A Man To Tame - Rachel Lindsay (Roberta Leigh) (6 page)

'I prefer studying patients to
cookery books,' she said, remembering she had not yet answered his question.

Then you'll have to marry a
domesticated man.'

'I might not marry at all.'

'
I
thought all women wanted a husband and children.'

'I haven't given it that much
thought. I was too busy qualifying.'

‘Were the medical students blind?'
They had seeing hands!' she laughed. 'I refuse to believe there's been no
romance in your life. You're far too pretty.'

She was startled. 'I've never
considered myself
that.
'

Hankering to be the tall dark Kate
after all?'

She applauded his quickness of
mind. 'I would like to be five inches taller,' she admitted, 'and not quite so mousy
in colouring.'

‘How harsh you are with yourself,'
he said at once. 'I would describe you as a delectable streaky blonde with fantastic
eyes.'

Hurriedly she said: ‘My mother had them.'

With those
fascinating dark rings around the grey?'

She nodded. 'It's the only thing
about myself that I like.'

'I can see I shall have to take you
in hand.' Dermot leaned forward. 'How about beginning tonight? I bet you
haven't added to your larder since yesterday.'

'I haven't given it a thought.'

'And it's
early closing day, so you won't even have a chance of going out to do any
shopping. I will pick you up at eight and take you to dinner.'

She did not wish to refuse in case
he thought she was being unfriendly, for she needed all the friends she could
get while she was here and Dermot was the person likely to lead her to them.
'Very well,' she agreed. 'Eight o'clock.'

Afternoon surgery was very quiet,
with only one man coming in to have a prescription renewed. Kate was so
disappointed that she nearly rang up Dermot to say she could not see him, and
her hand was on the receiver when she took it away. It was because she was
disappointed that it would do her good to get out.

'Do you want me to keep the waiting
room open after five?' Nurse Evans inquired.

'No, I'm not going to tout for patients.'

'Give them time to get used to
you.' Nurse Evans closed the waiting room door and locked it. ‘You're bound to
get emergencies, though, and once you deal successfully with them, word of
mouth will do the rest.'

Kate thought it harsh that after
four years in general practice she should have to wait for emergencies to prove
she was a capable doctor, but since this only gave more weight to Joshua
Howard's advice that she return to London, she put it from her mind.

When she reached the car park it
was nearly deserted and as she walked towards the small blue Triumph the noise
of a throaty engine behind her made her turn. It was a silver-grey Porsche,
small and powerful, and as it drew abreast of her and slowed, she recognised Joshua Howard at the wheel.

'Good evening, Dr Gibson.' His
voice was deeper than she remembered, with a purr in
it like the hum of the engine he was driving. ‘Had a busy day?'

Knowing she was not imagining the
glint in the dark brown eyes, so deep set that they looked almost black, she held
back a sharp retort. 'It was a quiet day, Mr Howard,
as I expected it to be. You are not the only one who is prejudiced.'

'But you will overcome it?' he said
suavely.

‘I hope so.' She continued
to walk away, conscious of the car deliberately keeping pace with her.

‘If there is anything you need,' he
called through the open window, 'ask Dermot.'

‘You're very kind, Mr Howard.'

With a curt nod he gathered speed
and shot forward, leaving her to make her way to the Triumph with legs that
were unexpectedly shaky. The man's sardonic attitude was even more pronounced
today than it had been yesterday, and her earlier belief that his dislike of
women doctors had nothing to do with an anti-feminist attitude began to waver.
He might not be a woman-hater—as a married man he obviously wasn't—but he
certainly acted as if he believed a woman should be kept in her place and this,
she was sure, was the home.

