It is Christmas Eve, you cannot possibly spend it up here in your room, oh—” Ann’s voice broke off when she came waltzing into the room and spotted Anais lying in bed with Robert Middleton’s ear to her breast.“I’m sorry,” Ann mumbled, clearly horrified that she had walked in on her sister in such an intimate position.“Don’t be silly, Ann. Dr. Middleton was just finishing with me, were you not, sir?”“Indeed I was, Lady Anais.” He straightened away from her. “I shall check in with you tomorrow to see how you are faring.”“Surely you do not need to call on me tomorrow? ’Tis Christmas morn, and you have a wife and child that you will not wish to leave.”He reached for her hand, clasping it tightly in his warm one. “I shall see you tomorrow, Lady Anais. Sleep well and remember you are not to exert yourself.” He snapped shut the wooden cylinder he had used to listen to her chest. “It’s utterly amazing. Your heart sounds much stronger than it did two days ago.
