The Doctor and the Libertine: The Merry Misfits of Bath - Book Five

by Hutton, Callie

  “You have a gentle touch, my lord.” Dr. Stevens smiled at him as she proceeded to wash the child’s cuts and scrapes.

  “May I suggest that since we are standing here together, working on a small, abused child that we do away with the ‘my lord?’ My given name is Edwin.”

  If she had felt insulted by his suggestion, she did not show it. In fact, she surprised him. Without taking her eyes off her work, she said, “And you may call me Rayne.”

  “An unusual name.” For an unusual woman, he thought, but didn’t add.

  “Yes. I believe my father named me in anticipation that he would not father any sons and wanted at least one of his children to follow in his footsteps.” She wrung out the cloth and dipped it into the bowl of clean water. “You see, he believed with my name I might be confused for a male and be able to trick my way into medical school.”

  “Ah. And I’m assuming it worked?”

  She laughed. He loved the sound of her laughter, especially because it was so seldom that she let loose. From what he’d seen, hers was a very staid, serious life. She needed to enjoy life more.

  And I need to enjoy it less.

  “Yes. Since I am a doctor, you can assume it worked. However, it wasn’t easy. The people in charge of the school were not happy to find they had admitted a woman. They tried to withdraw the acceptance, but they had no grounds except that I was female.

  “Then my professors and classmates tried their best to subvert my efforts. I studied more, spent more hours taking notes at clinicals, did more extra credit work, but still I was considered second class.” She shook her head. “It was frustrating. I look forward to the day when women can be accepted as smart, confident, able people.” She looked over at him. “We are more than our female parts, you know.”

  He coughed to cover his laugh. “Yes. You are more than your female parts. But don’t dismiss those so easily, either. You don’t have to be one or the other. You could be both.”

  They continued in silence as they both worked on the young patient. Once Edwin had removed all the dirt and filth from her small body, more and more signs of beatings appeared. He grew so angry he wanted to punch someone.

  “How serious are her injuries?” He dried her newly washed feet and tossed the linens into the bucket Rayne kept in the infirmary to be send to the launderers.

  “Amazingly enough, not serious. I don’t know if she was hit directly, or merely received a glancing blow. Given the carriage wheel mark on her dress it might have missed her body. My main concern now is that she hasn’t awoken.”

  “Does she have any bumps on her head?”

  “Yes. At the very back. A rather large one. It might be from being hit with the carriage or slamming her head on the pavement when she bounced off.”

  “Or given the other bruises on her body, it could be something she had before she was hit with the carriage.” Edwin felt a bit sick to his stomach looking at the little girl with so many marks on her frail body. Someone needed to pay for this. And not just the carriage driver, who should be first in line for hitting her and then just going about his business.

  Rayne smoothed the girl’s hair back from her forehead. “I will watch her carefully until she awakens.”

  Randolph joined them in the infirmary. “My lord, the driver has arrived to escort you home.”

  Rayne and Edwin looked at each other.

  “I thought I told him to come around three?” Edwin said.

  “It is fifteen minutes to three now, my lord.” Randolph had a valise in his hand.

  “Oh, my,” Rayne said, “we worked so long on our little patient that we missed luncheon.”

  “Shall I make the driver wait?” All of a sudden Edwin felt as if he was a child once again leaving home for the first time to attend Eton. He’d been so comfortable here, and so removed from his life that the thought of returning to everything he left behind held no appeal.

  He was being ridiculous. What was he going to do? Continue to live here and work as Rayne’s assistant? He was a member of the peerage. If anyone from his rank worked, it was businesses, or the stock market. Railroads and shipping. Those were the professions of his class.

  Not wiping down the filthy body of a small girl who had been neglected, abused, and starved.

  “Well, then. I guess it is time to depart.” He turned to Rayne, not caring for the look of desolation on her face. Surely, she wasn’t sorry to see him go?

  “Yes. Then I see that it is.” She straightened and for a moment the Dr. Stevens he’d first awakened to had returned. Gone was the soft, caring woman who he’d worked side by side with the past week.

  “I wish to thank you again for taking such good care of me, Dr. Stevens.” He could not think of one other thing to say. All the things he wanted to say but could not, would forever remain unspoken.

  Rayne held out her hand and he took it. “I’m glad you have recovered, my lord. If you find any problems with your leg once you return home, please send word.”

  “And be sure to send your bill around for my man of business to pay.”

  She nodded. “Certainly. I will do that post haste.”

  “So, again thank you.” He took a deep breath and turned to join Randolph at the door.

  Before he left, he turned. “If there is anything you need…”

  Dr. Stevens smiled. “I will be fine. Thank you for your concern.”

  “Yes.” He hesitated. “Goodbye, then.” With his trusty cane at the ready, he stepped out onto the steps and made his way down. The driver opened the door and he stepped in. Once he was settled, he looked back at the house and saw Dr. Stevens watching him from the front room window, her finger holding back the lace curtain.

  He waved.

  She waved.

  The carriage rolled forward.

