They didn’t get lucky. No one saw a man with a long, dusty bag walking in the park or along Constitution Hill.
When Julia got Tennant’s note, she packed gauze and gloves into her medical bag and waited for Nurse Clemmie to return. Her head nurse entered the office with two bottles of carbolic solution and added them to the bag.
“I’ve sent a message to Doctor Franklin at the London Hospital,” Julia said. “If something too complicated to treat arises, send the patient there.”
“A rifle wound to the chest. That sounds grim.” Clemmie shook her head.
Julia’s nurse was right, and she hoped to find the patient alive when her carriage reached Westminster Hospital. The porter ushered her into Mrs. FitzGerald’s room and then vanished. A young doctor with flaming, wiry hair looked up briefly from what he was doing.
“Who the blazes let ye in?” he said in a thick Scots accent. “We’re having no visitors. Nurse Howland, show her the door.” He continued to spray a mist from a metal contraption the sizeof a teakettle. A bottle of carbolic solution stood on the table by the bed.
“I’m Doctor Julia Lewis.” She walked forward, waving the home secretary’s note. “And I’ve brought replenishments.” She opened the bag containing carbolic solution for him to see.
“Woman, yer a godsend. Nurse Howland, bundle the carbolic away from prying eyes.” He put the sprayer aside. “I’m Doctor Rennie. Why is the Home Office sending a lady doctor to us, bearing gifts?”
After Julia explained the circumstances, Rennie said, “A copper who readsThe Lancet?”
Julia smiled. “Not exactly. Inspector Tennant heard about Doctor Lister’s experiments from my grandfather, Doctor Andrew Lewis.”
“That’s more than I can say for the likes of Sir Godfrey Fellows. And I left all six of Lister’s articles on the man’s desk.”
Julia moved to the bed. “How is Mrs. FitzGerald?”
“Early days. Early hours, but I’m hopeful. We’re doing our best, Nurse Howland and I.” Rennie gave the girl a friendly wink. “We’re fellow conspirators, soaking the instruments in the surgical theater before the great man arrives and spraying the place down.”
“We’ve changed the bandages once,” the nurse said.
“And we’re following Lister’s wound treatment methods to the letter.” Dr. Rennie felt Harriet’s forehead and nodded. “If the lass lives, she can thank Nurse Howland’s care and her friends’ quick thinking for saving her life. They ripped their petticoats and held them fast to the wound.”
“One of them was Princess Louise,” Nurse Howland said.
“Now that’s strange,” Rennie said, cupping his palms as the nurse poured carbolic solution onto his hands.
“What is?” Julia asked.
“The victim.” Rennie rubbed his hands vigorously. “Why shoot this lady and let the princess be? It’s the royals these lunaticsare after. Think of all the attacks on the queen. Did the gunman make a mistake?”
Julia looked down at the fair-haired Harriet.There is a resemblance.She wondered if Tennant had ever met Mrs. FitzGerald.
In the morning, Commissioner Mayne summoned Tennant and Sir Lionel to a meeting with the Fenian Department’s chief. Colonel Fielding looked pointedly at his watch. Sir Lionel Dermott was late.
“Let’s begin,” Sir Richard said. “Inspector?”
“I think the stolen French rifle all but settles the matter,” Tennant said. “We must consider that the shooter is Patrick McGrath, and his real target was Princess Louise, not Mrs. FitzGerald.”
“By God, I want action.” Sir Richard banged the conference table, rattling the French rifle lying in the middle. “It’s time the gloves came off.”
The door opened. “Apologies, gentleman.” Sir Lionel took his seat. “A cable from Karachi arrived at the Colonial Office. The message was sent there by mail steamer from Australia. Five days ago, an assailant in Sydney shot Prince Alfred in the back.”
The commissioner groaned. “Christ, Almighty. And the prince?”
“Expected to recover.”
“What else do we know about the attack?”
“The shooter is in police custody,” Dermott said. “His name is Henry O’Farrell, born in Dublin, and a suspected Fenian.”
“Worse and worse,” the commissioner muttered. “What in Hades was the prince doing in Australia?”
