

She grimaced. “Please don’t remind me. They’re going to need to be polished.”

“Leave them outside your door and I’ll see that it’s done.”

“Thank you,” she said stiffly.

Vera didn’t know how to handle his kindness—it flew in the face of who she’d convinced herself he was.

After a few moments of silence, she asked, “Why did you become a physician?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I wanted to be useful. I know that some gentlemen find the same kind of satisfaction in the management of their estates, but I prefer to be closer to someone when I help. I wanted to make a tangible difference—not just a general, nebulous kind.”

Vera twisted her lips, remembering the harsh words she’d delivered about how he’d neglected his duties as a lord.

Apparently, his own thoughts had wandered down the same lane, as he cleared his throat and said, “I’ve taken over the financials of the estate. You were right—my mother shouldn’t have borne that burden alone all these years.”

“I shouldn’t have⁠—”

“None of that.” He frowned. “I hope that you won’t start withholding truth from me just because we’ve come to a tentative politeness.”

“Pardon?”

“We can be both—honest and polite. I shouldn’t want a polite, dishonest relationship. You said things that I needed to hear. Though you said them harshly, I’m still glad you said them.”

She blinked. “You are?”

He peered down at her. Whatever he saw on her face had him lifting his eyebrows, even as he returned his attention to the road. “My mother and I are very similar in some ways. Neither of us care for society as a whole, but for completely different reasons. She avoids them because she thinks the lot of them are judgemental nitwits. I avoid them because I detest maintaining the dozens of shallow or false relationships being part of society requires.”

Vera thought about this for several moments as she watched the fields pass. The landscape was changing rapidly—the leaves were turning in earnest now, as if overnight, all the greenery had received a silent signal. Mornings had the sharp edge of a chill concealed within their misty cloaks. Fall was here.

Stephen quirked a smile and added, “I’d much rather us be true friends who are honest with each other than false friends who never move past shallow politeness.”

* * *

Later that afternoon, Vera roamed the gardens with Benjamin, listening to him chatter about his day.

“…and Hamish is going to take me fishing tomorrow, can you believe it?”

“How lovely. You should ask your brother to go along with you.”

She aimed her footsteps toward the greenhouse. She wanted to see if any of the plants had that special line of green at the edges of their leaves yet that spoke of growth. She knew it was probably too early to expect anything of the sort, but she still hoped.

Her thoughts were so consumed with the herbs that it took her a moment to realize that Benjamin was silent, that he hadn’t offered an answer.

Vera came to a stop on the garden path and arched an eyebrow. “Benjamin?”