Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures. I own nothing except my overactive imagination

The Gravel Road

Chapter 9

As Louisa got dressed in the bathroom, she wondered if she'd overreacted, whether she was being unfair to Martin. Actions speak louder than words, she told herself. He'd come up to London to be here with her, he'd told her that he wanted her to come back to Cornwall, he'd asked her to marry him, and said that he'd try to be a good father to their baby. What more did she want, for goodness sake? She thought of Danny, and how his glib 'I love you Lou' used to irritate her with how frequently he trotted it out – and of course, in the end it had meant nothing.

But part of her argued that it was no good ignoring doubts that would just fester. No, it was best to address them now, get them out in the open before it was too late. And what she was asking for wasn't unreasonable - just for him to quietly whisper 'I love you' in her ear, it wasn't as if she was asking him to shout it from the roof tops. But because she really hoped that they could work things out, she wasn't prepared to give up on Martin just yet, so she decided to back off from this confrontation – for now.

Martin sat on the bed as he waited for Louisa to reappear from the bathroom. Why was it that people in general, and women in particular, always felt it so important to talk so much about their stupid bloody feelings anyway? She knew how he felt, he'd told her that he wanted to marry her, to look after her and the baby, that he'd never cheat or lie to her. So why did she need him to spell out every tiny little detail with slushy words? But then the other side of him argued very logically that if all it took to get her to agree to marry him were some stupid words, why was it that he couldn't just bring himself to say them to mollify her?

He looked up as she came out of the bathroom, fully dressed. He wondered with some trepidation what was coming from her next, but was quite pleasantly surprised.

"I'm sorry Martin. Things got a bit heated didn't they? Maybe we should take a break, go for a walk, get some fresh air. What do you think?" she asked.

"I think that would be a very good idea," Martin agreed, relieved that he seemed to have been let off the hook - for now anyway.

xXx

They spent the rest of the day strolling around the sights of London. They walked to St Paul's Cathedral, and spent a long time wandering around together, companionably admiring the wonderful architecture and paintings, discussing the various merits of different works of art, studiously avoiding any further talk of personal matters for the moment.

Martin was not impressed by the very modern piece of sculpture by Henry Moore entitled 'Mother and Child' that Louisa found intriguing. He much preferred the more traditional type of works of art, and spent a long time admiring William Holman Hunt's classic painting 'The Light of the World'. 'The figure of Christ knocking on a door that opens from inside suggests that God can only enter our lives if we invite Him in', Louisa read out the interpretation of the painting. Neither of them were very religious, but she felt that the words could so easily represent Martin's dilemma – would he ever invite anyone into his life fully, she wondered?

They took a walk across the millennium bridge. It had been a beautiful crisp December day with a bright blue clear sky, but in the early evening, Louisa thought London at its most beautiful, with the lights from so many historic buildings glinting in the dark. Eventually Martin suggested they make their way back – he'd made a reservation for dinner at the hotel where they were staying. It was a very highly rated restaurant and was one of the main reasons he'd chosen that particular hotel. Although they'd stopped for a sandwich earlier, he suspected that Louisa's very healthy appetite would very soon be kicking in again.

xXx

""Was everything to your satisfaction sir?"

"It was reasonably adequate," Martin replied succinctly as he signed the tab. Louisa had disappeared to the Ladies room while he finished his coffee and settled the bill.

Edith Montgomery's ears pricked up at the sound of the deep gruff voice and the brusque manner. That sounded like… surely it couldn't be? Her curiosity piqued, she looked in the direction where the voice had come from. She took a moment to register the features of the man in question. Yes, she hadn't been mistaken, it was him.

"Ellingham! It is you, I thought I recognised your voice. Well, well, after all these years!" she exclaimed, as she went over to his table. She quickly took in the fact that although his cropped hair had more than a few silver glints in it, and his face had a few wrinkles now, he'd actually worn rather well in the intervening years. He was one of those lucky band of men whose looks improved with age, and he now looked mature and distinguished, rather than the gawky young man he'd been when they'd been at Medical School together.

"Edith," Martin acknowledged, surprised but with not the slightest hint of pleasure in his voice.

"What are you up to these days? Head of Surgery somewhere, no doubt? I lost track of everyone while I was in Canada, and since I've been back I've been so busy setting up the Montgomery Fertility Clinic that I just haven't had time to look any one up," Edith explained, as she sat herself down opposite him at the table.

"Fertility Clinic – where are you setting that up?" Martin side stepped her question by asking about her, remembering only too well that her ambition had always been to run her own clinic specialising in IVF.

"Oh here in London of course. That's where the money is, especially if one is lucky enough to bag a prestigious Harley Street address," she informed him with a wink.

"Which I assume you have – bagged a Harley Street location that is," he stated.

