Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures. I own nothing except my imagination.
A Girl's Best Friend - Chapter 11
Joan had invited Martin and Louisa to join her for Sunday lunch on Louisa's return from her trip away, anxious to find out how things seemed between them, but not wanting to pry. She had desperately missed Luke, she'd never had such a long time without seeing him. It didn't take her long to work out that the atmosphere between them seemed to be pretty much back to normal, to her relief.
She waited until Louisa disappeared with Luke to change his nappy, then seized her moment to quiz Martin.
"Things hunky dory between you two again then Marty?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"Err...yes," Martin smiled back at her.
"Resolved your differences then, managed to come to some sort of agreement?" Joan asked again, desperate to know what the situation was about them having another baby.
"Well, I think you could say that," Martin replied, realising that she was desperate to know, but unwilling to elaborate any further.
"So, should I start checking under the gooseberry bushes in a few months time, or watch out for any storks bringing a delivery?" She looked directly at him now with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I don't think that will be necessary...not for a while yet anyhow," Martin replied, fixing her back with a stare.
"But maybe sometime...? Oh come on Marty, I need to know, have you two agreed to try for another baby or not?" Joan asked him, giving up with trying to be tactful and restrained.
"Time will tell, won't it?" Martin told her with a twinkle in his eye, but refusing to be drawn any further, leaving Joan to draw her own conclusions.
xXx
It was Martin and Louisa's turn to have Chris and Jenny over to dinner. Luke had had his food earlier before they came, followed by his bath, so when they arrived he was all ready for bed. Jenny and Chris had a cuddle with him, Luke charming them with his smiles and giggles before he was taken upstairs to be put down for the night. As the girls took him up, Jenny said to Louisa,
"He's such a poppet, he was so good when we were in Wales together, he almost makes me feel broody again. So ...I take it you and Martin...have sorted things out?" It was obvious that they had, but Jenny was fishing to find out just what had happened on Louisa's return.
"Yes...yes we have," Louisa replied with a little smile on her face.
"And...so...baby or no baby, which way did things go?" Jenny asked her.
"No baby just yet, but when the time is right...we'll see what happens," Louisa replied breezily, not wishing to go into too many details.
"Well don't leave it too long, I had my two boys pretty close together, and although it's hard work, it's much better in the long run I've found," Jenny advised her. "Sometimes there isn't really a 'right time', you just have to go for it."
"I just want to enjoy this summer with Luke and Martin, then I want to get a few more of the new procedures that I've been working on implemented at school. After that maybe we'll think about taking it from there," Louisa said, as she started going back downstairs.
Martin had been quite adamant that he really didn't want anyone knowing about their plans to possibly expand their family in the future. As an intensely private man, the last thing he wanted was knowing looks and questions all the time. Louisa was in complete agreement with him, so was telling Jenny as little as she could get away with.
Downstairs Chris was having even less luck with Martin.
"Is it really true that you might be softening a little and getting used to the idea of having another baby Martin?" Chris asked him, suspecting that this was the case by the closeness that was apparent between the two of them.
"What makes you say that?" Martin replied evasively.
"Oh I don't know, maybe something Jenny picked up on during their week away in Wales...you know how the girls like to talk about these things," Chris replied airily, knowing full well more or less everything that had been said, but also knowing how much Martin guarded his privacy.
"Hmm. Didn't think you went in for idle gossip Chris," Martin told him.
"Well it's not gossip to ask a good friend, out of concern, if they've sorted out an issue that was causing friction is it?" Chris was a little put out to be accused of gossiping.
Martin sighed. He didn't want to offend Chris, he was a good friend, he knew that.
"We've agreed to see what happens when Louisa decides it's the right time to stop taking precautions. Nothing may happen after all, you know as well as I do that at our age it may not be that easy," Martin finally told him.
"How will she decide when the right time is?" Chris queried.
"You'll have to ask Louisa that – I'm guessing maybe some sort of feminine intuition?" Martin told him.
xXx
The theme for the Midsummer Ball was 'Black and White' meaning that if the woman was wearing a black dress, the man wore a white tuxedo and if she was wearing a white dress, the man wore a black dinner jacket. Louisa and Jenny had discussed at length what they were going to wear.
