Papa had been the one to show her how such a thing was done . . . and where all the willows were to be found in the shire. At least in so far as he knew. The closest willow tree to her house no longer thrived. Papa had foraged from it every spring until it had finally died.

She’d been delighted when she one day looked up during her swim to notice the trio of willow trees. She had at once set about harvesting the bark, but judiciously. She had no wish for the trees to perish for the sake of medicine. What good would it do anyone if she harvested the bark too aggressively and destroyed the trees?

And of course, there was her work.

Willow bark was a common ingredient for many of her experimental tonics. She was constantly researching ways in which to improve the suffering among the injured and ill. It had been an area of particular interest for her father, and she had taken up the banner.

She winced as she considered the tonic she had made for Charlotte. She had thought it quite harmless. Willow bark had been among its components. All the ingredients she had used before. Some together. Some apart. And yet nothing strange or new. She only altered the levels from previous variations.

And yet how that tonic had dramatically altered the course of Charlotte’s life.

Historically, her sister suffered from terrible cramping in the days preceding her menses. Nora felt as though she were close to a breakthrough when she delivered a new mixture to her sister, hopeful that this particular concoction might mitigate her pains. Nora had in no way anticipated the most incredible outcome.

She winced again. Nora did indeed reduce her sister’s cramping, but she also created a host of other symptoms for which she could not have accounted. She might approach life with a clinical eye and have a strong grasp of the workings of the human body, but she was still a maid. She had never given a great deal of thought to matters such as arousal.

Never had she considered lust to be such an altering and powerful condition, where an individual’s physical state could outweigh her mental faculties, but that is precisely what had happened to Charlotte when she took Nora’s tonic.

Nora had invented an aphrodisiac.

Incredible as such a thing sounded, it was true. Nora had catapulted her shy, reticent sister into the throes of desire. Thankfully, such a circumstance had not resulted in anything dire. Quite the opposite.