‘You know the phrenologists say that examination of the skull reveals women to be the intellectual equals of men,’ the professor said. He had a twinkle in his eye that Sarah had come to recognise: he was trying to provoke an argument, but Sarah had been over this course too many times before to be riled. She was also well versed in his opinions on this particular strain of quackery.

‘I don’t need a phrenologist to tell me that,’ she said, smiling.

‘You know I have never subscribed to the notion that women are in any way the weaker sex. I have been surrounded by remarkable women my whole life, and as Professor of Midwifery I know that women can withstand pain and distress as well as any man.’

‘I fear that there are few men who would agree with you.’

‘I think that Archie would.’

‘Yes,’ she smiled again. ‘Archie would.’

‘Did you know that when Her Majesty the Queen was born, she was delivered by a woman?’

‘A midwife?’

‘No. A physician.’

Sarah stopped what she was doing. He had her full attention now.

‘When Queen Victoria’s mother travelled from Bavaria to England in 1819, she brought her own doctor with her: Charlotte Siebold, who had received her doctorate in obstetrics from Giessen University two years before.’

Sarah was so excited by the notion Dr Simpson had just introduced that she had to seek clarification.

‘The birth of our queen was managed by a female physician?’

‘Yes. And then she promptly returned to Coburg where, if you can believe this, she delivered Prince Albert.’

There was only one aspect of this remarkable tale that held Sarah’s attention.

‘So, it is possible for a woman to study medicine in Germany?’

‘I think Madame Siebold was an exceptional case. Both parents practiced midwifery and taught her all that they knew.’

‘Is there anywhere in the world where a woman may study as she chooses?’

‘On my last visit to London I met Dr Elizabeth Blackwell. Have you heard of her?’

Sarah shook her head.

‘She recently qualified at Geneva Medical College in New York. She was on her way to Paris to further her studies there. I invited her to visit us here in Edinburgh.’

‘Will she come?’

‘She said that she hoped to, one day.’

‘I should very much like to meet her. I did not know that a woman could go to medical school in America.’

‘Well, yes, but it is not commonplace there either. Dr Blackwell is the first, something of a pioneer. She caused quite a stir among the medical brethren of the capital when she arrived there, but I think she is seen as something of a curiosity rather than as any kind of threat. Medical men can be very proprietorial. They do not like intrusions upon their professional territory. I suspect attitudes will harden should more women attempt to follow her example.’