"Well I wore a black dress to the last Ball, so I'm going to look for a white dress this time, makes it easy for Chris too, he can just wear his usual black dinner jacket," Jenny decided.
Louisa really wanted to buy a gorgeous black dress that she'd spotted when she'd been out shopping for her outfit for Luke's christening, but she knew that Martin didn't have a white tux. However an opportunity arose for her to bring the subject up.
"Louisa, I'm due to order a couple of new suits from my tailor in London, some of mine are getting rather worn, especially with Luke having managed to wipe every possible bodily fluid all over them now, so I wondered if you had any preference in the choice of fabric," Martin had told her, showing her the samples that had been sent down from London. Martin Ellingham was a very good customer for his tailor, usually ordering a couple of new suits once a year or so, along with a regular supply of shirts and ties and underwear, so he received gold star treatment.
"Mmm, I rather like that one and that one," she replied, picking out two of the samples. One was a navy pin stripe, the other was a pale silvery grey.
"Good, I rather liked those ones too," Martin replied. "I'll let him know and arrange a date to go up to London for the final fitting, my measurements shouldn't have changed much, so he can get them to that stage. I've got several things to do in town, but if I caught the early train I think I could get everything done and be back in the evening. I really would prefer not to stay over if I don't have to, and if I'm only away one day I won't have to arrange any cover at the surgery."
They both had had enough of London to last a lifetime, much preferring their Cornish life.
"No doubt he does white Tuxedos too?" Louisa asked.
"Of course, why?" Martin asked.
Louisa explained about the theme of the ball and the black dress that she'd seen. She was delighted that Martin seemed keen to go the Ball this time. No persuasion had been necessary, he'd bought the tickets without any prompting from her.
"So would this dress you're thinking of buying need...umm...some new special lingerie that I would get to check out? Or can I at least get a repeat performance of your last outfit?" Martin asked her rather cheekily.
"Both...if you're good," Louisa replied, just as cheekily, delighted at his interest.
"Good...right...yes… then I'll order the tux as well," replied Martin. It would be a good idea anyway, if they were going to attend these occasions on a regular basis, was how he justified it to himself.
Louisa made a mental note to secretly give Martin's tailor a ring before he went up to London to see if he could have any luck in persuading Martin to consider some more casual outfits as well. If it came from his usual tailors, maybe he would feel more comfortable about it, and no doubt the tailor would be keen to drum up more business. So far all her suggestions for more casual attire had fallen on deaf ears – the best she had achieved was that sometimes he left his jacket off, and very occasionally he took his tie off.
xXx
Joan came over to Martin and Louisa's house on the morning of the Ball once she had completed all her chores on the farm. She was staying over to look after Luke. Now that he was not only crawling but also pulling himself up and cruising round all the furniture, it was easier for her to look after him in his own home for now where, as far as possible, everything had been babyproofed. Also she would be able to walk into the village with him in his buggy, and take him to the swings in the playground. She could proudly show him off to everyone too, something that every Grannie loves to do.
The Ball was being held in the evening, in a big country house only about an hours drive from Portwenn, but they had decided to make a day of it and stop off for lunch on the drive over. The last couple of weeks had been manically busy for both of them. Martin was heavily involved with his new minor surgery clinic, he did two afternoon sessions a week, and it had proved to be a major success. However, it meant that he was spending even more time in the evenings researching and preparing for the extra procedures. Louisa didn't complain though, she knew that he was happy and really enjoying the new challenges. In any case, the summer term was always the busiest one for her, and Luke was also being a real handful at the moment, not liking being told 'no' when he kept touching things that he had to learn were out of bounds - he most definitely had a very stubborn streak, often going straight back to the very thing that she had stopped him from touching. At least both she and Martin were in agreement that boundaries had to be set for Luke right from the beginning, for him to learn right from wrong. So most evenings recently they had both just fallen into bed exhausted, too tired for anything more than just a quick kiss and cuddle before crashing out.
Aware that Joan was around and probably listening in as they packed the car to leave, Martin subtly asked Louisa,
"You have packed...everything...?" Martin asked, raising his eyebrows. He was looking forward to his fashion show, that was why he was so keen to get to their room early this time.
"I think so, Martin, and have you packed all the err...essentials?" Louisa quizzed him back. It was his responsibility to ensure they had a supply of condoms.