Irritation with him prompted her to
dress with more care than she would have normally given for her evening with Dermot,
and though she was not sure how smart people were in the country, she decided
that since she was a Londoner she would dress like it, regardless. To this end
she donned a long skirt of fine cashmere in a variegated pattern of lilac and
grey, and a lilac blouse. It emphasised the blonde
streaks in her hair and did wonders for her eyes, making them look so large and
theatrical that she regretted the mascara she had put on her lashes.
She
was
considering whether to wash it off when the bell rang and she went down to let
Dermot in. He wore a dark suit and had the look of a well-scrubbed schoolboy,
which made her feel years older than him. But if he were Joshua Howard's
private assistant he
'
couldn't be all that young.

'You look very lovely,' he said
when they were driving away from the house.

Thank you. I wasn't sure if long
dresses were worn in the country.'

'Fashion permeates everywhere these
days. We even have a French restaurant in Llanduff!'

'Is that where we're going?'

He nodded. 'It's a club, actually.
Most of the county types hang out there. Horsy but nice.'

‘I’m in the mood where I'm ready to
like everyone,' she smiled.

‘The work getting
you down?'

‘The lack of it. I must do something to cheer myself up.'

'Cheer the house up first,' he
advised. 'Let’s go shopping on Saturday.'

‘I’ll think about it.' Kate
concentrated on the passing scenery. 'It's very pretty round here. I suppose
there are some lovely places to walk?'

'And to climb. Llanduff is set in a valley.
That means if's always slightly colder here than in the outlying districts. Mr Howard lives five miles out of town,' he added
inconsequentially.

‘What is his house like?' she
asked, feeling it to be justifiable curiosity. 'He said his grandfather was
born there, so I assume it's old.'

'Old and
beautiful. A
sixteenth-century manor house surrounded by about fifty acres of land.
But you'll be seeing it for yourself.'

Kate was about to say she doubted
it when Dermot informed her that the annual staff party was always held in the
garden.

'How old is his daughter?' she
asked.

'Janey is
ten. She's a sweet child and suffers from asthma.’

‘What is Mrs
Howard like?'

'Charming.''

‘What did you do before you worked
for the company?' Kate asked, anxious to change the subject.

'I was with Mr
Howard's biggest rival. He bought me away from them.'

It seemed a gesture typical of the
man and though she did not say so the look on her face gave her away.

‘Mr
Howard likes the best,' Dermot said modestly, 'and he felt that I was!'

‘The best what?'

‘Troubleshooter.
^’

'I was under the impression that Mr Howard didn’t have any troubles. That his factory was a
model of the way factories should be run ?'

'So it is. I mean trouble with his
rivals. It's my job to keep pace with what they're doing and to prevent them
finding out what
we
are doing. You'd be amazed at the amount of
double-dealing that goes on in industry.'

'Then amaze me,' she said. I’m so
ignorant about business I think it's time I learned something about it.'

'You've come to the right person,’
he said happily. 'But don't blame me if I bend your ear back. Once I get
started on the subject I never know when to stop.' They had reached a rustic
arch set back off the grass verge and Dermot drove the car through it and
parked in front of a gabled country house. Expecting something brash and modem,
Kate was pleasantly surprised and liked the chintzy interior. The dining room
was discreetly lit by candles that shot a pale lemon glow over snowy white
linen. If the food was as good as the atmosphere then she was in for an enjoyable
evening.

Her hopes were not unfounded, for
the meal was excellent and the service efficient. 'I never expected to find a
.place like this in Llanduff,' she commented.

There's another one similar to it a
few miles down the road. If you go to them frequently enough you'll meet
everyone who's anyone in the district.'

'I suppose in time that could
become tedious. If's one of the drawbacks to living in a small town.'

'One gets used to it. 'I never
thought I would settle down here but when I go to London now, I can't wait to get
back.'

'Yet you still live in lodgings?'

‘Wait till you meet my Mrs Hughes. She looks after me as if I were her son—with
the added advantage that she doesn't watch over me like a mother!'

Kate laughed and Dermot looked at her
appreciatively. ‘Do you know you're beautiful when you smile?’

'I might get you to put that in
writing so I can read it on my miserable days.'

'I don't believe you have miserable
days. Yon look far too sane for that.'

