Page 93 of Seduced by an Irresistible Lady

They looked normal, no discolouration and no dilation. He took the Duke’s palm and looked into it. The Duke’s palm was pink, no signs of reduced blood flow. The Duke’s temperature was normal.

“Your Grace, could you hold your breath for a few seconds?”

The Duke looked surprised, and then he nodded. Dr Frederick waited a second to be sure he was already doing it before he placed his head on the Duke’s chest. The beat of his heart was steady and rhythmical.

“Frank,” Dr Frederick said when he removed his head from the Duke’s chest. He didn’t look back at his dresser.

“Sir,” Mister Frank answered.

“Bring my tube listener.”

After a few moments of ransacking Dr Frederick’s tube box, Mister Frank gave him a long tube with flannelled ends. Those were the ends to be placed on the chest. He put one ear at the other end of the tube. Dr Frederick found that when in a calm environment, like this, it gave a much clearer sound of the heartbeat. He placed it on the Duke’s chest and closed his eyes, pouring all his concentration into what he was hearing.

After a few moments of listening, Dr Frederick found what he was looking for. There was a quirk, a small change in rhythm at the end of the Duke’s heartbeat. Dr Frederick suspected that the Duke’s problem was congenital and incurable.

At least not by the medicine we have now.

He believed it could be managed. Crisis would always prop up after a bit, but with a proper lifestyle and medicine, the man could have a fair swing at a longer life than his father.

“You can sit up again, Your Grace,” Dr Frederick said.

The Duke sat down again. His eyes focused on Dr Frederick, making Dr Frederick very conscious of what he wanted to say. He couldn’t see the Duke’s eyes, despite his intense gaze.

This is who Lord Jeffrey gets his dark eyes from.

“So how is he?” the Duchess asked.

“The Duke is doing very well, Your Grace.”

“I presume you have been resting properly now. And you spend enough time in the outdoors,” Dr Frederick said to the Duke.

“Yes, I do. Sometimes I choose not to go on assignments. I send Jeffrey there,” the Duke said pointing behind Dr Frederick.

Dr Frederick turned back to see Lord Jeffrey standing just behind him. He was so scared he almost jumped.

Lord Jeffrey did not say anything. He didn’t acknowledge Dr Frederick’s stare at him. He just kept his gaze on his father.

“Is there anything else I need to incorporate into my lifestyle?” the Duke asked.

“Nothing. Your Grace, Did you need to use the laudanum?”

“I used it a lot at the beginning, but when the pains stopped, I stopped.”

Dr Frederick nodded his head. Then there was no need to give them the new one.

“Then we have no serious changes needed to be made. I just want to implore that in the case there is a sudden change, I mean a downturn in health, that you summon me without delay. I am developing something that might be able to lift you out from situations where–”

“–where your heart is acting up,” Dr Frederick had meant to say, but he remembered Lord Jeffrey stood just behind him.

“–where you feel rather down.”

“Of course, we would do that Doctor,” the Duke answered.

“I would like to be excused now, Your Grace. I have to take my leave,” Dr Frederick said.

“I will escort you.”

Dr Frederick looked back again and saw that Lord Jeffrey had already started walking to the door.