Joan didn't miss any of this, smiling to herself and hoping that this was some sort of code to do with baby making, not realising that it was in fact, at least partly the opposite. She knew Martin well enough to know that if he was being evasive, then it was because there was something to be evasive about. She was thrilled at the prospect of another baby, it was more than she would have dared to hope for just a few months ago.
Louisa had reluctantly had her IUD removed on Martin's insistence. She still thought that he was making too much fuss, that it would have been fine to continue with it, but he was adamant. So they would now be relying on condoms, and Martin had mail ordered in a range of different types to try out to find the one that best suited. He hadn't ordered them through Mrs Tishell, he hadn't felt able to face her look at ordering such a variety, nor did he want there to be any risk of gossip in the village.
After a very pleasant lunch together in a pub on the way, Martin continued the drive over to the country house. After a few minutes, he nervously cleared his throat and asked Louisa,
"So...um...this business of another baby and the right time, any thoughts of when that might be...just to give me some idea?"
He had a habit of bringing awkward subjects up when he was driving because then he had an excuse not to look at her.
"I'm really not sure Martin, I've got several projects that I need to implement at work...I've not long been back from Maternity leave... Luke isn't even one yet...so maybe in a year or so..." Louisa suggested. This had all come to a head before she had really thought it all through fully herself.
"Only...I've been thinking...now that I'm getting used to the idea, maybe we shouldn't wait too long, at our ages, it might not happen straight away...it could easily take six months to a year anyway...and maybe there will never be a right time with your job...so maybe we should...well, just go for it...now..."
Martin stared straight ahead, intent on driving it seemed.
Louisa sat there completely dumbfounded, and at a loss for words.
"I don't think I'm quite ready for that just yet Martin. Like I said, I'll let you when the time is right and that I'm ready," she finally managed to reply.
xXx
They arrived at the country house at around 2pm, when they could have their room. Louisa giggled as they walked in to it, finding that there was a massive four poster bed.
"I've never slept in a four poster bed before, have you Martin?" she asked him.
"No, but they have assured me that the mattress is a very recent replacement and certainly not of the same age as the base." Martin was very fastidious on these matters as Louisa knew only too well.
There were no facilities this time such as a swimming pool, jaccuzi or hairdressers, so a lot of the guests, including Chris and Jenny, weren't arriving until later. However, Martin had his own agenda for the afternoon.
Louisa couldn't help herself, the huge bed looked so squishy and inviting, she threw herself onto it to test it out, and then just lay there relaxing for a minute.
Martin leant over, gently kissed her, then lay down next to her.
"Oh this is so lovely and relaxing, isn't it?" sighed Louisa.
"It certainly is," replied Martin, starting to kiss her again, feeling her starting to respond as their tiredness gave way to other feelings.
"I've err...put your bag over there," Martin pointed out with a none too subtle hint.
"I'll be back in a minute ...don't go anywhere will you?" Louisa smiled at him as she disappeared into the bathroom with her bag.
xXx
Martin wanted an exact replay of the evening of the last Ball and Louisa was more than happy to go along with this, it had been very pleasurable for her too. And as Martin had been so wonderful about them having another baby in the end, she would happily have gone along with any suggestion he cared to make for them in the bedroom.
But of course this time, they had to use a condom which was no problem except that they found that it rather slowed things down for Martin.
"I'm sorry Louisa," he told her, embarrassed at his performance.
He prided himself that usually they were pretty much in tune with each other in their timing. When they had very first used a condom, it had been a good thing that it slowed him down, but now...well, perhaps next time a different sort would be better, he decided, having gone for the 'ultra strong' type with the highest safety factor , and maybe sacrificing some sensation in doing so this time.
"It doesn't matter, it was still amazing," she told him truthfully as they cuddled together afterwards. Very quickly they both fell asleep in sheer exhaustion, enjoying the luxury of an afternoon nap
But as a perfectionist, his tardy performance niggled Martin.
Louisa was woken up about an hour later by Martin kissing her neck and running his hand up her leg – she was still wearing her lingerie, and he wanted to make the most of this before she started getting ready for the evening. This time they enjoyed a simple, straight forward pleasurable love making, Martin opting for not such heavy duty protection, but although things were better, he still felt that there was room for improvement.
