TemptingJuliana by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page B

close. “If I could pay you, I would.”
    Noting the telltale pox scars on her face, he knew her words came from the heart. He usually encouraged parents to be vaccinated along with their children, but that had obviously been unnecessary in her case.
    “Thank you ,” he returned, “for doing your part. We’re not in need of your money. But please tell your friends and neighbors about New Hope Institute. With your help, we can annihilate this dreadful scourge once and for all.”
    James would be happy with no less. It was his belief that if only everyone everywhere were vaccinated, smallpox could be wiped off the globe. It was a daunting task, he knew, but he was determined to do his part in London.
    Unfortunately, London was not particularly cooperative. The poor were sadly skeptical and uninformed, and some churchmen preached that vaccination interfered with the will of God, believing smallpox was sent to chasten the population. In addition, the Institute could handle only a certain number of people per day. But James paid men to canvass the poorer parishes and talk people into bringing their children, which made it all the more frustrating when those who agreed were forced to stand out in the cold and rain.
    He found a box of sugar sticks and sent the girl and her mother on their way, then settled the next patients in the two vacant treatment rooms. Once he ascertained that Dr. Hanley had a quantity of vaccine, sugar sticks, and other necessary supplies, he knocked on the door to the third room. “Miss Chumford?”
    A prolonged sniffle was the only answer.
    “Miss Chumford, may I come in?”
    “It’s your Institute,” the young woman pointed out in a tiny voice.
    Yes, it was. He opened the door. Then almost closed it at the sight of Miss Chumford’s red, splotchy face.
    There were few things he avoided more than a woman’s tears. Emotional tears, in any case. As a doctor, he’d learned to endure tears caused by pain, but the other sort was another matter altogether.
    With a sigh, he stepped into the room. “There’s a queue outside, and if it grows any longer it’s likely to reach all the way to Surrey.”
    “I’m sorry,” she whimpered.
    “Whatever could be amiss?”
    Both of her hands pressed to her middle, she raised flooded eyes to meet his. A lone tear trickled down her cheek. She said nothing.
    He shifted uncomfortably, torn between heartrending sympathy and heart-hardening annoyance. He had the Institute to run. People in need. He’d employed her to keep the physicians well supplied and make sure the patients were seen as quickly and efficiently as possible. A simple job, really, and necessary to the smooth operation of the facility. And she was the second assistant within a month to…
    He looked back to her hands, which were rubbing her middle now. “You’re with child, aren’t you?” he suddenly realized, even though her belly looked flat.
    After all, that was the reason his last assistant had left.
    She nodded miserably, with the longest, most pathetic sniffle yet.
    “And you’re not wed, of course,” he surmised less than brilliantly. After all, she was Miss Chumford.
    This time she nodded and words tumbled out of her mouth. “Papa will k-kill me, or at least throw me out of the house. Harry, my…the f-father of my child, cannot afford a home of his own. We shall have to live with his p-parents, and his mother hates me, and his father—”
    “Your Harry is willing to marry you?” James interrupted. “To take responsibility for his offspring?”
    She nodded again, still blubbering. “H-Harry is a good man, m-my lord, and a hard worker. B-but—”
    “Wait here, Miss Chumford.” He could take no more of her tears. There were plenty of things to be miserable about that couldn’t be fixed. Fixing this would be a simple enough matter.
    He had a small safe in his private office, from which he withdrew fifty pounds. A pittance to him, but enough to cover a small family’s rent and