Though Mr Spurnrose looked as though he was about to speak, Melissa beat him to it. “Mr Spurnrose, does your cousin ever complain of chest pain?”
To give him hope, she had to be at least sure of herself. Though she was ninety-nine per cent sure of her own diagnosis, she needed to be certain before she said it out loud with confidence.
Mr Spurnrose looked thoughtful, almost as if he were thinking back into the past, and as he did, his brow furrowed.
“No, I don’t believe he has ever complained of chest pain,” he said. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“And when he has these stomach cramps and pains, do they cause breathlessness? Does he appear to be unable to breathe or seem to go blue?” Melissa asked without bothering to answer his question.
Mr Spurnrose looked quite frustrated with her lack of an answer, but instead of mentioning it, he shook his head and said, “No, not that I have noticed.”
Melissa nodded, feeling as though her suspicions had been confirmed. “And what can you tell me of his lifestyle? Does he drink a lot of alcohol and consume a lot of meat and dairy? How is his vegetable consumption?”
Mr Spurnrose looked as though he might answer, but Melissa continued, “Does he exercise regularly?”
Melissa thought of the night before when she had felt beneath Lord Spurnrose’s tunic. The muscles she had felt there were most definitely not those of a man who did not exercise, though she was quite certain of the rest.
“My cousin does not entirely take good care of himself, no,” Mr Spurnrose admitted with a shrug. “But I cannot say I would waste my time on such things when given a death sentence.”
Melissa couldn’t help laughing again at that. How could a man not see what was staring him right in the face?
“Do you not see, Mr Spurnrose? That is exactly your cousin’s problem,” Melissa explained with a shake of her head. “He has entirely neglected his health for too long, and his symptoms have only grown worse because he has given up on himself due to the doctor’s misguided diagnosis.”
“What exactly are you saying, My Lady?” Mr Spurnrose asked, eyeing her with great scrutiny.
“What I mean to say, Mr Spurnrose, is that your cousin does not suffer with consumption,” Melissa explained, and as she said the words, she felt their sheer certainty. “What Lord Spurnrose suffers with is far less sinister, though it could become so if not treated with medicine and a healthier lifestyle. It can lead to worse ailments such as heart attacks and further digestive system problems. Eventually, his body will decide it has had enough.”
Mr Spurnrose’s eyes widened as though he was shocked by her confidence. He took a half-step forward only to retire once more when Flit growled at him warningly.
“Then you can help him?” he asked, sounding quite stunned still.
With a smile, Melissa said, “I most certainly can.”
She thought of her father and how she had tried for years and years to get him to listen to her about his own health, about the stomach ulcers that slowly grew worse and worse until he was vomiting blood and bile and unable to keep anything down.
After every episode, he would listen to her for a few weeks only to slip back into old habits. Then the heart attacks had come and finished him off. She couldn’t bear the thought of that happening to someone as young as Lord Spurnrose, though she suspected it would take years for him to reach that point just as it had her father, the loss of her mother making his habits grow worse and worse over the years with his grief turning to an excessive consumption of food, alcohol, and even illicit substances that Melissa could not condone for any good reason.
“And will you?” Mr Spurnrose asked, almost as though he could sense her hesitation.
Melissa’s breath caught in her throat, and her body tensed all over again. She thought of saying no. How could she help someone who could not tell her the truth? How could she help him when he assumed he was going to die and still allowed himself to get close to her? Worse than that, if he had consumption, he might well have given it to her!
And yet, she knew one thing for sure.
“Mr Spurnrose, I am a healer. If I did not try, I would not be living up to my potential.”
This is about my professional reputation, nothing more,she told herself firmly. She could help Lord Spurnrose without it getting personal. Maybe if she did, the London doctors might begin to take her more seriously. Just the thought of it made her scoff. She couldn’t quite give them that kind of credit.
“Then you will come with me immediately?” Mr Spurnrose suggested, already making as if to leave.
At the suggestion, Melissa stiffened. The thought of seeing Lord Spurnrose again left her feeling frozen. If she was right about her diagnosis, she truly had no reason to see him again. She could simply send Mr Spurnrose on his way with the correct instructions and medicines. Perhaps that would be far better an option than taking such things to Lord Spurnrose herself.
Just closing her eyes for a second, she could imagine all too well what might happen if she found herself alone with the viscount again. Imagining the touch of his hand caused her to shiver, and fear gripped her at her lack of desire to stop him. Just thinking of it was bad enough. She dreaded thinking about how she would feel afterward if she allowed him to have his way with her.
Of course, it would likely feel breathtaking at first, but then she would know the truth, that she had allowed herself to get too close too easily just as she had allowed her husband to before, and she had lost him without a moment’s notice.
No, it was better that she remain home and alone and concentrate on her research and learning and all the ways she could think of to make a difference in her small part of the world.
“Mr Spurnrose, I am a very busy woman,” she said, shaking her head. “And I have a great many people to help. Your cousin has not been forthright in his asking for my help, so I cannot assume he even wants it.”