She bit back a sigh, knowing he
would Und it difficult to believe that in the last three months there had been
days when her mood had been one of black despair. But she must not think about
it. She was embarking on a new Me and the past had to
be forgotten, at least until she could think of it without the distortion of
fear.

'If you're so worried about finding
small towns claustrophobic, how come you elected to settle here?' Dermot's
question was valid, but she was still reluctant to tell him the truth. To do so
might make her sound as if she were touting for sympathy.

'I wanted a change,' she fibbed.
'I've always worked in London and—and before I made up my mind whether or not
to settle permanently into a group practice, I decided to give myself a trial
period in something more intimate.'

'I'd hardly call taking care of
eight hundred lumbering men intimate!' '

'In London we had nine thousand
patients.'

'But more than one doctor, surely?'

'Of course. But we still had to work extremely hard.'

'Have you never wanted to specialise?'

She nodded.'-'I believe many
illnesses are psychosomatic in origin, and I would like to study it in depth.
In a smaller practice I'll have more chance to do so.'

‘I can't see our men suffering from
psychosomatic illness—malingering more likely!'

That's an illness too.'

‘I don't let Mr
Howard hear you say that I think he mollycoddles his staff to a
ridiculous-degree, but he hasn't yet jumped on the American bandwagon of declaring
ninety per cent of our troubles to be due to deprivation at our mothers'
breasts!'

She gave a slight smile. I'd better
stay off the subject of Freud with you.'

'I can think of far mote
interesting subjects we can talk about.'

The smile he gave her was warm, and
relaxing after a good meal and excellent wine, she was able to see him with
fresh .eyes. He was young, attractive and good, company. She could do far worse
than to encourage him.

I’m glad you came here, Kate,’ he
went on. 'I don't think it's a move you will regret.'

‘I hope not,' she said, and thought
of the overpowering man to whom she was finally answerable. Joshua Howard
regretted her coming here and made it plain that he would do everything in his
power to be rid of her. One false step, he had said. Well, she was going to
tread very carefully indeed.

CHAPTER FIVE

Kate's surgery the next day was as
empty as it had been the day before and, despite Nurse Evans's assurances that
the men would accept a woman doctor, given time, Kate was anything but
sanguine. Indeed the thought of accepting Dermot's offer to go into town on
Saturday and buy some things for the house seemed childishly optimistic, and
she decided it would be wiser to delay spending company’ money until she knew
whether or not she would be staying on conceding that Joshua Howard was right
after all.

She went to the canteen early for
her lunch and had already finished by the time Dermot and the other managerial
members of the staff came in. She was asked to stay and have coffee with them,
but she pretended she was busy and, returning to the surgery, shut herself in
her room. She had always complained at not having enough time to catch up on
her medical reading and now seemed as good a time as any to do it, though it
gave her a guilty feeling to be reading in the middle of the day when she felt
she should be doing something-more active.

Afternoon surgery was a repetition
of the morning, with only two men coming in to have prescriptions renewed, but
at five o'clock—after the whistle had sounded and the car park began to
empty—Kate received a call from an agitated woman who could not retrieve a bead
which her child had stuffed down its ear.

'Our own doctor's on holiday,' the
woman explained, 'and I can't get hold of the one who's standing in for him. I
know you're the doctor in the factory and—-‘

Interrupting the flow of words Kate
managed to get the woman's address and said she would be therein ten minutes.

She was better than her word and,
with a minute to spare, was walking up the path of a neat little semidetached.
She was met by a frightened mother and her hysterical child and it took a while
to calm both of them sufficiently for her to try and extricate the bead. It was
solidly lodged. But the old-fashioned remedy of olive oil helped her to
extricate it, after which she took a piece of paper from her bag and drew a
ample picture of an ear to show the child what had happened, at the same time
explaining in simple terms what a wonderful hearing apparatus the ear was, and
how one must safeguard it.

‘You were wonderful with Caroline,'
the woman said as she went with Kate to the front door. I’m ever so grateful
you came.'