Despite the excitement of my mission and the pleasure I felt at being of use to the queen, I was glad to return once more to my regular duties, to serve both Anne and the dauphin. I was glad for the familiarity of normalcy, and how naturally everything fell back into place. Even if something ruffled the tranquil peace of the palace, it rarely ventured far enough to disturb us in the queen's quarters or the nursery. Not even when statues were being blown up, as it proved. At the time I did not know what the commotion was about, only noticing that several maids were whispering ardently together as they shuffled past me.
I had heard a small boom of sound, but took little head of it. Unless the alarm was raised, there was no need to concern myself with something unless I had reason to. Seeing as the bells did not toil and the guards did not rally to arms, I reasoned that all must be well. Perhaps the king had simply found a new amusement for himself. Continuing on my way to the nursery, I entered to find both Constance and Marguerite standing over little Louis with contorted expressions. I halted. "What is it?"
"It's the dauphin, I think he is rather hot, too hot." Gesturing uncertainly, Constance looked to me as I quickly approached and felt the back of little Louis's neck. He was as hot as a flame, and I snatched my hand back.
"Call for her majesty and summon the royal doctor. The prince is unwell." Now I allowed myself to worry. A sickness for the prince was akin to drought and famine, for the future of France was contained in that cradle and now, he was suffering. "Bring warm water in a basin and fresh cloths, summon the wetnurse, we must try to cool the dauphin down." Casting out my orders, Marguerite rushed to obey as Constance assisted me with the prince.
I unwrapped him from his blankets for they were contributing to the heat, exposing him a little so that the open air might cool him. "Constance, place your hands upon that water pitcher there, once your hands are cooled, come back and press them against the dauphin." The pitcher was made from polished brass and was the coldest item we had readily available. Constance followed my instructions, returning once her hands had taken the chill of the metal and lay them over little Louis's brow and chest.
He did not cry or make a fuss, but this worried me all the more. It meant he was too exhausted to cry. I wanted to curse. When Marguerite returned, I rounded upon her with an enflamed fury. "Why did you not raise the alarm in the night? Did you not notice his discomfort?"
"I thought it was only his usual fussing, I did not realise…"
"If you did not have your head so often in the clouds, perhaps our dauphin would not already be so wracked with fever!" I kept my voice low as not to disturb little Louis, but I allowed Margeurite to feel the full force of my wrath. Anne soon came running, gasping when she felt her son's skin and just how hot it was. Already I was sponging him down, hoping that the warm water would comfort him and dilute the heat.
"How long has he been this way?" Trembling in fear, Anne searched our faces before her gaze settled upon Marguerite. "Why was I not informed sooner?" Marguerite looked as pale as chalk as she bowed her face and shivered.
"Forgive me, your majesty. I was remiss in my care." It seemed as if Anne was about to scream, cheeks flushing vibrantly as she stared at Margeurite. She withheld her anger, however, adopting the decorum of a queen even whilst her son lay suffering.
"Has the doctor been called for?"
"Yes, your majesty. He will be with us shortly,"
"Then we should also send for the king. He should know the prince's condition when the doctor has made his assessment." Thereafter, Anne took the sponge from my hand to dab delicately at her son, crooning at him as he began to whimper. There was little else we could do until the doctor arrived, whereupon he immediately began to poke and prod at little Louis, scrutinising him with the pompous air of a man who thought himself better than almost everyone else.
"What news? Is everything alright? I came immediately upon being informed," hurrying into the room, King Louis rushed to Anne's side to grip at her hands, the both of them sharing a fearful moment of concern before he then moved to the prince. "Doctor, will my son recover?" Gazing upon her son, Anne's voice was barely more than a breath.
"His breathing is so laboured," turning to face the king and queen, the doctor straightened to deliver his verdict.
"He has a high fever," my brow twitched. I could have told him that from the very beginning, witless man. "I propose a chemical remedy, the very latest cure from Geneva." Such a suggestion was an unexpected one, and although I was untrained in the formal art of medicine, I was sceptical from the moment the word 'chemical' was mentioned. It sounded like a ridiculous farce.
"The Swiss are a very healthy people," the king allowed with only a slight hesitation of uncertainty, but making light of the situation as a means to comfort his own nerves. "I always presumed it was the mountain air." Ignoring the jest, Anne questioned what was contained within the remedy proposed.
"Minute quantities of various metallic elements in a suspension of water." Upon hearing this, I stepped forwards discreetly and turned my head as if to look elsewhere, but spoke in a quiet undertone to Anne so that she could hear me.
"Has it proved successful?" This was how a court lady was meant to converse and advise the queen whilst in public, a delicate indication towards what Anne might not be able to think of owing to the severity of the moment. It was my duty to help her, to consider the ramifications of what such a concoction might do to the little prince, however Constance was more forward in her apprehension.
"But won't he throw it up? He's still on the breast," I looked to her sharply and with alarm. Her impertinence angered the king, who looked to her with a heavy scowl before turning aside.
