The next morning, James, Martin and Louisa each woke up with an urgent To-do list on their mind.

James, although tired from a busy night in the A&E and now almost falling asleep on his feet, called Martin's lawyer. Martin had offered him this facility a long time ago, but this was the first time he felt the need to take up the offer. Mr. Beadle found the matter intriguing. Because Martin was a valued client, and a long-standing one at that, he didn't press for details, He just arranged a time to meet with James. He had handled all the legal matters related to James's care, even before he was born, so he stifled his curiosity about what this turn of events meant. Still he wanted to confirm his brief.

"Do you understand what this entails?"

"Yes, I do and I want it done," James answered determinedly.

"Pardon me for asking. Does Mr. Ellingham know about this?"

"No, he doesn't and I want to keep it that way. Lawyer client confidentiality."

"I understand perfectly, Dr. Tiggle."

Getting off the call John muttered to himself, "Chip off the old block. A man of few words."

Still, he wondered what had brought this on. Last he had heard, James was graduated from medical school and while he had been in London, Martin had called a few times to have something done involving his son. He had always complied with his brief, but now this ...

By sheer coincidence, Martin called Mr. Beadle, from his study, right after James had hung up. He gave him detailed instructions for a change to his will and asked that it be done immediately. Mr. Beadle almost choked when he got the request. Years of dealing with Martin and other high-profile clients had steeled him in the art of circumspection. However, just this one time, on this strange morning, he couldn't help himself.

"Excuse me for asking Martin, is this the same Louisa Glasson from Cornwall? The headmistress whose son is James Henry?"

"Hmmm."

He took this as a yes.

"You do know that she's still married?"

"She's a widow."

"I see. Does she have any other heirs besides your son?"

Martin cut him short. "Please, John, get it done," and ended the call.

Getting off the call, Mr. Beadle muttered to himself, "Truth is stranger than fiction. Life does come full circle. Maybe it's time for me to consider retirement."

For the rest of the morning he sat at his desk reviewing the Ellingham files, often shaking his head then getting up to look through his window. When his clerk looked in to ask what was special about this particular matter why the preliminary research about whatever it was had not been assigned to him, Mr. Beadle shook his head and looked up with a dazed expression.

"The legal matter is simple. The persons involved are as highly complex as is the situation."

Martin's next call was to a colleague, Nigel Singh, a formidable consultant internist. Hearing the urgency in Martin's voice, Nigel said he could see Louisa on Friday morning, two days away. Knowing Martin was a man of few words, he didn't intrude more than to ask the usual questions, one doctor to another. He had heard the rumours about Martin all these years, but never gave them his attention. He had nothing but professional admiration for him. He did wonder who the fiancée was, which is how Martin had described the patient. Perhaps it was the beautiful woman who was with him earlier this year at the Medical School's graduation. He had also heard rumours about Martin having a gifted son. Nobody seemed to know anything about the mother. He wondered if the patient was the mother.

After he got off the phone, Martin pondered briefly how to avoid a confrontation with Louisa about her appointment. How to get her to agree to see Nigel was another matter. He would cross that bridge later, perhaps after dinner when they were relaxing.

Louisa slipped into the loo and texted Caroline and Isobel to say she and Martin had gotten engaged. They knew he was back in her life, but only because James was in London with him.

Caroline called Louisa immediately, almost choking on the slice of toast she was eating.

"Are you well Louisa? Is this a Christmas prank?"

"Why would I joke?" Louisa snapped.

Caroline was high-strung and could be depended on for drama. She had no plans to allow her to dictate her life, no matter how good a friend she was.

"We ARE engaged. Can't talk now, will e-mail you later." Louisa assured her, not wanting Martin to overhear the conversation.

"And when did this happen, if I'm allowed to ask?" Caroline's sarcasm was thick and Louisa was having none of it.

"I said I will e-mail you. Why are you so bossy?"

Caroline would not be put off. "Louisa, why are you trying to turn back the clock? Haven't you had enough drama in your life already? Are you a masochist?"

"Please, Caroline," Louisa protested. "It's not like that. I'll tell you everything later."

"What's there to tell? Martin abandoned you, you're still grieving Nathan's death, you meet Martin when you're in a vulnerable state, you fall for his medical mystique, he hooks you in and foolishly, you delude yourself into thinking that he's your long lost prince charming and you're some damsel in distress. To top it all, you complete the fairy tale storyline by thinking that you're in love with him."

"That's enough," Louisa said firmly. "I have to go."

"Why? Is he holding you bondage in some dreary London flat as his sex slave?"

"Caroline!"

"Don't Caroline me. While you're in London why don't you go and see a shrink. You're not yourself Louisa."

"Why is it so hard to trust and respect me Caroline? Why do you always want things your way?" Louisa yelled.

"Because I'm your friend. I have always been your friend. Tell me Louisa, haven't I always been there for you? Tell me?"

"Caroline, I'm going to end this call. If your number comes up, I'm not going to respond."

This is much harder than I thought. Caroline's reaction to her news annoyed Louisa.

After she got off the call, Caroline lost her appetite, left the dining table abruptly and sat in her lounge, deep in thought, for a long time. Her friend was in trouble and she had to help her as she had always done.

Isobel was more receptive. Busy feeding her fidgety grandson, she managed to distract him long enough to text back, "At last. Talk to you later."

