Alphabet Soup

by Crinklybrownleaves

This is an A to Z of tiny stories and drabbles, all too short to stand alone. Involving lots of Dr Blake characters, but most will have Lucien and / or Jean in (well, what else would you expect from me!). All different times and moods, the only thing that holds them together is that there is one for each letter of the alphabet.

2. Brooch

She smiled cautiously as Matthew stepped over the threshold, with the parcel under his arm. But he scarcely heard her speaking to him as his eyes were drawn to the brooch over her breast. Bluish-green jade and gold, it matched her eyes, suited her, yet was out of place.

The Jean he knew, old Thomas Blake's housekeeper, could never afford something so rare. And it was foreign too, exotic, Oriental. And that struck a discordant note in his mind. Why would practical, efficient, disciplined Jean wear a showy thing like that?

It didn't take much detecting. Lucien. Only he would think it a suitable gift for his housekeeper.

Were the rumours true then? He couldn't blame Lucien for trying; she was a lovely woman. But Jean surprised him, made him wonder. What did she see in a damaged, drunken man like Blake? Was it his departure for China that made her act like this?

As Mattie and Danny unwrapped the parcel, he exchanged a look with Jean, and she saw his eyes settle again on the brooch. She smiled at him conspiratorially.

"Just till he comes home," she said. And he nodded then in understanding.

So Blake didn't know - yet - that his housekeeper was waiting for more than his return, and that the jewel she really wanted was his heart.