Hope for Tomorrow by Catherine Winchester

himself.
    “ You said that you had been away,” Martha said, knowing that she couldn't stay silent. “Anywhere interesting?”
    “ Edinburgh Medical School actually.”
    “ You're a doctor?” she asked.
    “ I am, for my sins.”
    “ Nonsense, I think it is a very noble profession.”
    “ Then please do let my father know. He considers it beneath me, he wishes that I had become a lawyer instead.”
    “ I don't see how anyone could look down on a caring profession.”
    Thomas smiled, clearly pleased by her words. They reached the punch bowl and Thomas accepted a glass which he handed to her, then one for himself.
    “ Here's to helping people,” he said, holding his glass up.
    “ To helping people,” she lightly clinked her glass against his. “So if you are a Sir, how come you went to medical school? Surely you will  have an estate coming to you?”
    She frequently remembered Lucien complaining about his inheritance and how it stopped him from becoming a scholar. She immediately wondered why she had thought such a thing, because it had been a while since she had thought of him; she simply hadn't had the time of late.
    “ That is going to my elder brother,” Thomas said,
    “ Of course.” She could have kicked herself for not realising that he must have an elder sibling. “I'm sorry.”
    “ Don't be, please.” He smiled at her. “I hope you don't mind me saying but you seem rather nervous.”
    “ Is it that obvious?” She looked worried.
    “ Only to a medical man,” he assured her. “To the rest of the world you are as serene as you are handsome.”
    “ Thank you. Truth be told, this is my first real society event. After my parents died I was happy to become a recluse like Gus.”
    “ Might I ask how old you are?”
    “ Eighteen.”
    He nodded. She would probably have been too young to enter society before her parents died.
    “ Drink your punch,” he advised. “It will do wonder for your nerves.”
    She look a few quick sips as he suggested and smiled, then the first set was called and they put their glasses aside before Thomas escorted her onto the dance floor.
    “ You dance beautifully,” he complimented her after a few steps.
    “ Don't worry, there is still plenty of time for me to crush your toes!”
    “ In that case, I just hope that there's a medical man somewhere about who can help me.”
    He really was quite disarming and she was feeling much more relaxed by the time he escorted her back to Gus.
    “ You are positively glowing,” Gus said once Thomas had left them.
    Martha smiled and they took another turn about the room, saying 'hello' to a few other friends and acquaintances before the next set started. Her dance card was now full.
    She chatted amiably with her dance partners, just polite nonsense about the ball, the weather, the other dancers or the number of people present.
    When she had finished the third set her partner escorted her to her chair where she stayed since she wasn't supposed to walk around on her own and Gus was nowhere to be seen.
    She looked around, watching the other people and enjoying the atmosphere when she saw something that made her blood run cold.
    Gus must have noticed her pallor because he quickly made his way back to her.
    “ Is something wrong my dear?”
    “ Earl and Lady Marchwood,” she said in a whisper.
    Gus looked over to the couple she was staring at. He didn't know them but Martha obviously did.
    “ Do you know them?”
    “ Yes.” She tore her gaze away from them and looked up at him. “They are my former employers.”
    Gus relaxed and took her hand. “Don't worry, my dear; I doubt that they will recognise you, especially looking so elegant.”
    “ I wouldn't count on that.” Martha didn't seem at all soothed by his words.
    “ What aren't you telling me?”
    Martha looked down at her hands which were folded in her lap.
    “ They are Hope's grandparents,” she said, so softly that he had to strain to hear her.
    “ Ah,” now he