He watched her disappear to the bathroom to start her preparations, looking forward to the next outfit – even though Louisa informed him that this one would be on a 'look but don't touch' basis for now.
"I think you need to save your strength for later hmm? Have something to look forward to," she told him.
He, however, was hoping to persuade her otherwise, wanting to make the most of every opportunity on this rare trip away.
While Louisa was faffing about and sorting her hair out after her shower, Martin had his shower, which didn't take very long at all. Then he lay on the bed in his dressing gown, watching Louisa as she got ready.
Her dress was a halter neck style which was close fitting and ruched all the way down to her hips, then it had a netting skirt which flared out.
"You don't think it makes my bum look big, do you? I have seven days to change my mind and take it back," Louisa had asked him the classic question when she'd shown him the dress on at home. She knew that she would get a brutally honest answer from him, but she also knew that he had very good taste too.
Even Martin was aware that this was a loaded question, but he wasn't one to lie about these things.
"The dress does emphasise the contours of your gluteus maximus," confirmed Martin, "And as females are naturally larger in this area, then technically yes I suppose it does 'make your bum look big', as you put it. But I err...like it, don't take it back, I think you should keep it."
Martin loved her curvy bottom, he found that to be one of her sexiest areas, so actually he very much approved of her new dress.
Louisa was pretty content with this response. To get 'I like it' was high praise indeed from Martin, so she kept the dress.
Another trip to 'Exclusive Elegance' had sorted out the perfect black underwear for the dress, and she now disappeared into the bathroom to put it on, determined to keep to her 'look but don't touch' policy for now.
She sat at the dressing table, wearing her black lacy strapless body with black stockings, watching Martin in the mirror. His response was obvious through his thin dressing gown. She put her make up on, then carried on putting heated rollers in her hair as she'd decided to wear her hair down but to curl it for a change. Looking after Luke meant that she always wore her hair tied back to prevent him from grabbing handfuls and pulling it, so wearing it loose would be a nice change, she felt.
"Seeing me in rollers will soon cool his ardour," she giggled to herself.
But it didn't – he watched fascinated as she curled her hair round the rollers, and noticed that her neck was exposed now, and he knew that kissing her there usually meant that he could persuade her into bed, so he came and stood over her, trapping her with his arms by holding onto the dressing table where she sat, and started kissing her neck.
"Martin! I told you...no touching...you're insatiable today," she told him, but closed her eyes and inhaled deeply despite herself. He knew exactly how to get to her, and he was thrilled by the fact that he could affect her just as easily as she could affect him.
He saw her response and carried on kissing her neck and behind her ears... and then there was a knock on the door.
"Hi Louisa, it's Jenny, just to say we've arrived," called out her voice.
"Just ignore her," Martin whispered urgently.
"Are you two in there?" Chris now called out.
Louisa ducked under Martin's arms, slipped on her dressing gown, and opened the door to say that they would soon be ready to go down.
"Bugger," thought Martin disappointed to have had his plans thwarted.
"We've just got to get changed, I'm all made up and so on, so we'll give you a knock in about twenty minutes," Jenny told Louisa.
"OK. We're nearly ready too, so see you in a minute," Louisa replied, closing the door.
"Don't even think about it Martin Ellingham, just go and get dressed," she told him as he tried to pull her into his arms again.
Martin realized that he was fighting a losing battle, so did as he was told and got dressed as Louisa quickly slipped her dress and shoes on and took the hair rollers out, leaving her hair tumbling down in curls.
"Mmm...Martin, I love you in your white Tux, you look even sexier than in your black jacket," she told him admiringly. She had always had a thing for men in evening dress. They looked so classy in her opinion, and with Martin being so tall, he looked very elegant.
Martin was nearly lost for words when he looked at Louisa. He'd never seen her with a mass of curls tumbling down over her shoulders before, and he had to swallow hard to regain some sort of control.
"I err... think there's something missing with your outfit," Martin told her.
"Oh...what...?" Louisa was rather crestfallen, that wasn't the response she was hoping for.
Martin reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a black leather box, which he handed to her.
"I thought this...would finish off your outfit," he told her rather shyly.
Louisa opened the box and gasped at the contents. In it was a beautiful diamond necklace, it had larger diamonds in the front, graduating to smaller ones at the back, and it glinted and flashed in the light. It was simply stunning.
