Page 14 of The Gentleman Physician

“Doctor Hastings,” she said, dropping a quick curtsy. “I’m dreadfully sorry.”

Phillip wriggled and Nathaniel hastily set the boy on his feet.

“No harm done. Though I have seen a broken arm a time or two from boys sliding down rails.” He fixed Phillip with a stern glance. “And that noise likely worried your father.”

A maid appeared at the top of the stairs. “Pardon me, Miss Devon, but His Lordship wanted me to check on everybody. We heard the most frightful noise.”

Nathaniel put a gentle hand on Phillip’s shoulder. “There, you see? Fun is all well and good, but not if it disturbs your father. You go on up and apologize.”

The boy’s lip protruded, but he nodded. “Yes, Doctor Hastings. Sorry.” Then he darted up the steps.

Julia watched him go and sighed. “Honestly, I’ve tried to keep him entertained, but the boys need more exercise. I apologize again, Doctor Hastings, for the spectacle.” She glanced back at Nathaniel, her eyes more sorrowful than the situation merited.

He leaned down to pick up his bag, trying to avoid further eye contact with her. Her eyes, as warm and brown as ever, stirred too many memories in his heart.

“No harm done, Miss Devon. Young boys have as much energy as yearling colts, but half the opportunity to exercise it. The rain makes it difficult to get them outside, I am certain.”

“Indeed. And the park is completely out of the question too.” Julia sighed and reached up to tuck one of her dark curls behind her ear. “A house really is no place for playing highway robbers. Shall I show you up now, Doctor?”

The comment on where their imagination had been brought him up short. “Pardon. Did you say highway robbers?”

Her cheeks pinked and she lifted her hands, palm out, in a helpless gesture. “Edward and Phillip both thought it a delightful game, until the constable came to confront Phillip, who was the primary highwayman, you understand.”

Nathaniel stared at her in some astonishment. Though the Julia he’d known years ago had a playful nature, she kept it well masked behind affable smiles and aristocratic behavior. To hear her admit to this level of frivolity surprised him.

“I must ask,” he said at last, narrowing his eyes at her. “What role did you play in this? Damsel in distress?”

Her lips curled upward and she raised her head high. “Hardly. I am the Robin Redbreast, sir.” She sniffed, pretending disdain, all the while her eyes twinkled merrily. “And now, Doctor Hastings, I would be happy to provide you with a safe escort to his lordship’s chamber.” She tipped her nose further up in the air and twirled to face the stair, not waiting to see if he would follow.

Nathaniel chuckled and stayed behind her, the image of her atop a horse in blue coat and red vest, the style of the London constabulary, entering his mind. He thought the uniform might suit her, given its bold colors, and nearly said so. But he bit his tongue and reminded himself they were not friends. They had no relationship at all.

“Here you are, Doctor,” she said when they arrived at the room. “Safely delivered.”

“Thanks to a Robin Redbreast?” He raised his eyebrows at her, not hinting at the humor from before. “Thank you, Miss Devon.” He showed himself in, closing the door to the hall and Julia behind him.

Phillip yet sat inside the room, several feet away from the bed in a chair, as Nathaniel had suggested. The boys called it their “visiting chair.” It was their designated spot to sit and converse with their father, without jostling him in the bed or risking taking the ailment into their own lungs.

“Ah, Hastings,” the baron greeted him, his voice sounding weak to the doctor’s ears. “I understand you were nearly knocked to the floor by a scoundrel. My apologies that you would find such under my roof.”

“Not at all, my lord. I was rescued in a timely manner,” Nathaniel said, going to wash his hands. “But perhaps you ought to turn the criminal loose again. I doubt he’ll repeat the crime.”

Phillip stood and bowed. “Thank you, Doctor Hastings.” He hurried to the basin to wash his hands, obviously the act now a habit for him, and then darted out of the room.

“I must say,” Lord Heatherton said, pushing himself up against the cushions at his back. “Cousin Julia has been a breath of fresh air in this house. The boys are happy and my Virginia finally has someone with whom to converse.”

Nathaniel nodded a touch absently, coming closer to his patient’s bed. His attention was focused more on the baron’s breathing than on his words. Lord Heatherton’s chest rose and fell abnormally fast, but the sound his lordship made was weak and wheezing.

“How long have you been breathing like this?” Nathaniel asked, putting his ear to the baron’s chest. While most physicians maintained a distance from their patients, believing to involve themselves physically would be socially lowering, Nathaniel actually cared about understanding symptoms. Each breath sounded as if it was a struggle to take it in and let it out.

Nathaniel took measure of Lord Heatherton’s pulse, finding it rapid against his finger. He touched the man’s forehead next and shook his head.

“Only an hour or so,” the baron answered between pants for breath.

“And your lady wife? Where is she?”

"She had business in the stillroom, I believe.”

Nathaniel reached up and pulled the cord to summon a servant. He needed to speak to Lady Heatherton at once and inform her that there was less time than he suspected. He began making lists in his mind of all that must be done, letters that would need to be written.