Page 81 of The Viscount's Unwanted Bride
She struggled to sit up, and he rushed to prop pillows behind her. He held the bowl of broth, dunked the soup spoon into it, and raised it to her lips. Her eyes widened, but her lips parted automatically, and she slurped from the spoon.
She hummed thoughtfully. “I think I’m all right to have a little more. Not too much, though.”
He spooned more broth for her.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I can feed myself.”
“Let me. Please.” He needed to make up for his previous negligence in whatever ways he could.
She searched his gaze, then tilted her head in silent agreement. This time when he tried to feed her, she didn’t resist. There was something very intimate about feeding someone, and his heart filled with warmth as he helped her fill her poor unsettled stomach.
When the bowl was nearly empty, she shook her head. “No more.”
“My lord,” Mr. Giles called from outside the room. “Dr. Hanson is here.”
“Bring him up, please,” Theo called back.
Footsteps retreated down the hall, and a minute or so later, Mr. Giles showed Dr. Hanson into the bedchamber. The doctor was young, having recently inherited the local clinic from his father. He was fair-haired and bluff-faced with a genial personality well-suited to a man of his occupation.
Dr. Hanson placed his medical bag on the floor and bowed. “Good morning, Lord and Lady Blackwell. How may I be of service?”
“Lady Blackwell is ill,” Theo said, standing to shake the doctor’s hand. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“Not a problem.” Dr. Hanson turned to Kate. “How have your symptoms presented?”
“Uh….” She blinked as though focusing on him was difficult for her. “My stomach has been unsettled for several days, and I cast up my accounts this morning.”
“It is… possible that her ladyship is pregnant,” Theo said reluctantly.
“I see.” The doctor gestured to her. “May I come closer?”
She nodded her permission.
He knelt beside the bed and touched her forehead. “You’re hot. Have you experienced any headaches or dizziness?”
Kate glanced at Theo before answering. “A little dizziness.”
Theo dug his fingernails into his palms as guilt clawed at his insides. No recriminations would help her now. All he could do was proceed with more care than he’d shown her so far and make it clear that she could come to him with anything.
“Have any smells made you particularly distressed?” the doctor asked.
“Hmm, no. I don’t think so.”
“When did you last have your monthly flow?”
Her cheeks flamed bright red, and Theo was tempted to snap at the doctor to not ask such personal things, but instead he simply answered for her, sparing her the embarrassment.
“Six or seven weeks.”
Dr. Hanson made a sound in the back of his throat. “May I feel your abdomen?”
“All right,” Kate said timidly, pushing the blankets down to reveal her nightgown-clad body.
Dr. Hanson ran his hand over her belly, stopping to push down a little in several places. After continuing for long enough that Theo wanted to rip his hands off his wife, the doctor backed away.
He asked a few more questions and then offered his conclusions. “I think it’s very likely that you’re with child. Sickness is usual during the first months of pregnancy. You may experience nausea, dizziness, tiredness, and oversensitivity to particular smells or tastes. All of this is to be expected and is no cause for concern.”
Sweat beaded on Theo’s upper lip, and a wave of vertigo crashed over him.