  Chapter 6

  Rayne checked on Glory, the little girl who was brought to them after being hit by a carriage two days before. Once she’d awakened, she told Rayne her name was Glory because right after her birth, her mama said, “Glory be, another mouth to feed!” Whereupon her mother promptly died.

  Rayne tried her best not to laugh, particularly at the serious way the little girl told the story. She said she lived with ‘some people’ and sold matches on the street corner. If she sold a lot, she got to eat. If not, she had to wait until the next day.

  The little girl broke Rayne’s heart.

  She had no idea what she would do with Glory, but one thing she was adamant about. She would not be returned to ‘some people’.

  It had only been two days since Edwin had left. She found herself waiting to hear an inappropriate remark over her shoulder while she worked, or the tap and shuffle of his gait. And then feeling a sense of loss when it didn’t come.

  She had to pull herself out of this. Life was pleasant, fulfilling, and worthwhile before he entered her life, and it would continue to be so once she got her concentration back. She was probably just tired.

  “Dr. Stevens!” She jumped when a man’s voice startled her out of her reverie. A strange man stormed into the infirmary, reminding her she’d forgotten to lock the front door again.

  “Yes. I am Dr. Stevens. How may I help you?”

  The man was frantic and out of breath. He was a large man, gruffy looking. “There’s been a terrible accident, and we need your help.”

  “Certainly. I’ll grab my bag.”

  He took a deep breath and shook his head. “No. They are bringing patients here. The injured who they don’t have room for at hospital. How many may we bring you?”

  “Oh, dear. If I use every bed in the house, I can take twelve, but two of them are taken up by the children.” She waved in the direction of Glory, and a young boy who was still recovering from influenza.

  “Ten it is, then. We’ll be back in about an hour.” He raced from the house before she even got to ask him what sort of accident it was. Now she had no idea how to prepare. She ran after him, but he had already jumped on a horse and was o
n his way.

  She fisted her hands at her waist. Well, that was annoying. She shrugged and returned to the infirmary, and began piling up medicines, salves, sewing tools, clean towels, and bandages. In her mind she went over what sort of injuries those involved in an accident—if only she knew what the accident was—would have need of.

  Hot clean water was always a necessity, so she hurried to the kitchen and put on large pots of water to boil. She moved Glory and Peter upstairs, putting them both together in a bed in her extra bedchamber since the little boy was no longer at the contagious stage of his influenza.

  With no idea what she was facing, she paced the infirmary, waiting. Walter was not with her today since his mother needed his assistance and she allowed him the day off. That left her alone with ten new patients coming from an accident. She broke into a sweat but told herself whatever it was she could handle it. Father would be very disappointed if she fell apart.

  About forty-five minutes after the man had hurried from the house, he returned. Noise and confusion reigned as they entered, with some people being helped in, limping and crying, a few carried on a stretcher and one who walked in on his own accord, with a cloth over his eye.

  “Please put each patient in a bed and I will meet with them quickly to see who needs help immediately, and who can wait a bit.” As the men carrying in the patients did as she bid, she asked, “Can anyone stay and help?”

  “No, ma’am. I’m sorry, but we still have a lot to transport to hospital and the other doctors in town.” It seemed within minutes all the beds were full, wails, groans and complaints raising the noise level.

  She checked the closest woman to her who was unconscious. “What happened?” She threw the question out to no one in particular.

  One of the men who’d carried in a few people said, “Two trains collided.” He shook his head. “There’s some fatalities.”

  Rayne offered up a quick prayer for those who were killed and for those now suffering. The man who originally came into the infirmary tugged on the brim of his hat. “We will be going now, Doctor.”

  “Yes. Thank you.” She took a quick look around and fought the urge to run from the place. She was a doctor, and these were people suffering. Even though she was alone, she had to do this.

  She ran the back of her hand over her forehead and moved to the next patient. Once her heart settled, she was able to think clearly. As she moved from bed to bed, she wrote down each patient’s name, age, and injuries. As the list grew, she felt better. Organization always calmed her.

  “What’s this?” The familiar voice that Rayne had been hearing in her mind for two days rose above the din. She whirled around to see Lord Sterling leaning heavily on his cane as he took in the chaos.

  “Oh, thank God you’re here. I need so much help.” She closed her eyes and choked down the tears. If she cried it would only upset the patients and they had enough worries and pain to handle. Even though she was quite certain Edwin didn’t know a bandage from a splint, he was two more hands.

  “I am at your service, good doctor.” He made his way over to her. “What has happened?”

  She took a deep breath, so grateful for his unexpected appearance. “There was a train accident and from the little information I got, many were injured and,” she lowered her voice, “some were killed. Hospital is full, and I believe most, if not all, doctors in Bath are in this same position.” She waved her hand around.

  Edwin nodded, shrugged out of his jacket, and began to roll up his sleeves. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I hate to give you the messy job, but all these patients who have cuts and scrapes need to have them cleaned, salve and a bandage put on the minor ones, and a notation if you believe a cut needs sewing up, or if it seems serious.”

  Edwin continued to roll up his sleeves as she resumed her examination of one of the patients. “While you do that, I will be checking for broken bones and life-threatening injuries.”

  Without another word, Edwin moved to the patient closest to him and spoke with the young man.

