“I certainly hope you are wrong, Your Lordship,” Dr. Carson said as he slipped into the pen and began examining the cow. “Are there others?” he asked looking at Harry with a worried expression.
“I saw one other but there might be more.”
“Find them now, if you can and secure them in this pen.”
Harry looked at Christopher and they began to inspect the rest of the animals in this field. Unfortunately, this was only one field with only some of Harry’s herd. They would need to inspect all the rest and that might take hours.
“What are we looking for?” Christopher asked as he started going from animal to animal looking for anything that looked out of order.
“Drooling, or any sign of pain or discomfort. That is what I saw yesterday.
“And that is all?”
“That is all that I saw,” Harry called out as he was examining cattle further away from Christopher.
“Here is one,” Christopher called, and Harry ran over to join him.
They looked closely, and yes, the cow was drooling, and her tongue was hard, swollen and she appeared to be in pain and had difficulty breathing.
“I will take her to the pen. You keep looking,” Harry instructed.
He led the cow to the pen where Dr. Carson was at work, and as he entered, the vet looked up relieved.
“It is not what you think,” he said. “It is not hoof and mouth.”
“What then?”
“It is called wooden tongue, and it is treatable. There is a new and effective treatment using a tincture of iodine—a newly discovered element.”
“Oh, doctor, I cannot tell you how relieved I am. But what has caused this?”
“It is difficult to say. We have not found the reason why this happens. But it is not common and does not seem to spread when encountered if it is treated quickly.”
“Then let me fetch some of my men and we will inspect the rest of our animals right away.”
“I will treat these two and bring any others you find here and then keep them all quarantined until the symptoms disappear.”
“Thank you, Dr. Carson, I will get started on rounding up any others immediately.”
* * *
It had been a long and brutal day, but only a handful of animals were found to be infected and treatments were applied. Harry and Christopher were dirty, smelled of cattle, hay, and iodine, and were sprawled out in Harry’s study, each with a scotch in hand.
“You were very lucky, my friend,” Christopher said, downing the last of his second drink.
“Can you imagine? If it had been… I do not want to even say it.” Harry stood, went to the decanter of scotch and offered Christopher another.
“Why not? But I have to say a hot soaking bath seems to be quite a jolly idea right now as well.”
“I shall inform Daniels—baths for two.”
But Harry collapsed back into his chair and the two men both let out sighs and were silent until Christopher asked, “Now tell me about this Miss Anna of yours. I have not had a great deal of opportunity to get to know her as I have been focused on her dear sister. But the little we did chat, I found her to be quite delightful—if a little reserved. And you tell me that you have feelings for her?”
Harry sighed again. “Oh, my friend, I do. But woe be unto to me, for she cares for my good friend, Percy. You see, Anna and I have been close friends since we were children, and I fear she thinks of me as more of a brother than a possible lover.”
“But certainly, it is up to you to change that. Woo her if you care for her. Let her know she is special and then it might develop into more.”
“I should like to think that is possible, but she is like a horse with blinders and she does not see me. I fear it will take something to shake her up to see me with different eyes.”
