As his unpredicted physician exited the kitchen to the garden beyond, he called out, “Be careful. No one must see you!”
She threw him a smile over her shoulder. “I shall be but a ghost in the rain.”
CHAPTER 5
“I know that I have lived because I have felt, and, feeling giving me the knowledge of my existence, I know likewise that I shall exist no more when I shall have ceased to feel.”
Giacomo Casanova
Despite her assurance, Audrey was anxious as she crossed the garden and calculated a route to Markham House, which would avoid encountering anyone who might be observing the earl’s home. The rain had eased, and as Audrey exited, she decided to turn right. It would take longer to reach the duke’s townhouse, and the grocer, but Julius’s caution still echoed in her ears.
She took a circuitous route, stopping each time she turned a corner to peer back down the street she had left. Just to be sure. Soon she had delivered the note, visited the grocer, and found a jar of honey which was added to the earl’s account. Then shebought powdered bark and herbs from the nearby apothecary, that she thought to brew for Julius. She needed to do all she could to prevent his fever.
When she returned to the mews in the back, the clouds still glowered above, but the rain had slowed to a trickle. Crossing the gardens, she walked in through the kitchen door and found that the table had been cleared up in her absence. Audrey’s valise and her things remained untouched, the maid evidently reluctant to interfere.
Rose looked up from where she was ringing out a towel, which Audrey assumed was the one bloodied by Julius’s injury. “It’s good to see you back, Miss Gideon. We been worried about you.”
“Thank you. I took my time to ensure no one was following me.”
The servant pursed her lips, her broad face reflecting her anxiety over the morning’s events. “It’s hard to think someone would hurt Master Julius, ’e being such a good’un.”
Audrey nodded as she assembled her valise back together. The black leather bag had been her father’s until he had died earlier that year, and to her it was a sort of talisman, summoning the calm presence of her father to provide her guidance. He had trained her well over the years, but it was still daunting to treat such an important patient with the threat of a fever. Fortunately, Julius was a young, healthy man in good condition.
“It is outrageous. I have some herbs I need to brew for Master Julius. Could you prepare a tea tray with boiling water in a teapot?”
“Aye, Miss Gideon,” Rose replied, gathering the things she would need. “Just the hot water?”
“Yes. Thank you. Where is his lordship?”
“Patrick helped ’im to ’is room on the third floor down the west hall.”
Audrey knew where that was. She herself stayed on the third floor when Lady Hays acted as her chaperone in the earl’s absence.
“Could I have a teaspoon?”
Rose brought one over. Prepared for action, Audrey hoisted her valise and made for the servants’ stairs.
On the second-floor landing, she set her valise down and removed her cape, which was wet through and increasingly uncomfortable. Tucking it over her arm, she shivered. Each layer of clothing was damp, and she wished she had something dry. Perhaps there would be a robe in Julius’s room and she could have her things dried out. Picking up her valise, she continued up until she reached the third floor. Turning into the west hall, she walked to the door at the end and knocked.
The door swung open to reveal Patrick. His whiskered face was set with lines of worry. “Miss Gideon, you be back! Master Julius is feverish. I have ’im settled in ’is bed, but ’e needs you!”
Audrey nodded, doing her best to look confident as she swept past Patrick. Julius lay beneath the deep green and rich gold covers in the canopied bed, and Audrey shook her head. This was why she could not leave him to the servants to take care of. Crossing the room, she whipped the covers down to reveal his naked torso. Patrick must have assisted him out of his bloodied clothing, and Julius had gone straight to bed in his small clothes. Although she had seen naked bits of bodies over the years assisting her father, Audrey swallowed at the sight. Julius was a fine specimen despite the flush of fever, with a broad, muscular chest and a flat expanse of stomach.
She noted with some surprise that the light dusting of hair covering his sculpted muscles was blond. Audrey had always thought that the mop of wheat curls that topped his head were an affectation bleached by his valet. It would appear thatperhaps it was the brown hair on the sides and back that was the affectation.
Removing her kid gloves, Audrey used the back of her fingers to feel his forehead, which was damp with sweat and too warm.
“Please open the windows, Patrick. We need to cool Master Julius down.”
The old man crossed the room and raised the mullioned windows. The room faced the garden, so no one would see the open windows from the street.
Julius opened a bleary eye. “You are back.”
Audrey nodded. “I am.”
“Thank God,” he mumbled, closing the eye again and shivering. A flight of gooseflesh erupted across his skin as the cooler air made contact with its heated surface. Patrick fidgeted across the room, clearly at a loss for what he should do.
Rose appeared in the open doorway with the tray that Audrey had requested. Audrey had her place it on the dressing table, where she poured out an ounce of water. Searching through her valise, she found her vial of white willow bark. She needed to do research, but meanwhile he could drink the bark to help fight the fever until she prepared a better formula. Mixing a spoonful of it into the water, she returned to Julius’s side. Rose and Patrick stood together, both wringing their hands while they awaited directions. It was plain that the servants were worried about Master Julius and eager to assist.