  Rayne breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he had no medical training, just having someone else with her worked to calm her. She looked up at one point and Edwin was returning to the room. She hadn’t even seen him leave. Too busy to ask where he’d been, she returned to her work.

  He dove right in again and continued to speak to the patients. He was apparently using his charm on a few of the ladies who were not seriously injured, but probably upset. A giggle once in a while had Rayne smiling to herself.

  “We’re here to help,” Lottie and Addie swept into the room, followed by Pamela.

  “What?” She stared at her three friends, each of them moving to a bed to speak with a patient. They each wore a long apron that covered their dresses. Yes. It appeared they had arrived to work.

  “I brought Cook with me. She will fix a meal for everyone,” Addie said, totally ignoring Rayne’s stunned expression. Her friend was always an organized, take-charge person.

  “How did you… Why are you…?” She fumbled, not sure if she was even making sense.

  Addie dipped a linen in a pan of hot water and began cleaning the wound on an older man’s forehead. It was quite a gash and it would require stitching. “Lord Sterling sent word to my home that you were in a bad position and needed all the help you could get. I had heard about the train accident, so I assumed that was what you needed assistance with. I took my carriage to Lottie’s house, then Pamela’s and we are all here to help you.”

  “He did that?” She looked over at Edwin who was busy wrapping a bandage around an older woman’s arm.

  Edwin had not been sure if Lady Berkshire would appreciate receiving a note from him. After his major misstep and foolishness with Mrs. Westbrooke, he most likely occupied a prominent position on the ‘dastardly devil’ list for the women who called themselves the Merry Misfits of Bath.

  However, he knew from the time spent at the infirmary that these ladies were close friends with Rayne. He also knew their compassion for her would override their dislike of him.

  He had spent the past two days avoiding his friends and brooding in front of the fireplace in his drawing room. Twice he limped to the sideboard and poured himself a brandy and twice he dumped it into the fireplace, hearing the hiss as it turned into steam, taking his weakness with it.

  For the first time in a couple of years the activities that normally appealed to him no longer enticed. Twice Manchester and Brennan barged into his drawing room attempting to drag him out. He used the excuse of his leg, and even went so far as to hide his cane from view.

  They left, disgusted with him. Even more worrisome was he then found himself going through his as yet unused library looking for medical books.

  Medical books!

  That morning he finally admitted he missed Rayne and the busyness of the infirmary. He missed her smile, her dedication to her patients and even her chastising him when he made inappropriate remarks.

  She was truly a unique woman, very different from any he’d met before in his life. She cared not for fancy things, and beautiful clothes. He knew if he offered her a piece of expensive jewelry in thanks for taking care of him, she would likely throw it back in his face. Or sell it to buy supplies for the infirmary.

  So, with the proverbial tail between his legs, he’d spruced up that morning—much to Randolph’s relief since it had been days since he cared what he wore—and took his carriage to the infirmary. On the way there he hit on the brilliant idea of telling Rayne he was merely there to check her books to make sure she was not messing up all the work he’d done.

  Instead, he’d walked into total chaos with Rayne looking as though she was not only overwhelmed, but frightened. His strong, courageous Rayne was scared!

  My strong courageous Rayne?

  Best to put that statement to rest. She would no more be his than the ruffian who’d brought the street urchin in.

  All those thoughts ran through his mind as he e
xamined scrapes, cleaned cuts, and limped from bed to bed to assist the other women, who, simply by nature knew more about patient care than he ever would.

  Mrs. Westbrooke stiffened when he approached her as she was attempting to turn a patient over, and he offered to help. As much as he wanted to assure her that he was harmless and would never, ever speak badly about her again, this was not the time or place to do that.

  “May I help? I’m a tad stronger than you.” Although he smiled, she did not return the gesture, but stepped back for him to turn the patient over.

  “I can take over now,” she said. He moved away and thought he heard her mumble “thank you.” He was grateful for that.

  The five of them continued to work diligently, and within a few hours, which sped by, they had everyone patched up and resting comfortably. However, the room looked like a battlefield and smelled just as bad.

  Wadded up cloths drenched in blood were piled in a corner. Water had splashed in different places on the floor, forcing them to walk around puddles, lest they slip and add to the patient count. One young child had vomited in a bucket. All the injured had been given a tisane to help them sleep, and notes had gone out to family members letting them know where their loved ones were.

  Which meant it would be some time before Rayne would be able to get any rest with family members arriving to see the injured.

  Rayne stretched, causing his eyes to go directly to her lovely breasts, and then he quickly looked away, lest any of the women noticed. Although she looked a mess, with her hair hanging down, her face smeared with what he didn’t care to know, and tired eyes, she looked beautiful to him.

  The other women appeared just as worn out. He was amazed that these ladies who had maids and other servants to do their work had volunteered to come and help. Although, that was apparently what he’d assumed would happen when he sent word to Lady Berkshire.

  “Rayne, do not trouble yourself with this mess. I will send for two of my maids to come and clean up.” Mrs. Westbrooke grinned. “I will pay them a little extra.”

  Rayne shook her head. “No. I will pay them.”