Free Web NovelChapter 41: A fool in love (2)
"Doctor Chester is here to see the lady."
Beth glared at the disrespectful maid for not addressing her as Mrs Humphrey or Lady Beth as she instructed everyone to do. Now that Jack was going to propose to her, it was time to start weeding out the servants who would be fired.
"Send him in. Bring something for him to drink as the ride here must have been long. Would you like something to drink, Jack?" Beth asked.
"No. I want to be focused on what the doctor says. I might need to offer him something for saving your life in the past. You never told me what the incident was that he saved-"
"Doctor Chester!" Beth spoke over Jack. She stood up from sitting on Jack’s lap to greet Chester. "I hope you were well with the long ride."
Chester’s eyes went to Jack who he had seen once before in the papers. He hadn’t believed it when Beth started to give him more knowledge about the man she was involved with yet here he stood in front of Jack Humphrey. Beth was a socialite.
"The ride was fine. I got to look around a part of the town that I had never visited as I rode in the carriage. Thank you for picking me to be the one to care for Lady Beth during this time," Chester said, lowering his head as Jack’s gaze was starting to make him feel uncomfortable.
"Beth was the one who wanted you here. It is just us here so you may do what you need here," Jack said, wanting to see how talented this doctor was. freewebnøvel.coɱ
"I’m afraid I must take the lady to a private room to examine her-"
"Like hell you will," Jack argued, against the idea. He didn’t care how many times this man had saved Beth. She was not going to be alone with him. "I have seen a lot of her. There is no reason to hide her from me now. Go on with it here. You only need to confirm that she is pregnant and tell us how to keep her safe for the sake of the child."
"Of course," Chester replied, moving to a chair after to get what he needed.
Beth wanted any excuse to get Jack from being so close to him. "Jack, you are making this a little stressful because of how anxious you are. I told you that I trust Chester. Maybe you can just stand at the door to stop anyone from coming in? It can stay open."
"I apologise for making you nervous but I should be here for this. It is my first child and I want to be involved with all of it. Do what you need to. I am not thrilled that you are the one doing this, but I was told that you saved Beth in the past so I will give you a chance to prove yourself," said Jack.
One screw-up and Jack was sending the doctor out of his home regardless of what Beth wanted. This was already going to cause a problem once his mother found out he was not having Beth be looked at by the family doctor.
"Understood," Chester replied, moving fast to confirm what was not there.
Jack watched and listened as the doctor spoke with Beth and touched her a few times. He didn’t think the touching was necessary but he wasn’t a doctor so his input would stress Beth as she said. "So, is she pregnant and safe?"
"She is," Chester answered. "The lady is doing well as far as I can see at the moment but I will need to visit her more to see how she is doing. Based on what was said about the last time she bled, I would say that there are maybe seven or eight more months before the child is here but I could be wrong."
Chester gripped the paper he was holding as it was hard to stomach the lie he was telling as a doctor. He had already accepted the money from Beth and should he tell Jack that it was all a lie now, who was to say the man would not take his anger out on him and Beth would be safe from it?
Jack no longer thought about the doctor’s background as hearing about the child pleased him. Beth was pregnant and the child was safe.
"Thank goodness," Beth sighed in relief. "I was worried that my fall at the ball might have harmed the baby. I will try my best to do better at not falling."
"It is not you who needs to do better but those around you," Jack said, now thinking that Scarlet might have been out to harm his child. What if that fall had caused Beth to lose the child? Surely, that would please Scarlet.
’Finally,’ Beth thought as Jack was now thinking that Scarlet had caused the fall. With him angry with Scarlet because of their child, Beth did not need to worry about love blossoming between the former couple.
"I see that her name has been in the paper recently. Those people can be a bit rough when asking questions for their papers. I’ve seen many be harmed by them so you must keep her protected. This is a crucial time where you must keep the baby safe," said Chester.
Jack didn’t need to be told this as with being a Humphrey there were many looking to approach his family so Beth was now in need of several guards to protect her. Guards to protect her from Scarlet when he wasn’t around and guards to stop Beth from going to Scarlet. He didn’t believe that Beth was finished with wanting to apologise to Scarlet.
As Chester packed up the notes he made and placed medicine for Beth, Jack inspected his clothing. The doctor seemed to have a bit of money to afford the clothes he was wearing. He had never heard of the doctor but then again, Lockwood was a large town and Jack never paid attention to doctors other than the one his family used.
"Beth trusts you so I will keep you around. I expect that you will carefully tend to her. Should something happen to the child she is carrying you will never work in this town again. I will make sure of it. Do you understand?" Jack questioned, watching as the doctor’s eyes filled with fear. It was good that the doctor had some sense to fear him.
Jack was not going to lose the child he finally had and should anyone cause Beth harm, Jack was going to kill them regardless of who they were.
Chester’s hands shook as he was not expecting to be threatened. He was not warned of this and Beth was not meeting his eyes to reassure him that he would be fine. He had to do everything he could to help her get pregnant so the man sitting beside her would not try to end his life.
Chester wished to know why she was lying about being pregnant. What sort of relationship did she have if the man she claimed to love would leave her if she wasn’t pregnant so she had to come up with this plan?
