How to Heal the Marquess by Sally Forbes
Chapter Six
Tobias stared after the impertinent physician as he hurried away, dumbfounded. He had never had someone of the middle class speak to him in such a manner. While Tobias would have been willing to forget all about a similar incident if it had occurred during an encounter with the doctor in public, Tobias felt it was highly inappropriate when he and his family were employing the man to perform a service. He was far less inclined to pretend it had not occurred, especially since there were other physicians to be had.
“Mother,” Tobias said, turning to the dowager marchioness. “I do not at all approve of Dr. Gibson’s ethics or behavior.”
The older woman furrowed her brow and bit her lip. The worry in her eyes was apparent, but she offered her son a small smile as she touched his arm.
“I know he seems a bit unorthodox,” she said, “but he is the best doctor in all of London. Your grandfather could not receive better care than he will from Dr. Gibson.”
Tobias snorted.
“Indeed,” he said with sharp sarcasm. “He disrespects those who employ him, and he leaves a woman to tend to medical work. That does not seem like an excellent physician to me at all.”
The marchioness frowned.
“I understand you are worried for your grandfather,” she said, her voice tired and clearly full of her own distress. “But Miss Gibson has acted as her father’s nurse and assistant for years. He would never leave your grandfather in her care if he did not think she was capable. And, as with her father, her reputation precedes her. She is a fine nurse, and I have no doubt she will be excellent with your grandfather in her father’s stead.”
Tobias began to protest further, but then, he merely nodded. He did not wish to further upset his mother by arguing with her, but he was not at all convinced that a woman should be working in medicine.
If the good doctor wished to allow his spinster daughter to work for him, he should have her do receptionist work at his clinic or home. A woman had no business practicing medicine in any capacity, and he frowned upon any doctor who allowed a woman to do so.
After motioning for his mother to wait there in the hall, Tobias entered his grandfather’s bedchamber. He was overwhelmed by the sudden pallor and feverish look his grandfather had when he had appeared healthy and strong just hours before. But there was something else. The doctor’s daughter sat just beside his grandfather’s bed, wringing out a linen cloth in a nearby bowl. Then, she gently dabbed the duke’s forehead and faced with it, her olive complexioned face set with an expression of concentration and attentiveness.
That she was beautiful was surprise enough. He supposed he had expected a plain, plump, wild-haired woman rather than the petite, delicate-looking young lady, with wispy, light brown tresses and attractively high cheekbones, who sat before him. He stood and studied her for a moment before she noticed his entrance. When she did so, he was astonished once again.
The eyes which now looked up at him through the rogue strands of light-brown hair that had slipped down into her face as she worked were wide and a brilliant emerald-green. Tobias did not realize he had stopped breathing for a moment until his chest began to ache. And he did not realize he had been staring at her the entire time he had been in the room until his grandfather started a violent coughing fit.
Faster than a bird in flight, Miss Gibson turned her full attention back to the duke, expertly repositioning his pillows and massaging his chest with the most delicate touch until the coughing subsided.
Tobias was glad for her quick and knowledgeable action, but he still could not bring himself to approve of a woman performing any sort of medical tasks. He would say nothing, however. A job well done was a job well done, and he could not bring himself to seem ungrateful in that moment, even if it was an inappropriate circumstance.
Once the duke had caught his breath, his head tilted to the side, and he locked eyes with Tobias, smiling weakly as he realized his grandson was in the room. He winced as he tried to push himself up in bed, upon which Miss Gibson gently placed her hand on his chest once more and murmured something Tobias could not hear.
Based on the way the duke then relaxed, he guessed she had encouraged him to lie back and not try to sit up. Tobias shifted his weight, not wanting to disturb his grandfather’s rest but also not wanting to leave him all alone with the young woman.
A moment later, the duke motioned for Miss Gibson to come closer to him. She complied, leaning down so that her ear was close to his face. Tobias flinched, realizing his grandfather must still be too strained from the coughing spell to speak normally.
As before, he could not hear what was being said, but Miss Gibson nodded, promptly rising from her chair. After placing a damp cloth across the duke’s forehead, she turned and made her way toward the door.
Tobias stepped aside to allow her to pass, but before she left the room, she glanced up at him. Her eyes were grave and concerned, but Tobias was once more taken aback at just how beautiful they were.
“Lord Berbrook wishes to have a word with you,” she said. Her voice was soft and musical, despite the weight of her tone. “You must call me immediately if he takes a turn for the worse. I will be just outside the door.”
Tobias could see the intensity in her lovely eyes as she spoke. Even though he found it distasteful to take medical advice from a woman, he could not help feeling the need to comply with her request. But no response was needed. Before he could speak, the duke cleared his throat, weakly but loudly enough to gain the attention of both Tobias and the young woman.