"Of course. Nothing but the best, you know me . At least you used to know me, very well indeed as I recall," Edith reminded him, placing her small, slender hand on top of his much bigger one. She couldn't help remembering just how skilled those large, yet very soft hands had been all those years ago. She'd taught him well, he'd been a very able and enthusiastic pupil, when she'd taken him as her lover, she recalled.

Louisa returned from the ladies to find that a red headed woman had taken her seat opposite Martin, smiling up at him now as she stroked his hand. She felt a surge of jealousy rush through her, but she managed to keep her cool, plastering a big fake smile on her face as she walked up to the table. No one was going to be able to accuse her of being an undignified country yokel in a top class restaurant such as this.

But as she reached the table and looked in askance at Martin, she was shocked to see the expression on his face – he couldn't have looked more stony faced or icy if he'd tried. His eyes were like hard and cold like granite, and she realised with relief that there was no need for her to feel jealous of this woman. Martin was clearly not interested in her, in fact he looked as if he could barely tolerate her presence.

"Ah Louisa, there you are," Martin stood up to greet her, his face now softening as he looked at her, as the woman's hand dropped away, ignored by him.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, Ellingham?" Edith enquired, a supercilious smile playing around her lips as she stared at Louisa. Her look took in the fact that Louisa was clearly a few years younger than him, her long dark hair worn loose, dressed in a bright red wrap dress, which Edith considered rather vulgar, missing entirely the way Martin's eyes lit up when he looked at her. She pointedly straightened her already immaculate black suit jacket and brushed an imaginary speck of dust from her white silk blouse.

"Edith, this is Louisa Glasson, she's…" Martin hesitated, really wishing he could introduce Louisa as his wife, or at least his fiancé.

"A close friend of Martin's," Louisa filled in for him, as she slipped her arm through his, hoping that for once he wouldn't object to this little display of affection from her - she just couldn't help herself.

"Ah right, I see, a close friend, but one obviously not from around these parts," Edith remarked, having noted Louisa's Cornish accent with a sneer. "Well, Ellingham and I were at Medical School together, where I think you could say we were a bit more than 'close friends'. Isn't that right?"

"It was all a very long time ago Edith," Martin replied coldly.

Louisa felt Martin stiffen as he spoke, making it very obvious that he did not have fond memories of this 'Edith' woman. Louisa looked at her, noting her short spiky red hair, her very slim, angular figure shown off to perfection in her well cut, expensive trouser suit, but most of all her smug, self assured attitude. She instantly loathed her, and knew that Edith also felt the same way about her. It was an instinctive reaction, not controlled by logic, more by a gut feeling. Like the first day at school, Louisa thought, when you looked round, and there were some people that you knew you would get on with – and others that you never would. Edith was most definitely fell into the latter category.

"Why don't I give you my card, then you can call me, arrange a meeting to catch up," Edith offered, totally ignoring Louisa as she reached into her exquisite designer handbag.

"Not necessary Edith. I really don't see any need for us to 'catch up'," Martin stated, as he looked over at Louisa and indicated his intention for them to leave.

"Suit yourself, Ellingham. Maybe we'll bump into each other again, you never know," Edith said coolly, ignoring Martin's obvious snub as he walked away with Louisa

"Not if I see her first, hell will freeze over before I'd spend any time with her," Martin muttered under his breath, quickly ushering Louisa towards the exit for them to make their way back to their room.

xXx

Louisa waited until they were safely in their room before attempting to get any answers from Martin.

"Do you want to tell me what that was all about?" she gently asked, realising that this was going to be a very sensitive issue. He'd not said a word on the way up, remaining very tense and quiet.

"Not really, no," Martin replied, not wanting to dredge up memories from a time in his life that he'd managed to keep deeply buried for many years now.

"Oh come on, spill. I take it Edith was your girlfriend at Medical School, and I'm guessing that things didn't work out between you?" Louisa gently prompted, determined that she wasn't going to let him clam up about something that had clearly had a major impact, and maybe went some way to explaining the man he was today.

"You could say that I suppose," Martin replied bitterly, as Louisa led him over to sit on the bed, and then sat down next to him.

"Please tell me, tell me about you and Edith. I'd really like to know, to understand," she pleaded, as she tenderly placed her hand on his shoulder to try and convey that she wasn't just being nosy, but that she was concerned for him.

Martin turned to look at her, and saw how sincere she was. 'You've never trusted me enough to really open up have you?' Louisa's words from this morning rang in his ears. So maybe this was the time, this was finally when he should unburden himself, and trust Louisa with his most private torment that might help her to understand why he found some aspects of their relationship so hard.

"Alright, if you really want to know, I'll tell you the whole sorry story," he sighed.