Corrie's slippers pattered on the cobblestone street as she escaped the church. Her heart ricocheted in her rib cage, and her breathing grew so ragged that she was forced to slow to a walk. What was I thinking? Perhaps she had not been thinking at all. Dr. Benjamin had done no wrong; he had treated her with civility, mercy, and nothing more. No, she was in the wrong; she had allowed feelings to develop for the doctor without even realizing it.

Her heart slowed when she reached her house and escaped to her room. What was I thinking? Not only had she allowed feelings to develop for the doctor, she had also run from the church and thus publicly displayed her guilt. Everyone would have noticed her quick departure and Dr. Benjamin left standing alone in her wake. What must he think of her now, leaving him abandoned on the dance floor in the middle of a party? Corrie felt a wave of shame for her indecorous behavior. One moment she had been swearing her fealty to Edwin, and the next she'd been dancing with the doctor and letting her mind dwell on his every admirable trait.

What was it about the humble doctor that encouraged her to abandon all common sense? Corrie sat on the edge of the bed, back ramrod straight. She was not prone to strong emotion, yet she had just fled from the church in front of the whole town. Perhaps it's his kindness, she mused. However, had Edwin not been kind to her as well? Perhaps his kindness took a different form, but he had given her a typewriter for her birthday. That had been no small gift.

Corrie's fingers itched for her pen to transcribe her wandering thoughts to paper and attempt to make sense of them, but she refused to humor the ill begotten sentiments any longer. Corrie gathered every burgeoning feeling for the young doctor and pressed them deeper inside of her, to the very bottom of her rib cage where she decided they would never have the opportunity to resurface. If that meant setting aside her writing for a few days or weeks or however long it took these feelings to subside, so be it.

"Cornelia?" the shrill voice of her mother sounded from the bottom of the stairs.

Corrie squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled deeply. After her conversation with her father and his insinuations about her motivations for courting Edwin, she wasn't ready to face her parents and their further accusations about her behavior this evening. They would want her to cleave to Edwin come hell or high water for the sake of money and political clout, and they would see her flushed flight from Dr. Benjamin tonight as a warning sign for her courtship with Edwin.

"Cornelia?"
With a sigh, she rose from the bed and walked to the top of the staircase. "Yes?"

"Your father and I need to have a word with you."
Corrie descended the stairs to find her parents standing in the sitting room with pinched expressions on their faces.

"What is it?" Corrie asked in a strangled voice.

"What was the meaning of your behavior this evening?" her father stormed, face burning red. "Storming out of the party. I never!"

"I'm sorry, Father. I was..." Corrie searched for an excuse. "I was worried about Christina. The doctor expressed concern on her worsening condition."

Anita's face lifted and Corrie sighed in relief. Perhaps they would accept her rationalization and let it go at that.

"Oh, Cornelia, I'm so glad to hear this. I was concerned that there was something going on between you and that doctor friend of yours."
Corrie's face burned as bright as her hair as she struggled for a response. "I'm glad that you're relieved to hear Christina is growing more ill."

"That's...that's not what I meant," her mother stuttered, "I was just concerned that your friendship would prove detrimental to your courtship with Mr. McAlister."

"Father made it perfectly clear that you both wish me to marry Mr. McAlister if only to broaden Father's political influence," Corrie answered, voice icy. She no longer had the capacity for civility.

Oliver chuckled. "Cornelia, darling, you misunderstood! I would never push you to marry someone whom you dislike, but since you like this young man, and he does have a considerable amount of influence, well, marrying him would keep you secure for the rest of your life and provide your family with heretofore unavailable advantages. If nothing else, see it as your duty to your family."

Duty. Hadn't everything Corrie'd done in the last few months been for the sake of duty? She had left Edwin and her education and moved home to care for her sister. Now they wanted her to marry Edwin for no other reason than influence.

"I like Edwin, and we're courting, but I have not agreed to marry him, and if I do, it will be because of who he is as a person, not his status or wealth."

