Page 27 of The Duke’s Matchmaker

“When was the last time he went outside? Out of the house?”

“I don’t know. That would be a question for his governess. I can summon her if need be.”

“No, honestly, I don’t think I need her to answer the question,” Dr. Joseph said. “It’s clear from my examination of the child that he spends the majority of his time in the house. He’s pale. Hasn’t seen the sun in a long time. His muscles aren’t as strong as they should be—he’s just a little boy, it’s true, but he should be developing a little more strength than he has. A child his age should be running around out of doors every day, getting sunlight, working his muscles.”

“You’re telling me he wouldn’t be ill if he spent more time out of doors?” Nathaniel’s stomach turned over. If that was true, it meant that this was his fault. That his incompetence when it came to raising Colin had directly caused the illness.

Perhaps he would have been better at the Foundling Hospital. That was a horrible thought. He knew it wasn’t true. He wouldn’t have dreamed of letting his little brother see the inside of a charity institution. And yet, was his own care really any better, if it led to Colin’s health being jeopardized? He didn’t know what to think.

Dr. Joseph was watching him with an expression of extreme sympathy etched on his face.

“I wouldn’t want you to take all this too seriously,” he said. “He’s far from the first child to live a sheltered life. It happens all the time among members of your social class.” He said this with a small smile on his face, as if to indicate that he meant it gently. “It’s common for the upper classes to be overprotective of their children.”

“Overprotective?”

“Well, of course that’s the reason he’s been kept in the house so much,” the physician said as though it was obvious. “You’ve been protective over him.”

Shame filled Nathaniel, for he wasn’t sure he could make that claim. It was a generous interpretation of what had happened, that was certainly true. “I don’t think of myself as protective,” he said. “He hasn’t spent time outside because I haven’t made any attempt to ensure that he does, that’s all.”

Dr. Joseph shook his head. “You don’t give yourself enough credit,” he said evenly. “Every little boy goes outside if he isn’t prevented from doing so. Haven’t you noticed that the sons of laborers and common men are sun-browned from being out of doors so much? It’s because their fathers don’t have the time or the energy to monitor their behavior. They can’t be as protective. It’s the sons of nobles who are kept indoors, kept soft and pampered because their fathers fear anything happening to them, or because they want them to focus on their studies. It’s an understandable thing, of course. You can see why a parent would want that soft life for their son. But it does make them weaker when an infection comes along.”

It was odd. It was almost as if Dr. Joseph was saying that Nathaniel was a good parent. In spite of what had happened, in spite of the fact that it had probably been Nathaniel’s fault, he was saying that he understood the impulse that had led to the way Nathaniel cared for Colin.

And now Nathaniel himself was looking at things through a new lens.

Maybe the physician was right. Maybe he hadn’t neglected his brother. Because it was certainly true that he had instructed his staff not to leave Colin unsupervised, and to encourage him toward enriching activities in the house. It hadn’t occurred to him that the best thing he could do for Colin was to get him out of the house to play a little bit. But now that he thought about it, maybe that was true. And maybe it was something he could offer moving forward.

“Here.” Dr. Joseph handed him a small vial. “A dose of this two times a day, once with breakfast and once with dinner. My guess is that you’ll see a lot of improvement before he’s finished his doses, but keep giving him the medicine until you run out of it just the same. It’s the best way to ensure that the fever doesn’t come back.”

Nathaniel nodded gratefully. “Should we arrange for you to come back and see him again?”

“That won’t be necessary unless things get worse,” the physician said. “As long as his fever is gone within the next couple of days, I’m not worried at all.”

Nathaniel nodded. “All right,” he said. “And what about time out of doors? If that’s so important to his health, I think I should start trying to arrange for more of it.”

“You should,” Dr. Joseph agreed. “But take it slowly. He’s not used to that kind of exertion, and you don’t want to exhaust him either. Wait until he’s recovered, and then start with a few hours a day out on the lawn. Just let him get some sun and some fresh air. And once that becomes a regular part of his pattern, you can move on to longer outings if you feel it’s something he’s ready for. Just make sure you pace yourself. I know you’ll want to change everything about his routine now that you’ve been corrected, but you don’t have to make those changes instantly. He’s going to be all right, Your Grace. I promise you that.”

The physician bid Nathaniel farewell. Nathaniel remained in the study as the butler showed him to the door. He held the vial of medicine carefully in his hand, drawing a deep breath and allowing himself to be filled with gratitude. Letting himself believe what he had been told—that Colin was going to be all right.

He hoped it was true.

He made his way back to the boy’s bedroom, opened the door as quietly as he could, and slipped inside.

Dorothy hadn’t moved from her place on the edge of Colin’s bed, but she looked up when Nathaniel came in. “Shh,” she breathed. “He’s asleep, finally. I don’t think we ought to disturb him.”

Nathaniel nodded and pointed toward the door.

She hesitated, but after a moment she extricated her hand from Colin’s grip and rose slowly to her feet. She reached down and touched his cheek one more time, gently.

“Mama,” he mumbled, rolling over onto his side.

Dorothy’s lips whitened. She hurried out the door without looking back.

Nathaniel followed her out and pulled the door closed behind himself. “Let’s go speak for a moment in my study,” he suggested.

“Should he be on his own?”

“I’ll have a member of the staff go for Helen and have her come back to sit with him,” Nathaniel said. He held up the vial. “And I have this medicine, but he’s supposed to have it with his meals, so we should start it in the morning when we give him breakfast.”