She stepped out through the lattice, and presently Georgia entered, stethoscope in hand.
“Well, and how do we find ourselves to-day?” she asked cheerfully, hoping that Dick would not notice the trembling in her voice.
“How can you expect a patient to get better when his doctor does not come near him for days?”
“You have always expressed such a dislike to lady doctors, that it struck us you might prefer to be without one.”
“Ah, how did you come to be my doctor, by the bye?”
“I knew you would have preferred the surgeon who came with you,” said Georgia, with resignation in her tones. “I will tell you how it was. He is very young and very new, and knows nothing about fever in practice, which makes him all the more sure about it in theory. He has half-a-dozen infallible remedies, and he was rejoicing at the prospect of being able to test them all on you, when I stepped in and claimed you as my patient. And now I suppose you will tell me that you would prefer to be killed by him rather than be cured by me?”
No suitable repartee occurring to Dick at the moment, he took a mean advantage of his position as an invalid, and lay back on his cushions with a slight groan, which melted Georgia’s heart at once.
“You have a headache, and I have been teasing you!” she said, remorsefully, changing her position and coming behind him. “Keep your head like that, my poor boy,” and she began to pass her fingers slowly across his forehead with such a soothing effect that Dick only kept himself by a violent effort from falling asleep. Pulling her hands down, he looked at them critically.
“Have you been taking lessons in witchcraft from Khadija?” he asked. “Do you think it’s fair to practice magic arts on me? What chance has a man when you begin to mesmerise him with those cool, firm fingers of yours? What nice soft hands you have, Georgie!” emphasising the remark by lifting the said hands to his lips.
“One has to keep one’s hands nice for surgical work,” said Georgia, apologetically, and expecting an outburst. But Dick only gave a rather ostentatious sigh, and went on meditatively.