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The door opened to admit Helen with Doctor Albert, their family doctor close at his heels.

" Good you are here Vicky. The physician is here to examine the duke " she said with a smile. Helen had nursed Anthony denying herself sleep and Victoria did not blame her.

The woman nearly had an apoplexy when they returned home with Anthony unconscious. Seeing as Anthony was her only surviving family. Her hovering was to be expected and tolerated

"Good day your grace" the physician greeted with a slight brow to Anthony then turning to Victoria he greeted, "Your Grace."

Victoria inclined her head slightly to acknowledge the greeting

"Good morning, Doctor Albert. I hope your visit today will be free of needles and leeches. I absolutely abhor those things," Anthony said with a tone of disgust.

"As do all of us, your grace. They are a necessary evil. But I do not think they would be necessary. Let me take a look at your wound shall I?" The physician replied with a smile.

Doctor Albert was an older man that could not have seen any less than six decades of life. He had been their family doctor for as long as he could remember. He was sort of a family member at this point.

With a resigned sigh, Anthony set about the task of unbuttoning his shirt sleeves, when he was done. The doctor bent over him, examining the wound, his glasses pulled low on the bridge of his nose.

"Your Grace" he said turning to Victoria, "has he been compliant with his bed rest?" he asked.

"Absolutely not," Victoria answered with a laugh.

"I am sitting right here, you know you can ask me."

"Well, I hate to say I do not trust you, but your wife's response confirmed it."

The man totally ignored deference when he spoke to him, but he guessed he had earned the privilege, having tended him as a child and saving his life when he had returned from the war a shadow of himself. He owed the man his life, so he couldn't complain.

"The wound looks remarkably well healed, especially going by how stubborn you can be. I guess I have your wife to thank." He said looking over at Victoria

"Thank you, your grace," he said to her.

"It was my absolute pleasure," she answered, a slight blush appearing on his cheek.

"I hate to inform you though, this particular wound would be a nasty scar"

"I am no stranger to scars," Anthony said in reply. Gesturing to the extensive scars on his face. "This would just be added to the collection. I dare say it just adds to my charm, don't you agree wife?" He asked turning to Victoria

"Indeed," she said with a guarded smile.

That gave Anthony pause because he could swear that she had just been happily teasing him

What had he said to cause a drastic change in her mood. He tried to think back to what had been said earlier in the conversation in order to decipher some reason for her foul mood.

The doctor cleared his throat rather loudly reminding him of the man's presence of the room.

"Well your grace. I am blessed to inform you that you can go back to your normal daily activities. The wound had healed quite well. I don't envisage any problems, provided that you do not put yourself in danger involving daggers and the like."

"I assure you there is no danger of that happening. Thank you. Doctor Albert. At the very least my wife will cease to coddle me like a child," he said with a teasing smile looking in his wife's direction hoping to wheedle a smile from her, when he saw the sad look on her face. His concern returned in full force.

His mother must have noted their need for privacy because the next moment she offered to take the doctor downstairs to offer him some of the dessert cake the cook had made

The man made a show of refusing the offer, but everyone _ Anthony included - knew the physician had a terrible weakness for sweets. It was particularly funny because the man's daily routine in his line of work in life included preaching to people on the evils of consuming sweets.

He was a prime example of 'Do as I say not as I do' but then he guessed even doctors were human too and therefore were not immune to human weaknesses. He wasn't one to judge a man for his weaknesses, since his greatest one stood in the room with him.

The moment he heard the click of the door closing behind their visitors. He rose and walked around to the other side of the bed to stand beside Victoria.

She was making a studious effort of avoiding his gaze. That behavior alone solidified his suspicion that something was truly wrong. He had married a bold outspoken woman who was not prone to bashfulness. The fact that she now exhibited that attribute struck him as quite odd