"Martin, it's beautiful, but you shouldn't have...I mean I didn't expect..." Louisa was now the one struggling to find words.
"I want you to wear it tonight. I've never bought you any jewellery before, not even an engagement ring, and your wedding ring is just a plain simple band. You look so ...so beautiful Louisa, I want to show you off to everyone, and you deserve the very best of everything...and I... love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone..." Martin spoke from his heart now, and tears welled up in Louisa's eyes as she flung herself into his arms and kissed him by way of a response as he held her close to him.
Eventually she recovered herself and asked him to help her put the necklace on, which he did. It looked wonderful with her black dress, as he had known it would when he'd seen it on his trip to the jewellers in London. This had been on his list of jobs to do whilst up in town.
It was true, he hadn't even bought her an engagement ring. After the non wedding, before she left for London, Louisa had put the engagement ring that had belonged to Martin's Grandmother carefully back in the special box that it had come in, a tear rolling down her cheek as she had done so. Then she'd put it in a box containing a few other bits and pieces of his that had been left at her cottage, and had entrusted Roger Fenn to make sure that this package was returned safely to Martin. He'd put the box away out of sight at the top of his wardrobe, along with the letter that she had written to him, and the dried up shrivelled flower that she had put in his lapel at the concert.
When they'd finally decided to get married this time, he'd been unsure what to do about the engagement ring – it held so many painful memories for both of them.
Finally he'd plucked up the courage to broach the subject.
"Do you think you could ever feel happy to wear this ring again, Louisa?" he'd asked her, putting it down on the table in front of them both one day, shortly before their wedding.
"I don't know, Martin. It is a very beautiful ring, and it's special because it belonged to your Grandmother, but at the moment I think that if I wore it, it would bring back sad memories – for both of us. Maybe in time, when those memories have faded enough, I might be able to wear it again," Louisa had told him.
"Then I'll put it in your drawer for now, and if or when you feel happy to wear it again it'll be there for you," Martin had suggested.
He'd noticed that tonight, for the very first time, Louisa had put the engagement ring on, making him feel very happy that her sad memories had faded enough now. She wore very little jewellery in any case, partly because it wasn't her style, and partly because she had very sensitive skin. Cheap jewellery brought her out in a rash, so she could really only wear platinum, which was very expensive. Luckily, his Grandmother's ring was platinum, and he had ensured that the necklace was too.
Louisa quickly touched up her makeup after her tears, and wiped her lipstick from Martin's cheek just before Jenny and Chris knocked on the door for them all to go down.
xXx
It was a wonderful evening. Louisa took Martin's arm as they walked in, pausing to have an official photo taken, both as a couple, and with Chris and Jenny in a little group.
Martin proudly introduced her to people as 'MyWife,Louisa', remembering how at the last Ball he had had to introduce her as 'MyPartner,Louisa'which he'd hated. Several people commented among themselves that Martin Ellingham looked so much more relaxed and happy than at the previous occasion, he'd definitely mellowed.
They wandered around outside in the beautiful grounds of the country house, agreeing that as they both found old historic houses very interesting, visiting some of the properties in the local area was something that maybe they could enjoy doing together for a day out, taking Luke in his buggy too.
They enjoyed their meal, and afterwards the band started up, luckily playing pieces that even Martin quite enjoyed, and with a pretty good male singer.
Several other doctors and surgeons came up to Martin, questioning him about the minor surgery clinic at his practice, wanting to know more about it and how he was finding it, it seemed to be causing quite a stir and a lot of interest. Chris came and joined in their conversation too.
Louisa and Jenny left them to it for a while, and went back outside, Louisa quickly phoning home to Joan to make sure that Luke was OK, which he was. Although Luke was a handful at the moment, Louisa knew that when Joan looked after him, she simply devoted all her attention to him, she didn't try to do ten other things at the same time as Louisa usually tried to. The chores could wait until another time, as far as Joan was concerned, she had plenty of time on her own when she could do all that sort of thing.
As the girls headed back to the house, Martin looked up in time to see Louisa walking in, and caught his breath. He still found it hard at times to believe that he'd managed to persuade her to marry him, and could quite understand other people's disbelief. He saw the look on some of the other doctors faces as Louisa spotted him and came over, slipping her arm through his and reaching up to peck his cheek.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to steal my husband away from you now for other very important duties," Louisa cheekily told the crowd of men, then led him to the dance floor where the band were just starting a slow number.
