Page 120 of The King's Man
Kit closed his eyes and nodded.
‘There must be something you can do?’ Thamsine tried to hide the anxiety in her voice.
‘I will do what I can to reset the broken bones. Thamsine, I need … ’
Thamsine stared at her sister. She could already hear the world beginning to roar in her ears, and the room had begun to pitch and tilt.
Distantly she heard her sister say, ‘Thamsine, are you going to faint? Go and fetch that big man who brought me here and stay out of the way.’
Thamsine stumbled out of the room and passed out in the corridor.
***
An hour later, she crept back into the room.
‘Mercifully, he fainted too,’ Jane said, indicating Kit’s unconscious body on the bed. ‘God willing he will sleep now, and that is probably the best cure.’
Jane picked up her cloak and tied it. She gestured at an array of bottles and flasks on the table.
‘My own receipt, sister. Feverfew and chamomile.’ She picked up the largest flask. ‘It will help with the pain and any fever. I have reset the fingers and splinted them.’ She held up a bottle. ‘A poultice of this after twelve hours.’
‘Will it work?’
Jane shrugged. ‘It might, but if it worsens then the bonesetter is right. The hand will have to be amputated.’
Thamsine grimaced and her sister laid a hand on her arm.
‘I don’t want to give false hope. Even if it does heal, he will never have the full use of that hand again, but I think you both know that.’ Her face softened. ‘I’m sorry, Thamsine, but at least he will be alive and that is what matters, isn’t it?’
She took her sister in her arms.
‘I wish you didn’t have to go,’ Thamsine murmured.
Jane pulled apart, holding Thamsine at arm’s length. ‘You know I must. I have strapped his hand to his chest to stop him from moving it for the moment. Now, if you follow my instructions, you should be over the worst within the next twenty-four hours. Keep him cool, plenty of water, the feverfew, and this for the bruising.’ She held up a pot. ‘Don’t forget.’
‘I’m so useless,’ Thamsine said with a rueful smile. ‘I wish I were more like you.’
Jane touched her sister’s cheek. ‘No, dearest, you’re not useless. Your talents are different, that’s all. Now, remember to pray. That is always useful when all else fails.’
When Jane had left, Thamsine crept back up to the bedchamber. She stripped down to her shift and climbed into the bed beside her husband. He stirred but did not wake as she curled up against him and with her head resting against his shoulder she fell asleep.
Chapter 39
Ignoring Kit’s complaints and curses, over the next few days Thamsine diligently followed her sister’s instructions. As she opened the door to his bedchamber with his supper tray, she reflected that Jane had failed to warn her that convalescing males were not a pleasant species. However, for all his complaining, miraculously the hand had not worsened. Over the week Jane’s poultices and unguents seemed to have had some effect. The swelling had begun to go down and the bones seemed to be knitting.
Kit slammed his book shut and looked up at the ceiling as Thamsine set down the tray.
‘I’m so bored,’ he grumbled. ‘This is worse than jail. At least there I can play cards or talk to someone. Here, I’m stuck in the company of three over-solicitous women, and if that –’ he pointed at a flask on the tray’ – is any more of your sister’s damned nostrums, forget it!’
‘I thought you enjoyed the company of women?’
He glared at her and unexpectedly his face softened and his lips curved in a smile. ‘Come here and sit down.’
He pushed the chair back from the table and patted his lap. Thamsine smiled and complied, perching herself primly on his knee. He picked up her hand in his good one and turned it over as if inspecting it. He laid it on the table and traced the lines on the palm.
‘Do you see this, Tham?’
‘See what? Since when have you been a palm reader?’
