How dare he give up so easily? She wanted to shove his hand away, to scream her protest and cling to the spoon, as if by doing so she could cling to hope. But having seen death too many times in her eighteen years, she knew the fight would be futile.

She released her hold and let her hands fall to her lap. The pain in her chest was not as easy to release. It gripped so tightly she struggled to suck in a breath. Then she fought to push away the ache just as she always did. She’d learned long ago to stuff it out of sight or she might just go mad from the sorrow.

“I’m sorry.” The doctor sat back on his heels, haggardness grooving more lines into his face.

Mercy bent low and kissed the little girl’s forehead, praying her kiss would anoint the child as she journeyed to a better place.

Surely anyplace in heaven or earth would be better than London.

two

You’ll be back again tomorrow, will you not?” Bates placed the last of the medical supplies into the chest and closed the lid.

Joseph Colville finished rolling down his sleeves and fumbled at his cuff links, grasping for any excuse he could find to avoid another day at the Shoreditch Dispensary. “I’m afraid I already have plans for the morrow.” His game of cricket at Marylebone Cricket Club was as valid a reason as any.

“What about the day after?” Bates persisted.

“You know I’ll be leaving soon for Wiltshire. I must visit the estate and my aunt before too much time passes.”

Bates stood to his full height, which fell well below Joseph’s chin. At six-feet-two, Joseph didn’t consider himself overly tall, but he towered above Bates. Even though his old friend was diminutive in stature, he had a boundless energy that Joseph envied. And boundless compassion.

The simple truth was that Dr. Bates was a saint. How else could the man devote so much time to London’s poorest of the poor?

“Then upon your return from the country, you must consider joining me,” Bates said. “I would put a good word in for you at the college, and you could teach a few classes.”

“They won’t want an inexperienced and young doctor like myself.”

“Nonsense. They’ll want you, and we both know it.”

Joseph shrugged. He’d been a stellar scholar. More than that, however, the college would want him for the prestige his titles and wealth would bring.

Bates cleared his throat. “If you taught, then you could spend the rest of your time here at the dispensary. It turns out my partner is retiring this summer, and I’ll need someone to take his place.”