"You didn't mind, did you, only I love this song," Louisa told Martin as she pulled him close and wrapped her arms around his neck, moving very slowly with him to the music.
"Oh I dare say I'll get over it," Martin replied, pulling her closer still with his hands around her waist.
xXx
Finally they went back to their room at around midnight, the evening seeming to have flown by this time. Martin thought he had been very patient waiting for this moment, but in fairness he had spent a lot more time talking to other people than on previous occasions. His professional pride had been somewhat restored by the reactions of the other doctors to his surgical clinics, they'd heard very impressive reports of his achievements and skills.
Once inside their room, they looked intently at each other for a moment. Louisa very tenderly reached her hand up to his cheek, slowly kissed him, and said,
"Thank you, I've had a wonderful evening."
"It isn't over yet," Martin replied, reaching for the zip of her dress.
They slowly and carefully helped each other to undress, not wanting to rush, Louisa surprised to find that Martin was actually wearing a slightly different type of underwear – his trunks weren't white, they were black!
"You are full of surprises tonight, aren't you!" Louisa told him. It might only be a small change, but for Martin it was quite something. She wondered what else had been in Martin's special delivery from his tailor – he'd been quite cagey about letting her see.
The four poster bed was quite high, there was even a little footstool by it for shorter people, so Martin now lifted Louisa onto it, not letting her go as he joined her. She was naked apart from her diamond necklace, which she refused to take off.
"I take it that you...likethe necklace then?" Martin asked her, very pleased by her reaction.
"I love it because you thought of it, and then you made a special trip to the jewellers to choose it, especially for me. Do you think it looks nice with my outfit now," she asked him provocatively, posing on the bed, with her wild hair curling over the pillow and sheet.
"I shall always have a picture of you just as you are now in my mind whenever I see that necklace," Martin told her truthfully, before kissing her and starting a slow, lingering lovemaking that went on for a very long time. It was third time lucky, the condom that Martin used this time was the most sensitive of all, and much to his relief and pride, they reached an intense climax together.
xXx
"Martin, I repeat what I said before, you're insatiable!"
This was Louisa's reaction at being woken up the following morning by Martin spooning with her and feeling his almost instant arousal pressing against her back.
"I can't help it, you're just irresistible, Mrs Ellingham," he told her as he pushed her hair to one side and once more started kissing her neck and running his hands round to caress her breasts...
xXx
They finally made it down to breakfast to join Jenny and Chris.
"Had a lie in after your late night?" Jenny asked seemingly innocently.
"Yes, just making the most of some baby free time to catch up on sleep," Louisa answered just as innocently.
They'd certainly made the most of the time, thought Martin to himself, but they certainly hadn't wasted too much of it on sleep.
xXx
They arrived back home mid morning. Joan greeted them with Luke in her arms, she had thoroughly enjoyed looking after him, although she had to admit it could be pretty challenging, he was into everything. She would have to confess at some time that Luke had managed to pull all of Martin's files out of the bottom shelf in his study, just in a brief minute while Joan was in the loo, Luke having managed to push the study door open even though it had appeared closed. She'd put all the papers back as best she could, but no doubt Martin would soon realise that they were not in quite the right order. He had looked very cute though, sitting there surrounded by papers as if he was reading them. And then upstairs, while she had been making her bed, he'd managed to pull open a drawer, and had had great fun in grabbing the contents and tossing them out – the fact that it was Louisa's underwear drawer didn't matter to Luke in the slightest, but Joan had felt rather embarrassed at having to put all her knickers back. But he had looked funny when a pair had got caught on his head. He really was a little tinker at the moment.
"So, how's he been, his usual naughty little self, eh?" Louisa asked as she took him in her arms and gave him a big hug and kiss, as Martin unloaded the car.
"No, no, he's been as good as gold," Joan lied. "So, did you have a good time, did you manage to relax and wind down after your hectic work schedules?" Joan asked, changing the subject.
"Yes, we had a lovely time, we relaxed and caught up on lots of sleep," Louisa lied too.
Luckily Joan was distracted by Luke so missed the look and raised eyebrow that Martin shot Louisa.