However, even as Corrie defended her independence, she wondered if she truly knew enough about who Edwin was to determine if he was the man she would agree to spend the rest of her life alongside.

~~~~~

"Miss Walker?"

Mr. Bricker's voice outside of her bedchamber the following morning startled Corrie from a fitful sleep. Corrie rose from the bed wearily, joints cracking, and pulled a shawl around her shoulders to conceal her chemise.

"Miss Walker, Dr. Benjamin is here to see you. He says he has word on your sister."

Corrie felt her heartbeat accelerate wildly and her entire body felt afire. Christina. She rushed out of her room and found Dr. Benjamin standing at the front door of the house, wringing his hat in his hands. The solemn, weary expression on his face intensified her worry. He looked as unkempt and fatigued as Corrie supposed she did, and she felt her hope dying like a starved plant. When he saw her, his eyes skittered briefly over her disheveled appearance and the furrow between his brows grew.

"Miss Walker...I, I'm so sorry to disturb you. I'm afraid I've disrupted your sleep. I hope you will forgive my breach of propriety, but I thought you would wish to know at once."

"Please, what's going on? Is Christina...is she alright?"
"Yes. I mean, no, she is not alright, but she is alive and lucid. I'm afraid, however, the rattling in her chest has worsened." The young man sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Her condition is beyond my expertise. We need to take her to a specialist. I have a friend from my time in medical school who has agreed to see her, but we'd, I mean, I would have to take her to Richmond. The journey may prove difficult for her, but if he's able to help her, it would be worth it."

"Dr. Benjamin, please, how bad is her condition?" Corrie asked in a low voice, reaching up to brush her unpinned waves behind her ear.

"I wasn't as concerned with the coughing and exhaustion, but when she breathes, well, the sound in her chest worries me. If we are unable to address it, her health could deteriorate quickly."

The worry in his face, the bags under his eyes and unkempt appearance, told her more than his words dared to say. Christina's health was failing, and she desperately needed help.

"Then we'll go to Richmond," Corrie breathed out.

Dr. Benjamin nodded. "I will leave you to determine the specifics of the journey, but please accept my company so that I may introduce you to my colleague. Before you protest, I was already in need of medical supplies which can only be garnered in Richmond before the injured soldiers are brought to us."

Corrie had no energy to protest; rather, the prospect of the doctor accompanying them was a balm to her worries.

"Miss Walker, if I may," the doctor stumbled for words. "Is...are you alright? Last evening, you departed rather abruptly. I know it's not my place, but I'm concerned. Is there...did I say something to disconcert you?"

Her face flushed red and Corrie became suddenly aware of her scandalous appearance. No man but her father and husband should see her with her hair down and only wearing a chemise, yet here she stood in the foyer of her own home in her bedclothes. This was the sort of tableau that invited salacious rumors at the cost of her reputation. Corrie pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders.

"I...I apologize for my rudeness. It was uncalled for." Corrie knew that she could never reveal the real reason for her departure to Dr. Benjamin, but she also could not lie to him. "I had a perturbing conversation with my father and was concerned about Christina. I sincerely apologize."

"I need no apology, Miss Walker, I was merely concerned," the doctor said, pausing awkwardly and avoiding her gaze. "I was afraid I had somehow offended by inviting you to dance. I understand that you are spoken for, and I meant no disrespect--" The doctor looked up at her, anguish in his sapphire eyes.

"Please, no, it wasn't you," she blurted out in response, reaching a hand towards him and then retracting it.

However, it was him, Corrie realized. By simply being himself, he had managed to so easily capture her affections. How could she starve her growing admiration if she were forced to spend days or even weeks in Richmond with only him and Christina?

~~~~~

Yikes. What do you think will happen to Christina? What about Corrie and Dr. Benjamin? Was she wrong to dance with him? Do you think he feels the same way? 

 This chapter is dedicated to my most faithful reader, leighheasley, for her fantastic comments. Check out her awesome historical fiction/sci-fi/romance combo, The Kairos Temporal Matchmaking Service!

If you're enjoying this book, you might also enjoy "The Definition of Time" and "The General and the Princess," my other novels. The first is a completed romance and the second is a fantasy-adventure-romance novel. 

Thanks for your support! Please vote and comment if you've enjoyed this chapter :)