Page 2 of Doctor Hardy and the Hysteria Machine (The Doctor’s Pleasure #1)

Chapter One

“Y ou seem distracted today, dear. Something on your mind?” Lady Alice asked over her half-moon spectacles, setting down the heavy book of lace samples.

Beatrice felt naked in the piercing blue gaze of her seamstress. The proprietor of Maison Ashbury gave an uncanny impression of seeing straight through her faithful customers, laying their thoughts—as well as bodies—bare in her fashionable fitting room.

“I don’t even know where to begin.”

The older woman put one skilled, gracefully wrinkled hand on her bare arm, and Beatrice burst into tears.

Between heaving sobs, Beatrice told her everything. Her fateful stroll with Eric in the rose garden. The most romantic night of her life turned ruinous because of her shameful inadequacies. How she had, like a fool, decidedly and irrevocably driven the dashing suitor out of her life.

Lady Alice produced a lace handkerchief and led her to a leather armchair, “It was hardly your fault, my dearest. You were simply overwhelmed.”

Beatrice sighed and slumped into the chair, her new green dress slung forgotten on its winged back. The silk ball gown had cost a small fortune, but she was in no mood for this final fitting.

“How can I ever show my face again?”

The social season was in full swing, and the budding romance between the youngest Lady Campbell and London’s most eligible bachelor was the talk of the town.

“Why don't you write to him?” counseled the reasonable lady, “Tell him it was all a terrible misunderstanding?”

Beatrice buried her face in a handful of Cluny lace and groaned, the embarrassment still raw.

“Alice, he tried to kiss me, and I flew into a fit of hysteria! Being near him, my nerves take on a mind of their own. And before he asked me to marry him, he spoke of certain… duties. Wife and an heir.”

How could she be trusted with carrying his bloodline? If a mere waltz in his arms left her breathless and faint, how on earth could she expect to consummate a marriage and perform her wifely duties?

Lady Alice squeezed her shoulder, apparently understanding her unspoken shame.

“Well, my dear. Get dressed and come take your tea with me. It so happens I might have just the solution to your problem.”

B eatrice turned the unassuming card over and over, her tea cold and untouched on the table.

LADIES — A new hysteria treatment to afford immediate relief in cases of agitation, nerves, insomnia, and infertility. With a little perseverance may effect a long-lasting cure. The world’s first true beautifier that works from within. Warranted to give satisfaction in every case or money refunded.

Call on Doctor Richard Hardy’s clinic, London.

“Will this treatment work?” She finally asked, raising one eyebrow.

“Only one way to find out.” Alice winked over her cup.