Page 72 of How Not to Marry a Duke

Adeline helped deliver a babe, treated a case of gangrene, alleviated a man’s indigestion disorder, set a broken arm and bound it, and prescribed a poultice for a rash. Her most challenging patient had come when she’d arrived at a house at Hasmik’s urging.

“Thank goodness you’ve come.” A young mother had spoken from where she’d been sitting by her seven-year-old son’s bedside.

Adeline had learned the boy had been ill for two weeks before he’d developed an earache that caused him to cry out in pain. It was worse at night, and he’d been unable to sleep. The local doctor had prescribed leeches, which hadn’t helped, but only made the boy weak. Soon after, the boy’s illness had progressed into a raging fever. The boy’s parents were at their wits end with worry. The physician continued with the bloodletting until the mother had reached out to Hasmik.

Adeline recalled her mother talking of a patient with similar symptoms. At the protest of the doctor, Adeline put a stop to the bloodletting. Thereafter, cool cloths and constant sips of bone broth lowered the fever. She used drops of thick olive oil to temporarily lessen the ear pain, then applied a warm compress to the infected ear. As she’d anticipated, the pressure from pus within the middle ear discharged. Adeline had kept the ear clean and drained, and over the course of the next few days, the infection had subsided, along with all the pain.

The young boy would live and his mother was grateful.

On her last visit, the boy sat by a table, eating bread and cheese, and smiled at Adeline. “It doesn’t hurt!” He touched his ear.

“Good news indeed.” Adeline smiled and patted the boy’s shoulder.

“Thank you.” The mother grasped Adeline’s hands. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Vasken is better because of you.”

The boy’s father was just as grateful. “We cannot pay you much, but please take this.” He thrust a small gold cross into Adeline’s hands.

Adeline looked up at the father. “Thank you, but I cannot take this.”

“Please, we will be upset if you do not. The cross is from a traveling merchant from Jerusalem and was blessed by the local priest. It will look after you as you looked after our son.”

Adeline knew the gift was beyond precious. This was a proud, working family. To refuse the gift would be an insult. To accept seemed too much.

Hasmik understood. “She will wear it with pride.”

Soon after, they arrived back at Lady Heywood’s home.

“You did well, Adeline. That boy will live because of you,” Hasmik said.

“We were fortunate the mother summoned us when she had. The fever was the most worrisome.”

“The family will be indebted to you. The others you have helped since your return to London are grateful as well. You are needed, whether you are in London or the country.”

It was a sobering thought. The villagers needed a physician, as did an entire community here. As for all of London, she wouldn’t have to search far for patients. The lower classes and poor seemed endless in the city streets.

“Your family should be proud.”

“Mary is, yes. But not Edwin. If I were still living beneath his roof, he would prohibit my work. As things stand, Edwin may still be able to stop me from healing patients.”

Hasmik waved a dismissive hand. “The Duke of Warwick will not allow that to happen.”

Adeline’s brows drew together. “You have much faith in our plan.”

“I am old and wise. I have faith in the man.”

Adeline scoffed. “Since when have you become the duke’s champion?”

“Since when have I not? Let’s get you home and to sleep. You look tired, and you must be refreshed when His Grace comes for you tomorrow.”

…

Her next outing with Warwick was not another garden party, but a bookstore.

“The Kirkland ball is coming swiftly, and I thought we might go elsewhere in advance to stir up gossip,” Warwick said.

Adeline glanced up at the sign above the Mayfair shop. “Hookham’s Bookshop. Are you certain, Your Grace? I don’t believe this is the best place to find magpies.” The bookseller was located at 15 Old Bond Street and tended to cater to the wealthy and titled.

He offered his arm. “A chaperone isn’t required here, and it suits our intended purpose.”