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less than sympathetic bedside manner, should call the foul liquid he was about to pour into that child a
spoonful of delight
. He retrieved a bottle from the shelf and poured a large spoonful. "Well then, open wide," he said, and tossed the liquid down the boy's throat. Leonard swallowed, then turned to Miss Hill. She smiled charmingly and held out her hand. Immediately, he went and slipped his hand into hers, then pushed the other boy forward, who marched resolutely to Dr.
    Stephens's side.
    "Miss Hill said I might get a
double
dose of delight," he said proudly. With a
humph
, Dr. Stephens bent to listen to the boy's breathing. She was right; Horace's rattle was worse than Leonard's.
    "A double dose, then," he muttered, and poured the pungent medicine.
    Horace swallowed the first mouthful without expression or comment, waited patiently for the second, then turned and walked back to Miss Hill. "How long will the delight last?" he asked her.
    "I should think until tomorrow, would you not agree, Dr. Stephens?"
    "I would," he said curtly.
    "I think—and please correct me if I am wrong, sir—but shan't the boys begin to feel the delight tingling first in their toes in just a few moments? I thought so. Now boys, please have a seat near the door and do
not
touch anything. There is something I would discuss with Dr. Stephens," she said.
    Like perfect little gentlemen, the boys obediently took seats near the door.
    By Dr. Stephens's account, everything he had just witnessed was a bloody miracle. Whatever she had done to bolster the confidence in the two young lads was worth every ounce of effort with which he could support her. Hell, he would just like to know how she had done it, if nothing else. "Miss Hill, I do not know what you have done—"
    "You mean the flowers," she smiled with an airy wave of her hand. "I am dreadfully sorry about that; I am afraid I was a bit preoccupied," she said sweetly.
    "Pardon?"
    "The flowers. Unfortunately, I do not have any coin, or I would gladly replace them, but it's a condition I'm afraid I shall not see remedied for a time. Please don't say anything yet, because I come with a proposition. You see, the children of Rosewood are not receiving the medical attention they need." He must have looked puzzled as he adjusted his spectacles, because she explained quickly, "Oh, not bumps and bruises or
that
sort of thing. But the cough, illnesses of a more serious nature, are not called to the attention of a doctor until it is much too late, and the children spread those ailments so quickly that before you know it, the whole of
Rosewood
is infected, and I was thinking that perhaps we could agree to an arrangement whereby you might visit from time to time, not necessarily for coin, but something infinitely more agreeable, I should think."
    Dr. Stephens had quit trying to understand the connection to flowers and had come to his senses, or so he thought. "Miss Hill, I cannot imagine what you've done, but you must know that I—"
    "I am speaking of tomatoes, sir, tomatoes as big as
hams!
And beans, and pumpkins and cabbage! It seems that there is
some
talent to be had at Rosewood, and I daresay it is in the growing of fruits and vegetables. And we cannot possibly eat all the vegetables we grow, because they grow rather quickly, you see, and sadly, Mrs. Peterman has been throwing what we cannot eat to Lucy—I mean to say, to a rather enormous old hog. I am sure you are aware that hogs will do quite nicely on something less valuable than fruits and vegetables, so I am suggesting a trade of sorts—"
    "
Miss Hill!
" Dr. Stephens fairly shouted. The young woman blinked. He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
    "Honestly, Dr. Stephens," rang another feminine voice," anyone with an ounce of sense knows it is a waste to give anything more than slop to a hog!"
    Dr. Stephens groaned and opened one eye to see the Marchioness of Darfield standing in the doorway with her young daughter Alexa. The