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Anthony stared at her. “You really do know about these things.”

“Is that not why you asked me here?” she replied, furrowing her brow.

“Well… yes, but I did not realize you would behave like a doctor,” he said, fumbling again.

She chuckled and began to rummage through her medicine bag, taking out a tonic made from specially imported, and terribly expensive, sleepy grass that had come from the Far East. It was, by far, the most potent remedy for fever that she had ever made, though she had decoctions of willow bark and feverfew too, just in case.

Next, she took out a small measuring cup and the medicine spoon that she had designed herself to have a tapered edge on one side, like the spout of a jug, for easier pouring into unconscious mouths.

Into the measuring cup she put honey, a few drops of rosemary extract, a few drops of peppermint oil, and a small dose of the sleepy grass tonic. Adding water from the jug by the bed, she mixed it until it was the right consistency.

“What are you giving him?” the duke asked, his tone verging on panicked.

She told him the concoction. “I used it on my uncle this past winter when he took ill. There is nothing that works faster on a fever.”

“And you truly know what you are doing?” he pressed.

If you do not trust me, why did you ask me here?

She held her tongue, understanding that he was just a worried father.

“I do,” she replied, and promptly poured the mixture into William’s mouth. That done, she gently rubbed his throat to help him swallow, until she was certain he had.

She was just dipping into her bag for the pot of cooling salve she had brought, made from the wondrous aloe vera plant and a small quantity of exotic eucalyptus oil, when the door flew open. An older woman came running in, her hand to her chest.

“Doctor Stanforth cannot make it, Your Grace,” she gasped. “He is tending to someone else and may be some hours. At least, that is what his assistant said. Shall I send the footman for another doctor? Should we prepare the carriage to take the young master to St. Bartholomew’s? Failing that, the Royal College of Surgeons?”

Marina froze, her gaze sliding to the duke.

If he sent for a physician already, why did he send for me too?

“Have the footman send for Doctor Bain,” the duke replied. “If Doctor Bain is unavailable, tell him to fetch Doctor Morton instead. Instruct the butler to go with him; he knows where to find them.”

The woman bobbed her head and left, as Marina quietly stowed away her things.

“Would you care to explain?” she asked, when the duke did not produce the truth of his own volition.

He sighed and walked to the window, where he turned and leaned against the sill. “He asked for you.”

“Who did?”

The duke nodded toward his son. “He did. Before he became insensible, he asked for you.” He puffed out a breath. “That is why I asked you to come. I thought your presence might be a comfort to him.”

“And you let me give him medicine?” She stared at him, uncertain of how to feel.

The duke shrugged, a hard laugh leaving his lips. “After I saw you tend to him, I believed you knew what you were doing. I do not know how you know so much, but…”

He trailed off, shaking his head as if he too could not quite believe he had allowed her so much responsibility.

“I would never do anything to harm him,” she said, to allay his fears. “I do know what I am doing. Indeed, if things were different, I might be Doctor Longman, for I have studied as hard as any student of medicine. All I lack is the permission to be one.”

The duke met her gaze once more, his head tilted as if assessing her. “You are a peculiar woman, Miss Longman.”

“So I have been told, rather often,” she replied. “Fortunately for your son, I am the right kind of peculiar, otherwise you would be waiting hours for a physician. When it comes to lowering a fever, speed is of the essence.”

Removing the lid from her pot of salve, she slicked a thick layer across William’s brow and under his nose, adding a little more across his chest to ease any possible congestion.

“Well then,” he said firmly, “I suppose we shall have to wait and see how good of a ‘doctor’ you are.”