Page 17 of A Sight to Behold
“In the figurative sense,” Bea said and put her hands on her hips. “He’s right.”
“He meantliterally. As in, I need spectacles,” Pippa corrected her.
The revelation appeared to give her cousin pause. She studied Pippa for a long moment, her gaze thoughtful as she processed this new information. The usually vibrant orangery was filled with a tense silence, the air heavy with unspoken thoughts and questions.
Finally, Bea spoke. “He has a point,” she said.
A sense of dismayed betrayal rose in Pippa’s heart. “No!”
Bea shrugged. “He does. It might explain why you are so clumsy.”
“I’m not—” Well, she couldn’t actually deny the truth of it. But she could try. Pippa took a deep breath before announcing, “I’m only clumsy at balls and in closed rooms.”
“Yes, because you cannot orient yourself by seeing things far from you. But you have the keenest sense of direction in town; you always know where we need to go. Maybe that’s because you can see at a distance.”
“Oh!” That made more sense than Pippa cared to admit. Could it be true? Could her clumsiness be attributed to farsightedness? Was Nick correct about it being a condition and not a characteristic? She’d struggled with it for her entire life as a fault; it was hard to see it—so to speak—otherwise. “I suppose…well. He said he’s an oculist. A doctor.”
“Really?” Bea’s voice rose in apparent intrigue. “What did he say you should do about it?”
“Come see him at his office, be fitted for eyeglasses.” Pippa wrinkled her nose. She was missing a pair of glasses and a hat of whipped cream with a cherry on top so the Ton and her father’s friends could make even more fun of her. “Glasses are not very flattering. I’ll never catch a husband that way.”
“But wouldn’t it be nice to cure your clumsiness altogether? So, what if you wear glasses? They might make you look smart like a professor.”
“I’m barely a professor; I’m just a girl.” She frowned. “Besides, girls can’t be professors. I’d be called a bluestocking!”
“Pish-posh,” Bea scoffed. “Mark my words, one day, there will be girl professors for all sorts of things. You could lecture people on botany for hours. It’s the perfect solution for you if it’s not a man you want and just plants!”
“Except that I don’t want a solution right now, not if it means I’ll draw even more attention to myself with an ugly pair of spectacles.”
“Nonsense. If all you need is eyeglasses, get them. If I were you, I wouldn’t waste another minute. Do you know where to find him again?”
Pippa handed her cousin the card; she’d been carrying it with her, tucked in her sleeves, since he’d given it to her. Heavens forbid Wife Six or anyone find it among her things.
Nicholas Folsham
Oculist
87 Harley Street
“Go there first thing tomorrow morning!” Bea said.
Chapter Nine
The next morning…
“Don’t spend allmy money again,” Father said when they’d reached the distinctive rows of white houses in Marylebone. “I don’t want to overdraw my accounts this month.”
“Perhaps you should ask Wife Six to wear a dress more than once?”It’smymoney.Mybirthright.
“It’s her way, Pippa. Don’t be too harsh on her. She’s under a lot of pressure to keep up with all the ladies at tea every day.”
Pippa snuffed. “Certainly. It cannot be easy following the daily gossip mill without wrinkling one’s dress.”
“Piiiiiippaaaaaa!”
“Yes, Father?” She put her hands in her lap and lifted her shoulder, inclining her head as if she were an adorable little girl. If he considered her so naive as to think that Wife Six was anything but a glutton and a bloodsucking leech, she wouldn’t start a fight.
He frowned. “I have to pay Sir Matthews today, so please, Pippa.”
