Free A Heart Revealed by Josi S. Kilpack

as he smiled and leaned toward her slightly. “You should take comfort to know that you are likely not experiencing anything that will endanger your life. There are all manner of complexities about the human body, and while I am not experienced with this particular situation, I shall consult some journals and confer with colleagues before I return to—”
    “No,” Lady Marchent said, stepping into the room and drawing Dr. Hankins’s attention. “You are to talk to no one of this. I explained that upon your agreement to come.”
    “I shall exert the utmost discretion, Madam, but it would be a benefit for me to hear of other practitioners’ experience.”
    “I explained that this was for your knowledge only,” Lady Marchent said, fixing him with a reproving look. “I shall hold you to your word on that.”
    Dr. Hankins held her eyes a moment then nodded. “I shall return on Thursday morning, then, and hope that I can find information within my own resources before then.”
    “We shall hope for that as well,” Lady Marchent said.
    The doctor and her mother took their leave while Amber replaced the cap on her head and tucked her hair into it without inspecting her reflection. It was too gruesome to look at. Once the cap was in place, she scrutinized the dark brows in the mirror, remembering Dr. Hankins’s comment regarding them, and realized that the left one was not as thick as the right. She leaned in further and blinked her eyes, noting her long dark eyelashes—another enviable feature—but was unable to tell if they were affected.
    When the hinge of the door signaled an entrance, she tugged her cap a bit lower in hopes the shadow of the brim would hide her brows. Lady Marchent closed the door behind her and approached Amber still seated at her dressing table.
    Lady Marchent pulled a small, dark-colored jar from somewhere amid the folds of her morning gown. “I procured this from a cart-man yesterday afternoon, but I hoped the doctor would have a better course. It is a blend of herbs and medicines from the Orient. You are to apply it morning and night to stimulate your scalp. It should help contain the hair loss. I feel it best for us to pursue this course as we await Dr. Hankins’s return. We’ve no time to waste.”
    Amber eyed the jar with trepidation. “Perhaps we could wait until after the doctor returns and—”
    Lady Marchent fixed her with a look that communicated her lack of patience.
    “I’m sorry,” Amber said, hanging her head.
    “I am doing all I can to help you.”
    “I know that,” Amber said, swallowing tears she knew would not be well received; her mother did not know how to react to emotion any more than Amber did. They had been raised to be strong and in possession of their feelings, not to give into them. “I shall do whatever you ask of me.”
    When her mother left the room sometime later, Amber rang for Suzanne to whom she gave a brief accounting, acting the part of the cool and confident mistress, much like her mother’s treatment of herself had been.
    Perhaps that is what everyone does, she thought. We pass our discomfort to someone else so as not to carry so much of it ourselves.
    Suzanne picked up the jar and removed the lid. Her face crinkled, and she lifted a hand to her nose, opening her mouth as though to protest.
    Amber fixed her with a hard look in the mirror, and Suzanne seemed to think better of whatever argument she was designing. Amber removed her cap without looking at her reflection. Instead, she watched with increasing anxiety as Suzanne dipped her fingers into the jar to extract a portion of the thick, yellow substance. Only when she was prepared to apply it did Amber fully look at the entirety of her reflection.
    Her heart seemed to freeze in her chest at the sight. The portion of her head from the crown to her left ear was smooth as an egg now. She couldn’t see the back portion that had first been a concern but she could see daylight through the remaining