Her foot did not look better in the morning.
While she was sleeping she had forgotten about the injury, but when she put her foot down on the floor to get out of bed sharp pain lanced up from her toes and she fell back onto the bed. She took deep breaths to keep from crying out.
Celeste was calling from her crib and Marina hobbled over to her and gently pulled her out, carefully keeping her weight balanced on her right foot. When she tried to take a step to go downstairs she nearly crumpled to the ground in pain.
"Mama's going to put you down alright?" She set Celeste down and considered what to do. She couldn't risk falling with Celeste in her arms, and Celeste didn't have enough motor coordination to get downstairs herself. Marina looked around the room for a solution but found nothing to help. She looked at Celeste and made a face. "Should we just stay up here all day?" she asked, laughing.
Marina broke down finally, seeing only one option. First she pulled a robe over her nightshift, then she hobbled to the door and opened it a crack, careful to keep Celeste from crawling out of the room and down the stairs. "Philip?" she called. She thought she could hear movement in the kitchen, so she called again, louder. "Philip!"
"Ah! Yes?" he responded from downstairs. She took a relieved breath. She was lucky he hadn't left the house yet – sometimes he would leave for work before she even got up.
"Can you please come upstairs?"
"Yes." A moment later he came up the stairs and saw her at the door, and he instantly frowned. "What's happened?"
"I need your help." Celeste was already pulling at the door, trying to get out and explore. For her size, Celeste was surprisingly strong. Marina carefully opened the door so Celeste wouldn't get her fingers trapped, and Celeste gurgled happily at the sudden freedom and made her escape. Naturally, she made straight for the stairs, but Philip scooped her up before she could kill herself.
He was still frowning at Marina though. "Is it your foot?" he asked. Marina was reminded of her mother, of being scolded for some silly wrong headed thing she had done as a child. She sighed and opened the door further, to reveal her left foot. Philip's eyes widened when he saw the damage.
What had looked unpleasant by the dim light of the fireplace last night looked positively ghoulish in the bright morning sun. Marina's foot had swollen up overnight, and was turning a deep, violent shade of purple. Her large toe seemed to be pointing the wrong direction, but it was hard to tell with the extent of the swelling.
"I'm going to get the doctor."
Marina sighed. "Fine. But can you help me get downstairs first? I'd like some breakfast before I have to face that awful man."
Philip nodded and came up the stairs to her. She looped her arm around his shoulder and leaned heavily on him to get down the stairs. She could smell the strong tea he had been drinking on his breath, and feel the play of his muscles under her arm.
Celeste of course thought that this was a great game, and threw her arms around Philip's neck too, clutching at Marina's arm behind his back.
Philip set Marina down at the kitchen table and put Celeste in her arms. Then he puttered around the kitchen for a minute, putting breakfast on the table for Marina and Celeste, and fixing a cup of tea for Marina. "There. Will you be alright while I fetch the doctor?"
"Actually, can you hold Celeste while I use the privy?"
He blushed and nodded, and when Marina started hobbling to the back door he tried to help her by taking her elbow.
"I can do it myself," Marina grumbled. She found herself blushing too. "In fact, I'd rather do this on my own."
"Ah yes, of course." He let her go and turned back to the kitchen, red up to his ears.
When she got back to the kitchen he was feeding Celeste porridge, though not with any great success. Celeste's ability to get food into her mouth was not yet well established.
Marina sat down and took Celeste in hand, and Philip got up. "I'll be back as soon as possible."
She nodded wearily and watched him go. Once he had gone she looked down at her foot again and winced. It really did look horrid.
She took a sip of tea and was surprised to find it was just as she liked it – plenty of cream and no sugar. She felt a pleasant warmth at the thought that Philip had paid attention to how she took her tea. She grinned at Celeste. "He did say he cared." She thought back to their conversation last night. "Well, not in so many words… But more or less." She smiled. A broken toe may have been a steep price to pay for their talk, but she was still glad she had spoken to him.
Celeste smiled back at her, and threw a handful of porridge at her. It landed in Marina's hair and on her shoulder and she sighed. "Just perfect."
"Baba."
"Yes, 'Baba' indeed," Marina muttered and tried to clean Celeste and herself up a bit. It helped to distract a bit from the pain in her foot.
