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Chapter Twenty-Two
“The duke has a fever?” Jenny set down her quill and placed the rock she had been observing on the paper to keep some weight on it.
“Yes, Your Grace. It began last night but has grown serious,” Ramsay responded.
She swallowed. “And why have you not called the physician?”
“His Grace is refusing.”
She gathered her skirts and walked briskly past the valet. “Call the physician.” The household was busier than usual but she could not tell if it was Nicholas’s illness. He was shaking beneath his bed covers when she entered the room. The curtains were closed and the room was dark. This was the first time she had ever been in his bedchamber.
“Nicholas?” She approached his bed. He did not respond. From where she stood, she could hear his teeth clattering. She rounded the bed to kneel in front of him. “Nicholas, can you hear me?”
His eyes were closed and his skin was pale and clammy. The fever looked as though it was more serious than what Ramsay had told her. His forehead was like a furnace.
“Good heavens, Nicholas,” she muttered to herself as she gained her feet and walked to the bell pull. Before she could pull it, Ramsay appeared in the open doorway.
“I have sent for the physician, Your Grace.”
“Good. Ask Mrs. Wells if there is any willow bark tea in the house and get me some cold water and towels.”
She’d had her fair share of fevers when she was a child and the way they had been brought down was by cooling the body. Jenny opened the curtains before moving to draw the heavy duvet down his shivering body.
When she reached his waist, she realized he was not wearing anything underneath and left the covers at his midriff. “I don’t know what caused your fever but we will take care of it,” she reassured him, brushing his dark hair from his brow.
Ramsay returned with some water in a large porcelain bowl and some towels. Jenny sat down on the bed beside him and soaked a towel. He groaned when she touched the cold cloth to his skin.
“There is no willow bark in the house but some is being procured as we speak,” Ramsay said. “I shall have the tea made once it is here.”
“Do you know what could be the cause of this?” she asked him and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, avoiding her gaze. “You know something. Tell me.”
“Well…Your Grace…I have no knowledge of medicine and I might be wrong but—”
“Get on with it,” she urged, impatient. Nicholas was not looking well and her alarm was growing.
“He has been having ice baths for weeks now.”
Her hand froze. She gave the valet a puzzled look. “Ice baths?”
“Yes, Your Grace. I saw to it myself. A tub will be filled with cold water and then a bucket of ice will be added and the duke will sit in it for several minutes.”
“I know what an ice bath is. What I do not know iswhy.”Ramsay’s face colored and he began to scratch the back of his head.
Nicholas groaned again, lifting his hand to push the damp cloth away from his forehead. “No, Nicholas,” she said softly, “this is good for you. It will make you feel better.” He must have heard her because he calmed down.
“Why was the duke having ice baths?” She resumed her interrogation of the valet.
“I fear I am not at liberty to divulge. Forgive me, Your Grace.”
Jenny’s breath hissed out from between her clenched teeth. Now was not the time for him to be keeping things from her. “Ramsay,” her tone was stern and her voice low, “I do not care if he asked you to keep it a secret. You will tell me why. Knowing the cause might help us treat him.”
“All right…” He turned away from her. “The duke used the ice baths to rid himself of…”
Jenny was tempted to throw the towel in her hand at him but she waited with great patience. “To rid himself of his physical needs,” he finished.
Her shoulders slumped. She did not know he had done it to quench his desire. “Is that not dangerous?”
“I do not know, Your Grace. I do not know if it is the cause of his fever.”
