Lady Olivia To The Rescue by Julia Parks Read Free Book Online

Olivia’s heart ached to think of the poor, mistreated animal she had rescued from the gutters in Cheapside.
    She turned away and rang for her maid. When the door opened, she frowned and said, “What is it, Jinks? Where is Pansy?”
    “She is still in her bed, m’lady. I fear that cough of hers is getting worse. And she’s got a fever, too.”
    “I must go to her at once. ” Olivia threw on a wrapper and hurried down the hall and up the back stairs to the servant’s quarters. Her maid was covered up to her chin in several blankets and was still shivering. Olivia sat on the edge of the narrow cot and put her hand on her maid’s burning forehead.
    “My goodness, Pansy. You should have sent for me. Jinks, get one of the footmen up here immediately to light a fire. Then tell Witchell to send for the physician.”
    “Yes, m’lady.” The other maid hurried away.
    Olivia looked at the water on the bedside table and poured a glass for the shivering maid. “Drink this. You must have lots to drink if you are to fight this fever.”
    The maid obeyed but then fell back against the pillow and said, “Please go, m’lady I don’t want you to get sick.”
    “I am never ill, as you well know. And someone must look after you. Now, close your eyes and sleep.”
    Olivia went down to dress. When she returned, she remained by the maid’s side until the doctor arrived. After examining the maid, he motioned to Olivia to join him in the corridor.
    “She is very ill, Lady Olivia. It will be touch and go. She seems a healthy girl. If she will do as she is told, I think she will recover. Have someone sit with her the rest of today and tonight—someone who is fit and unlikely to contract the disease.”
    “What do you think it is?”
    “Pneumonia, I fear, or as near to pneumonia as one can get. I have given her laudanum to help her rest. Give her enough to help her sleep through the day and night. I will come back tomorrow morning and see how she does.”
    “Thank you for coming so quickly, Doctor.”
    The sober man gave her a rusty smile and said, “When the footman said to come quickly, I feared it might be your formidable aunt.”
    “Hardly. She is as healthy as a horse.”
    “An admirable woman, your aunt.”
    “I shall tell her you said so.”
    “No need. She knows what I think of her already. It never made any difference.” With this cryptic remark, he gave a nod and hurried away.
    Olivia returned to her maid’s side to watch her sleep. While there, she puzzled over Mr. Jenson’s comment. The physician was from Wiltshire and had grown up near the same village as her mother and aunt. He had known her aunt forever, but his words indicated that there was more to their story than her aunt had ever revealed.
    Perhaps the good doctor had been an unsuccessful suitor for her aunt’s hand. Olivia had often wondered about her aunt’s past. There had never been any talk of thwarted love, but there had never been an uncle either. She resolved to ask her aunt about the good doctor at the first opportunity.
    Olivia left Pansy only long enough to fetch the novel she was currently reading. There she sat for the rest of the day, quite content to read and serve the servant broth when she awoke briefly. With the evening dose of laudanum, one of the other chambermaids named Missy entered the sickroom. She dropped a quick curtsey to Olivia’s greeting.
    “If it pleases you, m’lady, I’m here to sit with our Pansy through the night.” She pointed to the second cot and added, “That’s my cot right there, but I won’t sleep. I’ll keep watch, I promise.”
    “I’m sure you will, Missy. I have given her the medicine the doctor left. She seems to be resting quietly now, and I think her fever has come down. You must send to the kitchen for broth if she wakes in the middle of the night.”
    “Very good, m’lady.”
    “I am going out, but Mr. Witchell will know how to find me, should I be needed.”
    “She does look much