She wondered what they still saw in each other after all the years. Hopeless romantic that she was, she thought it was really sweet. Life with her first husband, father of the baby girl Martin had delivered, was a hell that ended in divorce. The second time around, she struck gold with Gary who worshiped her, gave her two lovely sons and was a proper father to their children. Hope it works for them, she thought, as she wrestled the empty sippy cup from her grandson. Lou Lou deserved a break in the romantic department.

When Louisa returned to the lounge, Martin came out of his study and asked her how she wanted to spend the rest of the day. He had heard the shouting, but decided to say nothing.

Looking up at him, with a forced smile she answered, "Let's take things easy. We have had a bit of excitement over these last two days, haven't we?"

Seeing that she was obviously agitated about something, he pressed some more.

"We could go for a walk. It's a bit brisk, but it would do you good."

"Do me good? Is something wrong with me?" she asked indignantly as she tried to control her tone. Martin was not to blame for her mood.

"I didn't mean that. The fresh air would do us good, then."

"That's fine Martin. I'm a little tired. Last night was a long night." she reminded him.

After dinner, they sat in the lounge relaxing, Martin reading and Louisa twirling her hair absent-mindedly. She was worrying that Caroline or Isobel might call and she wouldn't be able to talk to them freely. Neither knew that most times when she was in London, she was with Martin and not James. It never seemed important to say specifically that she was staying with Martin because her visits were not all that regular. She was glad that Jenny had not said anything to them. She wanted to handle it herself. Pretty good job I have done with that, she thought bitterly. She was also worrying about her happy/sad episodes and that she really should go see her GP.

Martin kept looking over at her until he finally asked, "Aren't you feeling well. Is something bothering you?"

After looking at him to gauge his mood, she said "There's something I have to confess."

She finally told him about Nathan's depression, the rift it had caused in their relationship, how it was a precursor to his cancer and that she believed her sad/happy episodes might be an early warning about a devastating or even terminal a disease.

"I don't want to have any secrets between us. I appreciate how you opened up to me and I want to do the same with you."

"Louisa. I'm sure there's a perfectly sound medical explanation for these episodes. It's not my area, but I'll do some research on it."

Why she hadn't gone to see her doctor as he had advised months ago was a mystery, but he decided not to bring it up.

This seemed like the perfect opportunity to tell her about her appointment on Friday.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, but just to be sure, this morning I made an appointment for you to see a colleague, Nigel Singh, on Friday. I was going to tell you some time tonight before we went to bed. I can cancel the appointment if you don't want to go, but I would advise against this."

She spun around to look at him. After Caroline, she wasn't in the mood to be micro-managed. Seeing the love and worry in his eyes, she softened. Martin was only trying to help and she didn't fault him. Not this time.

He put his arms around her and said, "I don't want to keep any secrets from you either. I'm concerned about the timing of your episodes. In fact, I blame myself for not holding back when I met you at Chris. I knew from James that you had gone through a lot. This is why this morning it became a matter of urgency. I had to deal with it because I might have exacerbated whatever it is that's troubling you."

Louisa took his hand and led him upstairs. "We need to talk."

Once they got comfortable on the sofa in the little seating area in their bedroom, Louisa went first.

"I know I swing from not talking to babbling. I want to be open with you. That was our problem back in the village. We never brought things out in the open and we made too many wrong assumptions about each other."

"I'm just as guilty. How about we chalk it down to a bitter experience and move on," Martin suggested.

"That's fair. You don't have to worry, I'll go to see the doctor."

Trying to lighten the mood, Martin teased, "I don't mind if your tears are tears of joy. I want to know that I'm pleasing you."

More seriously he went on, "Sadness, however mild, needs medical attention."

Thankful to change the subject, Martin told her about his call to his lawyer.

"I instructed him to change my will to include you. When he sends me the revised document for approval, I'll share it with you. I want to make sure you understand and approve."

Louisa thought about it then said, "That's not necessary. I have a good sum of money from my house sale."

"I'll soon be your husband and I don't want you to lack for anything. If not you, who should I have in my will? I have provided for James, my needs are simple and Imperial pays me more than I'll ever use. I have to think about your future, our future."

"That's sweet of you, thinking about our future." Louisa was pleased to hear this.

That out in the open, Martin asked, "Is there anything else bothering you? You have been fidgeting all evening?"

He watched her closely, not giving her a chance to hide.

"Since you asked … I wanted to invite Caroline and Isobel here for lunch."

Louisa thought that after her unpleasant conversation with Caroline, there was no point in e-mailing her. Face to-face, they might be able to agree to disagree about her new situation. Plus, they would get to meet the new Martin. If they didn't like him, too bad for them.

"You may want to invite them to dinner instead. Why not invite their spouses as well? Let's make an evening of it. They can look me over. Once they see how happy we are together, you might be surprised."

"Are you sure?" Louisa could not believe her ears. After her heated exchange with Caroline, Martin was agreeing with her strategy. Of course, he didn't know what had happened between them.

"They are your friends and they deserve to see me in another light after their interactions with me in the village."

"You should know from experience that Caroline is a handful. She hasn't changed all that much."

"I'll take my chances."

Secretly, Martin was glad the opportunity had presented itself. He knew he would have to face them eventually.

Remembering the run-ins Martin had with Caroline, even though he had saved her life, Louisa could see the wisdom of having everybody over. His relationship with Isobel had been more positive. After all, he had delivered her baby under exceptional circumstances, for which she had been eternally grateful.

Martin groaned to himself as he wondered if this was what it was going to be like living with Louisa. All this talking was too much for him. He would do anything to make her happy but he was more comfortable when that involved getting things done and not talking about it to death. That was how he had lived his life and he didn't want that to change too much.