About Thirsk

"We need to talk"

Richard didn't speak for a short while, as he remained just staring at the woman in front of him in complete astonishment. Only a minute before he was sitting on his couch, ready to spend the rest of the evening with the only company of a medical journal and a glass of whiskey; now instead, his plans were being shaken by her unexpected visit and by her even more unexpected words. Abruptly, she had showed up at his door and blurted out what was going on on her mind cutting all the formalities, but he, having a much more rational character than hers, managed to keep his composure anyway.

"Mrs Crawley… What has happened?" he asked, greeting her politely, and then taking a step back in order to let her in.

Isobel accepted the invitation, again without ceremony, and stepped inside with an apparent confidence, in spite of the fact she had never been inside his cottage before. However, during the silent walk to the sitting room, she allowed herself a quick glance around; the place was small, but cozy and what she appreciated the most was that it was a lived place and almost every detail - such as some old pictures on the wall – talked about his presence. She had the confirmation of that first sensation when they actually reached the sitting room and she found herself smiling at the sight of a crowded table, some journals scattered on the floor and an unfold tartan blanket on the couch. The room was tidy but yet obviously messy, something that she had never expected by a precise man as he was, but that she appreciated somehow.

"I am sorry for the chaos, but I wasn't expecting a visitor at this time…" he said a bit embarassed, noticing her lingering look.

As he spoke, he started to clean up the table, but she just approached him and hinted him to stop. The indulgent smile was still bright on her lips. "No need to worry, Doctor… Actually, it is my fault for coming here this late and without any notice, but you see, this conversation couldn't wait!"

Perceiving the serious note in her tone, he finally stopped his moves and looked up at her with undeniably concern. "I hope no one is in dangerous conditions…"

Of course the first thing that came to his mind was linked to his professional role, but she quickly shook her head to discarge that hypotesis. "No, nothing bad is happening, at least I hope so" she replied a bit enigmatically, while letting out a somewhat nervous chuckle. She wasn't there to see the doctor of the village, but to see her friend Richard, and the next words she said made it clearer. "No one is phisically hurt, don't worry, it's just me that I need to talk with a friend…"

He seemed to relax at her words, but nhe was not relieved yet. His first name completely new on her lips, made his heart skip a bit, but that surprising feeling of intimacy at the same time made him guess that the situation could be serious, after all. "Honestly, Isobel, if you think that any problem you might have – physical or not – could not have me worry, you are very wrong then…" he revealed with a hinted somehow bitter smile.

In that smile, she could see all the love and care he had for her and that sight touched her so much that she was forced to look down. In the process, her eyes landed on the table and in particular on the half-empty bottle of whiskey. She felt glad that in his worry he had forgotten to offer her some, for she would have drunk it all otherwise. But she needed to stay lucid and therefore after some moments she found the courage to look up and, finally, announce: "We have to talk about Thirsk!"

Richard frowned immediately; clearly, that was not what he had expected. "Do you mean about the hospital in Thirsk? I heard that Doctor Heller there is still for the local autonomy... But I fail to see the urgency of the mat-"

"I mean, we have to talk about what happened at the fair in Thirsk so many years before."

Her interruption was apparently calm and casual, but he immediately widened his eyes and probably felt real embarassment for the first time during that talk. There was only one other time that Isobel had ever seen him vulnerable and that was right that day at Thrisk; now here it was the second time, while remembering that same day. That was a conversation he had feared tohave for many years and now that he had began to think that it could never happen, suddenly he was finding himself in it with no chance to escape it.

"Nothing happened, Mrs Crawley" he said in the end, bringing back the formality as attempt to sound detached. "I had drunk too much and said things that I should have never said, while you were kind enough to stop me before our friendship could be ruined. And it doesn't matter anyway, because you found a fine man now. Are you considering again to marry Lord Merton, aren't you?" he continued, not helping but fill with a sharp irony the question.

"I am indeed" she confirmed, with a vigorous nod. "Unless you give me a reason not to…"

He felt his heart hummering in his chest, but tried his best to hold her gaze, in spite of swallowing hard. "And which reason could that be?"

"Thirsk" she replied, shrugging a little, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. When she saw him clearly roll his eyes in annoyance, she quickly continued. "Listen, a lot happened since then: George was born, M-Matthew died and then Dickie came along and… We just never actually talked about what happened that day. I wasn't ready to consider marriage back then, but now I can't help but ask myself what would have happened if I let you speak, what if you asked me that question, what if you made a better proposal perhaps, what if-"

"And if I told you how much I love you and if I told you that you are the only woman I would ever marry, would that have changed anything? Can you honestly tell me you would have said yes?" It was his turn to interrupt her and in doing that he wasn't able to hide the total disbelief in his voice.

"No, I wouldn't have" she answered sincerely, but right then she took both his hands in hers. "But I would now" she added, offering him a soft smile.

Richard blinked a few times, not quite believing what he was being told; his hands almost fell from her grip and it was only her timely squeeze that kept his whole body in balance. He didn't know what to say, he found himself even unable to think and therefore he remained silent, just letting his instict took over him from once. He leaned toward her and kissed her, softly and tentatively at first, but then soon deepening the contact and making it way more passionate. Oh, now he was giving her a real reason to change her mind!

They broke apart after a while, but only for need of air, and they remained just looking at each other. She looked completely out of breath after that very welcomed accident of mouths, but she had strenght enough to make a bright and happy grin, a grin that seemed to scream yes this time.

That night Richard was getting defintely more than he expected and Isobel more than she wanted. And in all of this, they didn't even talk about Thirsk once again...

The end