said she will be along shortly.’
‘That’s Janet. She doesn’t start until nine o’clock, but often works later than we do in the evenings. Bethany, the new district nurse, is her daughter.
‘They’re a good lot. Don’t hesitate to ask any of them if you have any problems. Surgery will be starting in a few moments so let me show you where you will be providing health care for the folk in Bluebell Cove.’
‘Are you still angry with me?’ she asked in a low voice as he opened the door of the smallest consulting room in the practice.
‘No, of course not. It was just you thinking I might have discussed your private life with Harry or anyone else that threw me off balance for a moment.’
He was beginning to wish they weren’t having this conversation, didn’t want to get any closer to this young French doctor who had butted into his weekend and now wanted to see into his thoughts. He’d actually fallen out with Harry over her and that was a first. They usually got on well.
A change of subject was called for and as the surgery was due to open its doors in a matter of minutes, what better way than to explain to her what was going to be required of her on her first morning?
‘Harry and I have picked out a few appointments from today’s list for you to deal with,’ he explained. ‘They are mostly women and children. Since Francine left to go back to her homeland we haven’t had a woman doctor on the staff, so you can see the advantages of having you here for our female patients, young and old.
‘If anything occurs that you haven’t dealt with before, Harry and I are here for help and advice. So good luck on your first morning. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I must prepare to meet my own patients. After surgery is finished we’ll have a coffee and then it will be time for the home visits. You will be able to see a lot more of Bluebell Cove while we’re out in the district as the area that the practice covers is both coast and country.’
With that he disappeared into the room next to hers and Amelie was left with the feeling that he was putting up with her on sufferance. What he’d said to Dr Balfour with regard to there being no pleasure in taking her with him on his rounds indicated that, and also there’d been the darkening of his brow when she’d asked him if he’d told the other man about her non-wedding.
He’d been all right about it afterwards, but there were signs that Leo was finding her heavy going, so a low profile was called for.
Her first patients were a harassed mother with a tearful four-year-old who was protesting loudly that she didn’t want to see the doctor man. Both were surprised to see that the ‘doctor man’ was a smiling young member of their own sex who had a way with children, having worked in the paediatric wards of a French hospital.
Within seconds the child had stopped crying and the mother was calming down as she explained why they were there. ‘Tiffany has an inflamed throat,’ she said, ‘and is very fretful. She won’t eat and had a raised temperature during the night. It seems normal enough now, but I still felt she should see a doctor.’
‘Yes, of course,’ Amelie agreed. ‘First I must look down the throat to check the degree of the inflammation.’ Turning to the small patient, she said gently, ‘Will you open your mouth for me, Tiffany, so that I can shine a light inside it?’
Not too keen on the idea, Tiffany clung to her mother and at her most persuasive Amelie said, ‘Just one little peep, that is all. Can you do that for me?’
Reassured, the child nodded and opened her mouth and when, as promised, Amelie did a quick examination of her throat she saw there was infection around the tonsils.
‘Has Tiffany had an inflamed throat before?’ she asked.
Her mother shook her head. ‘No, never.’
‘Then let us see what a few days’ rest and some paracetemol will do. They will help to relieve the soreness and then Tiffany will be more likely to want to eat. Ice cream is good for an inflamed throat too. If you should see pus on the tonsils, send for one of us immediately.
‘Her temperature is normal at present,’ she announced when she’d checked it, ‘but may rise again in the night so be prepared.’ She turned to the child. ‘You have been a very brave little girl, Tiffany, and you can have some ice cream when you get home.’
‘Thank you, Doctor,’ her mother said as they were leaving. ‘Are you new here? I haven’t seen you before.’
Amelie’s wide smile embraced them both. ‘Yes, I am here from France for a while and am already in love with your village.’
‘I have a woman’s problem that I’ve wanted to discuss with someone of my own sex, so you might be seeing me again,’ Tiffany’s mother said.
‘That will be fine whenever you are ready,’ Amelie told her, ‘and be sure to bring Tiffany back to the surgery if the inflammation persists.’
An expensively dressed elderly woman with an irregular heartbeat came next and was immediately dubious when she saw a fresh face behind the desk and a young one at that.
‘I was expecting to see Dr Balfour,’ she said haughtily. ‘Are you fully qualified?’
‘Yes, I am,’ Amelie told her pleasantly. ‘I have a degree and have been employed in a French hospital for the last two years. I am here to see how general practice works in the UK. So would you oblige me by unbuttoning your cardigan, Mrs…er…’ a quick glance at her notes ‘…Arbuthnot, as any kind of change in the heartbeat needs immediate attention.’
‘Yes, it is a little fast this morning,’ she told the patient when she’d listened to it intently. ‘Has it happened before?’
‘On and off, but not as severe as this,’ was the reply.
‘And you have seen Dr Balfour on those occasions? There is no mention of it in your records.’
‘No. When it has happened before I’ve ignored it and it has gradually gone away.’
‘But not today?’
‘No. Not today.’
‘Then an ECG is called for. If you will accompany me to the nurses’ room it will be done, and whatever the feedback we will find out what, if anything, is wrong with your heart.’
As Esther Arbuthnot got slowly to her feet she said grudgingly, ‘They say that a new broom sweeps clean, so maybe being passed to you for my consultation isn’t such a bad idea after all. What is your name?’
‘Amelie Benoir,’ she said as she led the elderly woman towards the ECG facility, where Lucy would perform the test.
The speed with which the results came through had Esther Arbuthnot in a state of amazement that turned to alarm when she was told that there could be a problem with one of the valves of her heart and that there had been evidence of a minor heart attack some time in the past.
‘We need to refer you to a cardiologist for further tests,’ Amelie told her gently as she observed how the patient’s bumptiousness was disappearing fast, yet not so fast that she wasn’t already planning ahead.
‘There is a top heart surgeon in Bluebell Cove,’