Philip returned not long after with the doctor. It was the same man – Marina had since learned that he was called Dr. Fallows, and he was the only doctor for a twelve mile radius, and he did not approve of her. He raised his eyebrows at the sight of her foot and looked at Philip.
"I dropped a bucket full of water on it yesterday," Marina lied. "I thought it was fine but…"
"Well, she won't be able to walk on it for quite some time. I can tell you that without even touching it."
Marina fought the urge to roll her eyes. She could have told him that without touching it either, and without a medical degree.
The doctor picked up her foot and started to squeeze it in various places, which was extremely painful and Marina couldn't help yelling. Celeste started to cry and Philip picked her up.
"Can you not be more gentle?" Philip asked the doctor.
"There is no need for such hysterics," Dr. Fallows said, shaking his head. "Everyone knows that the negros do not feel pain so acutely."
Marina stared at him, fury and shock warring in her chest. "Don't feel…? Are you joking?"
Philip was quiet a moment, staring at the doctor. His grip on Celeste tightened and she buried her face in his chest. "I think you should leave," he said finally, quietly.
The doctor looked up at Philip, shocked. "Excuse me?"
Philip nodded and indicated the door. "We won't be needing your services. Please leave."
The doctor got to his feet and angrily picked up his bag. "I say! Calling me out here and being rude to me! I have never been so insulted in my life sir!"
Philip said nothing, just calmly herded the doctor out the door. Marina heard them go out through the office to the street, the doctor yelling about her low character, and the misplaced chivalry of fools. The sound abruptly cut off as Philip closed the door and then came back into the kitchen. He was breathing unevenly, evidently trying to keep his composure.
"…Well, now where will we get a doctor?" Marina asked.
Philip immediately looked pained. "Your foot! I'm sorry, I didn't even think – I just lost my temper-"
Marina burst out laughing. "That's what you call losing your temper? Oh Philip! Look at me – I lose my temper so hard I broke my own foot!"
Philip grinned nervously.
"I was tempted to break some other bones at the doctor's comment too," she muttered. "Don't worry about Dr. Fallows; I was only teasing you. The man is clearly no good as a doctor, and I wouldn't trust him to take care of any problems I might have. Besides, he didn't tell me anything I don't already know. I'll just stay off the foot for a while."
"Yes, the man clearly does not understand human physiology," Philip said. He looked at her, fidgeting awkwardly. He put Celeste on the floor and said, "What he said, about not feeling pain…"
"It's not true."
"Yes, of course not. I just mean… I hope it doesn't bother you too much."
"It does bother me," Marina said. Philip frowned at her. "He is a man of science, supposedly. A man who is supposed to care for his patients, and he believes something so stupid, so harmful. It more than bothers me – it infuriates me." She leaned back in her chair and shook her head. "But what are we supposed to do? Not get sick?"
"That would be the best way to get through life," Philip pointed out. Marina grinned at him, and he turned away, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Actually, I wonder…" He started to wander off, mumbling softly to himself.
"Are you off to work now?" she asked.
"Yes. Well… no. No, I should fetch someone to help you. I can send for my mother, but she would not be able to get here for some time."
"You could try Harriet in town."
"Mm. Alright. I'll send a letter to mother as well. Perhaps she can come help another day, since you will be off your feet for a while."
"…Will you tell her about our conversation last night?" Marina asked. In all the fuss about her foot, she worried he had forgotten about their decision that she stay.
"Yes, I should," he said. "I'll leave out some of the details though…"
"Yes, let's stick to the bucket story about my foot alright?"
"Alright." Philip put his coat on and headed out, leaving Marina alone with Celeste again.
"We'll have to figure something out won't we?" she asked Celeste. Celeste looked up at her, grinned, and took off at a fast crawl into the other room. Marina sighed and hobbled after her. It would have been so much easier if she'd broken her foot before Celeste was mobile.
Philip returned shortly, not with Harriet, but with Ms. Hurst. "Harriet was unavailable to help today, but Ms. Hurst was present when I explained what happened, and she offered her help for the day."
Marina eyed her warily, looking for any sign of contempt. "Thank you Ms. Hurst."
