The Painter's Apprentice Read Online Free PDF

worse than she thought if the butcher begrudged them a few bones.
    Orpheus peered down into the cauldron, his nose twitching.
    ‘Shall I fetch some herbs from the garden?’ asked Beth.
    ‘You can try,’ said Peg, pushing Orpheus away, ‘but there’s hardly anything at this time of year. Your mother’s stripped the
     rosemary bush almost bare for cough medicine. Take the dratted dog away, will you? I daren’t turn my back or he’ll have his
     nose in the soup.’
    Removing herself and Orpheus from the kitchen, Beth went to find Kit, who was in the library with his head in his hands, books
     spread out in front of him.
    ‘Am I interrupting?’ whispered Beth. He looked up at her and she was taken aback by the bleakness of the expression in his
     hazel eyes.
    ‘I’m glad of an interruption,’ he said. ‘I promised Father I’d study this afternoon but the words dance on the page so that
     I can’t read them.’
    Beth picked up one of the books. William Harvey’s
Essay on the Motion of the Heart and the Blood
. ‘Isn’t this interesting?’
    ‘Not noticeably.’ Kit sighed. ‘It’s bad enough that I have to read about scrofulous diseases and study drawings of dissected
     bodies and aborted babies but once I arrive at Oxford I’ll be expected to take all the exams in Latin. What is the point of
     learning in a language different to our own that is used in no country one can visit?’
    ‘Latin has always been used for medical matters.’
    ‘But the common man doesn’t speak in Latin!’
    ‘You must have Latin if you’re to be a doctor.’
    ‘And there’s the problem.’
    Kit rubbed his eyes with his fists and Beth was reminded of him when he was a little boy struggling with his letters. ‘Perhaps
     I could test you on your Latin vocabulary?’
    ‘You always kissed the grazes on my knees when I fell over, didn’t you, Beth? But I have to do this myself.’
    Beth replaced the book on the table, afraid to ask the question. ‘Don’t you want to be a doctor, then?’
    ‘What does it matter what I want?’ asked Kit, his voice bitter. ‘Father has always told me I shall be a doctor. You know he
     expects me to take his place at Merryfields when he’s gone. I’ve tried to be a dutiful son. God knows, I love Father and Mother
     with every ounce of my being. That’s what makes it so hard; I can’t bear to disappoint them. But Merryfields is their dream,
     not mine.’
    The earth seemed to shift slightly under Beth’s feet. It had always been understood that Kit would join the medical profession.
     ‘But … if you don’t become a doctor, what will you do?’
    ‘I’ve spent hours thinking about that. It’s not that I have a pressing desire to do anything else in particular but I
know
I don’t want to be a doctor. I can’t bear the sight, or smell, of blood. Of course, Father promises me I’ll grow out of that,
     once I’ve seen a few amputations.’ Kit swallowed, his face taking on a peculiar greenish tinge.
    Beth paced over to the fireplace and vigorously raked the embers with the poker. ‘This is Noah’s fault, isn’t it? If he’d
     never come to visit us you’d have gone on being perfectly happy.’
    ‘I haven’t been happy for a long while. Noah makes me feel like a coward for not owning up to Father before. Oh, I’ve tried!
     But he always turns the conversation as if he knows what I’m attempting to say. Noah at least had the courage to stand up
     for what he believes.’
    ‘Kit, please don’t leave us!’ Suddenly afraid, Beth caught hold of his hand.
    ‘Little chance of me going to Virginia, is there? I could never find the funds for my passage. Father’s struggling hard enough
     already to make ends meet to keep Merryfields going.’
    A knot under Beth’s breastbone, a knot that she’d barely realised was there, loosened in relief. Momentarily, she was thankful
     for their impoverished state.
    ‘Beth, don’t you ever have
any
desire to visit the outside world?’Kit