The Surgeon

By Jane Doe

It is the middle of the nineteenth century and Anne Rose is an independent young woman who is intent on leaving a loveless engagement behind and becoming a surgeon in England. After she purchases a ticket on a steamship to Cairo under a false name, she lies to several passengers and tells them she is heading to Egypt to join her father. But then moments later, she fibs again and tells other passengers she is meeting her professor husband. Richard Lawrence has been traveling to Cairo for the past decade to deliver expedition groups to Cairo as part of his job at a British museum. After he is introduced to Anne on the ship, he is immediately drawn to her, but suspicious of her conflicting stories about her life. As the two-week voyage begins and an unexpected medical event brings them together, their chemistry heightens when Anne reveals the real reasons why she is traveling to Cairo. Will their burgeoning feelings for each other be enough to survive their challenges and propel her down a path toward her dream? In this historical novel, a young woman with a big dream of becoming a surgeon in nineteenth century England must reconcile with her past as her path crosses with a handsome suitor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jan 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781665733373

Jane Doe

Jane Doe returned from a trip to Egypt when The Surgeon poured out of her imagination. After typing it in five days, the manuscript was tucked away until she found it fifteen years later. Doe is educated in biochemistry and married to a surgeon. This is her debut novel.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

I would like to purchase two passages to Cairo. Anne peered down her nose at the station agent, trying to remain calm and act as if nothing was unusual.

In the mid part of the nineteenth century, the appearance of a single lady purchasing tickets on a steam ship to Cairo would normally attract attention. But the recent decision by the prime minister to allow women on Egyptian expeditions again made it a usual occurrence.

Ten years ago, Anne had accompanied her father on his last expedition and watched him purchase tickets. She remembered what to do. The agent gave her a sideways glance as he stamped the pieces of paper. She felt like she ought to offer some explanation so that no suspicion was aroused.

I am going to meet my father, who is teaching at the University of Cairo, and … uh … my maid is traveling with me, she stammered.

Looking around, she noticed a group of travelers, who appeared to be an expedition group by their dress and luggage. As an afterthought, she added, I’m joining their expedition group.

But the clerk had long since ceased to hear her.

She turned and slowly walked back to her companion. The last time she boarded a ship for Cairo, she was nine and accompanying her father on an expedition west of Thebes. It was a wonderful memory until. She stopped walking; remembering that fateful day took her breath away. And she tried to block it out.

CHAPTER 2

She was running with Richard. He was two years older and thought he was better than her.

Wait up, Richard.

Being the only other child, what else could he do but play with her? But he didn’t like her, she could tell. She was better at finding things and could speak Arabic. And he couldn’t even speak it even though he had been to Egypt two more times than she.

She was remembering too much. They then found the hidden passage. The exit led out the back of the tomb onto the top of the hill, overlooking the tomb entrance. They were racing up to the top, when they heard gunshots and shouting.

A group of men had ridden up to the work site and were shooting at her father and his men. Her father was shouting. She tried to yell, but Richard dragged her down and clamped her mouth shut.

They will kill us, he hissed.

Her eyes filled with fear, and her tears stung as she wriggled, trying to get free. Then they heard a man yelling.

Where are they? Tell me now, and I will spare the others.

Her father was yelling back at him, I don’t know what you’re talking about!

Then a scream, fearful and terrifying, pierced the canyon. It lasted forever, it seemed, but then all was silently still.

Tell me now, and you can keep your other hand and leg! the man yelled.

She did not hear her father again.

Drag him into the desert and leave him. He’ll die soon enough, if he isn’t dead already. Search the area. I know they are around here somewhere.

Richard was struggling to get her to move. She was near catatonic and stiff. He dragged her until she moved, then he pulled her up to her feet, and they ran. She remembered running and running to the camel pen. Richard maneuvered a camel to the fence and jumped on. Somehow he managed to pull her up into his lap, and he kicked the camel in the sides to get it to move. It seemed like an eternity before they got to the ship. Richard jumped down and ran for his father. She couldn’t remember much after that, except crying into his mother’s lap.

CHAPTER 3

The sound of the ship’s horn brought her out of her reverie with a start. She suddenly realized she had been standing in the center of the port office, crying. She looked around, hoping no one noticed her, while making her way over to her companion. A porter then called for her ticket and began loading her trunks onto a wheeled cart. She grappled with him for a brown valise, which she clutched closely to her body. It contained her vials of draughts, instruments, papers, and what little money she was able to hide away prior to her escape.

She then thought of her mother and how worried she would become when she found out. Anne hoped the letter she left would relieve her mother’s fears and that she would not make Anne’s intentions public. She especially hoped that Mr. Gould would not find out, at least for a few days. He would pursue her, she was sure. Anne wasn’t sure just how much she could stay ahead of him before reaching her father. At least if her mother knew she was safe, she would not worry. And her mother might not have the opportunity to see Mr. Gould.

Not bloody likely, she said aloud.

Those around her turned to look at her with surprise. She smiled and began moving toward the exit.

The thought of Mr. Gould made her blood run cold. He was a lecher, hardly giving her room to breathe. He had, in recent weeks, stayed too close to her and her mother. At first, she was flattered. But she soon realized that there was something sinister about him, and she kept her distance as much as she could. She tried, desperately, to convince her mother that a match between them was out of the question.

Anne was then brought into the present again, when she heard an Arab guide speaking to a group of ladies in the expedition party she noticed earlier. They obviously did not understand what he was saying to them. She wondered, Well, why not? and stopped.

I beg your pardon, ladies, she said to them politely. Your man here wants you to board the ship now.

Oh, thank you, my dear, the tall one with expressive eyes pronounced unaffectedly. We will do that. She then turned to her friends. Ladies. And what is your name? she asked, turning back toward Anne.

My name? Anne thought, trying to come up with something to say besides her real name.

My name is Smith, Mrs. Smith. She was glad she had gloves on so they could not see she wasn’t wearing a ring.

But of course, you are, was the droll reply. My name is Agnes Templeton, Miss Agnes Templeton, and these are my dear sisters, Mrs. Carlock and Mrs. Trent.

The latter piped up quite bubbly, You speak Arabic! How charming. Are you going to Cairo?

At least she seemed friendlier than her sister, Anne thought as she spoke. Yes, I am going to meet my husband, who just accepted a job teaching at Cairo University.

She racked her brain to remember what she said her name was. Oh, Smith, yes, that was a pretty safe name. Surely there was a Smith on the ship’s log. She did not want to use her real name for fear of detection.

Smiling, she curtsied and said, Please excuse me.

She looked back at her companion and motioned for her maid to follow. They all made their way toward the gangway. As they did, a man was approaching the group rapidly, so Anne lagged behind to join her maid, turning to speak softly in Arabic.

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CHAPTER 4

He was snoozing, trying to forget the pain in his leg. Blast that stable boy, Richard thought.

Had he not fumbled the reins and scared the hired horse, it would not have backed into him and kicked him in the knee. The surgeon assured him that it was not broken. And indeed, it was a little better today than yesterday, but there was still a dull ache. He peered through the slit in his eyelids