"It's no trouble! When I heard of your injuries I felt just awful! I had wondered where you'd gone to – we haven't heard from you in so long! – and here you are, you poor thing, injured and cooped up at home! I'm so sorry; I should have checked on you earlier." She took Marina's hand and held it to her chest in a gesture of sincerity that bordered on melodrama.
Philip cleared his throat and took a step towards the door. "I should be going. Will you be alright?" he asked Marina. Her feelings warred between irritation and affection at his concern.
"We'll be fine. Have a good day at work."
"Alright." He bowed to Marina and Ms. Hurst and left.
Ms. Hurst watched him go, then turned conspiratorially to Marina. "I always thought Philip seemed so kind, but so aloof as well. He never looked twice at a girl before he brought you home." In a corner of her heart, Marina was very pleased with this information, but she would examine that feeling another time. "Is he so formal with you all the time?"
Marina laughed. "Of course not! It would be too awkward to live with him if he were!"
Celeste made a noise and Ms. Hurst picked her up. "Oh well, I suppose he can't be so formal all the time, and here's the proof!" She giggled at her joke. Unbidden, an image sprung to Marina's mind of herself and Philip in bed together. She felt her skin grow hot and shoved the image away.
"How is everyone? I've missed a great deal, between the garden and my foot…"
Ms. Hurst shrugged. "Mrs. Carmody has a cold. It looked quite bad for a while there, but she seems to be recovering now…" Celeste wriggled from Ms. Hurst's grasp and she put the little girl down. "Oh well. Poor Ms. Smith."
Marina laughed. Poor Ms. Smith indeed.
Ms. Hurst sat down next to Marina. "Mr. Braithewite has gone to London. Gloria says he will be up to no good, and lose his commission." Ms. Hurst laughed prettily and Marina felt her shoulders relax a little. It seemed that Mr. Braithewite hadn't said anything about her and the carriage ride after all. "Most likely he shall be gone for years again now," Ms. Hurst said with a sigh. "I shall likely be married by the time he returns again."
Marina took her hand and squeezed. "I hope so. I hope you find a wonderful gentleman to marry," she said. 'I hope you stay far away from that slimeball,' she thought.
They spent the day together, and Marina found she liked Ms. Hurst better for the time they spent together. She had always known her more as a companion of Ms. Braithewite's than anything else, but Ms. Hurst had a wicked sense of humor, and a melodramatic view of romance that was oddly tempered by her very practical ideas of marriage.
It didn't hurt that when Marina took Ms. Hurst out into the garden, Ms. Hurst complimented her profusely on the space she had helped create. "What a lovely spot you have here," Ms. Hurst exclaimed, looking about, fingering the edges of leaves. "It is so charming – I should like to have tea here any day!" She winked at Marina. "If you'll invite me to come – anytime."
Marina laughed from her spot on the bench. How fortunate that she had gotten the work done before she broke her foot. It would have been too depressing to sit out in the muddy backyard, unable to get around.
Philip came home and found them still in the garden. Ms. Hurst was playing with Celeste, but when she saw her father she went straight to him.
"I see who the favorite is…" Ms. Hurst said, grinning at Marina.
Marina held a hand out to her. "Thank you so much for your help today," she said.
"It was my pleasure," Ms. Hurst replied, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Celeste is such a dear little girl – much more agreeable than my mother!" She laughed.
Philip walked Ms. Hurst to the front door, bringing Celeste in his arms. Marina sighed and got up from the bench. It was about time to get supper ready. She hobbled into the house, surprising Philip and Celeste who were just entering from the other side.
"I would have helped you!" he insisted, coming over to help her walk.
"It's not that bad…" she grumbled, but she took his shoulder. It did help to keep the weight on him instead of her foot. "Are you hungry?"
"Are you? I can fix something for dinner," he answered. She glared at him – hadn't she just yelled at him for this sort of thing? He blushed and shrugged. "Oh, am I pushing a decision on you again?"
"Yes. And when you say it like that, it makes me feel that I am being ridiculous," she muttered. "Can't you just answer my question?"
He nodded. "Yes, I am hungry. I will make us dinner," he said woodenly, and then grinned at her. She laughed and let him set her down at the table.
"Have you been laughing at me this whole time?"