“Tobias, come and sit with me,” he said hoarsely.
Tobias looked down, but the young woman was already exiting the room. Tobias found he was disappointed, though he could not quite understand why. As she closed the door tightly behind her, Tobias slowly made his way across the room.
It was all he could do not to look away from his beloved grandfather. The man who had, just hours before, been so full of life and joviality now looked every bit at the man on his death bed. Swallowing his emotions, Tobias complied, sitting in the chair the doctor’s daughter had just vacated.
He tried to keep his expression as stoic as possible, but his dread renewed when he saw the dullness in the duke’s eyes. In that instant, Tobias felt sure his grandfather was going to die, tonic or no tonic, lady attendant or no lady attendant.
“Tobias, my boy,” he wheezed, pausing to try to suppress another coughing spell. “I would speak with you about something important.”
Tobias shook his head firmly, as much to reject whatever his grandfather was about to say as to shake the horrid thoughts filling his mind.
“Grandfather, you should rest now,” he said, his devastation creeping into his voice. “We can talk when you are better.”
The duke looked at Tobias with those same dull, miserable eyes and gave his head a weak shake.
“I may not get better, Tobias,” he said faintly. “I may, indeed, never overcome this illness.”
“Do not say that, Grandfather,” Tobias interrupted, a large lump forming in his throat. “You have the best physician in all of London. I am sure this is simply a chest cold that has gotten a bit out of hand.”
The duke reached out and grabbed Tobias’s arm with a cold, clammy hand. Tobias swallowed vainly, his mouth dry and the lump too large to do anything but stick itself firmly in his throat.
“I am very ill, my boy,” he said, as though it were fact and not an educated guess. “And most people who fall ill, and stay ill for long periods of time, do not survive. And I have some very important things I must say to you before my passing.”
Tobias wanted to continue rejecting his grandfather’s words, but he found he could no longer speak. All he could do was nod and squeeze his grandfather’s hand to encourage him to continue speaking.
After another moment of wheezing, the duke spoke again.
“You have always been a good boy, Tobias,” he said. “A very energetic boy, to be sure, but a good boy, nonetheless.” He paused to catch his breath, and Tobias nodded obediently. “And I could not be prouder of the man you have become. But now, the time has come when I must ask you to promise me something that is of far greater importance than anything you have ever been asked thus far.”
The dread that had been forming in his stomach since his grandfather’s collapse grew exponentially just then. But he simply nodded once more, patting one of the duke’s ice-cold hands.
“Of course, Grandfather,” he said, grimacing a smile. “Ask anything of me, and I shall comply.”
The duke nodded, something close to relief filling his sickly features.
“I know that you will,” he said. “I need you to promise me that you will attend this Season and find a wife.”
Tobias felt his tenuous grasp on reality begin to slip further. How had the day gone from love for family and spending time with one another to his beloved grandfather falling gravely ill and him having to promise to marry?
Recognizing he had foolishly already made a promise to his grandfather, Tobias fumbled for words. He desperately wished to plead with the duke to reconsider. He wanted to tell his grandfather that his fears were unfounded, that he would survive the illness, which was surely nothing more than a chest cold that had manifested quickly and would pass soon enough. He wanted to say that, as such, there was no need for him to rush to get married.
However, as he looked down at his grandfather, he realized he could not be sure of any of those things. Moreover, he could see his grandfather did not believe he would recover. He seemed certain that he was speaking what was sure to be some of his last coherent words. And he seemed even surer that he wanted his grandson to make him the promise which Tobias had unwittingly agreed to make.
“I shall do my best,” Tobias said, at last, knowing his words sounded unconvincing.
The duke looked at his grandson with a mix of empathy and urgency; an expression Tobias found terribly odd and frightening on the old man’s pale, sickly face.
“I understand I am asking a great deal of you, my boy,” he said, succeeding this time in suppressing his cough but wheezing loudly as he spoke. “But I need you to do this for me. And I know you will make a fine husband and an even finer duke.” He paused, still struggling. “I believe that the young Lady Selina took a liking to you this evening. Perhaps you might consider a courtship with her?”
Tobias inwardly groaned at the thought of spending even a single moment more with Lady Selina. She was insufferable at best, despite her beauty. But outwardly, he simply smiled at his grandfather. There was no need to trouble the ailing duke with his thoughts of the conceited young woman. There would be time to debate about what to do about her later. Right then, he needed to set his grandfather’s mind at ease so that he would rest.
“I gave you my word that I would do as you ask of me,” he said, trying his best to sound and appear reassuring. “And I shall attend this Season and seek a bride.”
The duke smiled, and, for a moment, he looked a great deal better. But then, he winced, rubbing his chest, which no doubt pained him from all the coughing.
“My good boy,” he said, his smile turning into a grimace.