"Professor Lemay has degrees from Geneva and the Sorbonne. I suspect he knows a little more about medicine than a cloth merchant's wife!" When the king raised his voice, my hand jumped to catch Constance's as the prince began to cry. She bowed her head, but the action was already made. "You may proceed, doctor. Do whatever you think is necessary to return my son to health." With a downcast mouth and furrowed brow, the king strode from the nursery to leave us women and the doctor to care for the prince.
"You should not have spoken so, dear Constance," I whispered to her, brow wrought with worry, but there was nothing to be done about it now. Instead, I gestured for Marguerite to comfort the queen whilst I assisted the doctor as he fetched the remedy to administer it to the prince. The first drops were given and the queen insisted upon holding little Louis, so I took this opportunity to strip the cradle of its sheets. "Everyone, make yourselves useful. There is work to be done!" Indicating for the other ladies and maids to come forwards, Constance and I began to give out instructions.
We called for freshly boiled water to be brought, allowing time for it to cool. I ordered that the sheets be exchanged for clean ones, opening the window slightly to allow for a warm breeze to come inside. Everything was to be washed and laundered several times over, for as Constance predicted, little Louis vomited each time his medicine was administered. Anne had already changed her gown twice, but she insisted upon holding him. She seemed afraid to release him from her arms. If there was anything we could do, we set to it with determination and vigour. Marguerite stayed close to the queen, however whilst she and I were preparing another sponge bath for the prince, I saw her suddenly move towards the door. Through the gap, I caught sight of Aramis's fretful expression. I felt for him. I had not even considered how he would feel to hear the news of the prince's illness. Yet still there was no time to console him, for both Anne and the prince needed everyone available to assist them.
Once again, the physician returned to administer the drops, but even I by this point saw no reason to continue since they were clearly failing in their purpose. Once more, Constance openly spoke her mind as I held Anne's hands. "He's vomited up every drop so far. Are you sure there isn't another way?"
"If there is no improvement, we will turn to leeches," Professor Lemay informed us, and I heard Anne made a sound of sickened dismay. "Bleeding is an infallible cure for congested lungs." Tightening her grip upon me, I could no longer feel my hands as Anne whispered softly.
"He is so very small."
"And he has so little blood to spare." To his credit, Professor Lemay did not become angered at our lack of faith, merely looked to Constance and assured her that he knew what he was doing, though there was an air of superiority to his tone I did not care for. We did our best, but continually the prince showed no signs of improvement. If anything, he was growing worse. The entire palace held its breath, waiting for the outcome as little Louis fought for his life at such a tender age. Even Professor Lemay seemed uncertain.
"Sadly there has been less improvement than I had hoped," he related to the king as we watched in silence, observing the rising fury as King Louis turned upon the doctor.
"This is the future King of France. His destiny is not die in his cradle, forgotten by history! It is to lead this country to greatness!" With all the simmering rage and fury of a man on the cusp of losing his sanity, the king loomed before the doctor who respectfully and meekly bowed his head. "Save him…or lose your head, and believe me, there is no cure for that." Unable to bear it a moment longer, he stormed away, bellowing as the door slammed in his wake. Lemay turned to the queen imploringly.
"Some things are beyond even a physician's powers. I am not God." I saw her distress, but had nothing to offer her that could console such fears such as a mother bears for her child. "He must be bled. It is the only course."
"But won't that only weaken him?" Constance spoke her mind readily, but at least this time she was swift to correct her forwardness, lowering her eyes with a resigned sigh. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you know best." There was nothing I wanted less than to allow this man to bleed little Louis, but when the doctor prepared to place the disgusting, wriggling creatures upon the prince, Anne retched and hastened to retreat. I would have gone with her, but little Louis was in my arms and I could not leave him as he began to wail and scream at being touched by such repugnant things.
"There now, hush…" crooning softly, I began to sing his favourite lullaby, the same one Aramis had sung to him many nights ago. "Lully, loo-lah, thou little tiny child…bye-bye, lully, lully…Oh sisters too, how may we do…for to preserve this day?" Hearing my voice, little Louis quietened as I nodded to Marguerite and Constance, and they promptly offered their voices too. "This poor youngling for whom we do sing…bye-bye, lully, lully…" even the doctor sang with us, creating a soft and warm resonance which further settled little Louis as he was leeched of his blood until finally the creatures were taken from him. The small wounds where they had bitten into his flesh were cleaned and covered, but I continued to hold and soothe him as I walked about the room. He was still overly hot to the touch, his heat pressing into my skin until I too felt scorched. "It will be alright, my sweet little prince," murmuring softly, I rubbed gently at his back. "You will overcome this, for you have your father's strength. I know it. I know that he prays for you even now, so be at ease. Many prayers will be spoken solely for you tonight, is that not comforting?" All the while Marguerite watched as I continued to console and comfort.
I thought it odd then that I had not seen Aramis since that morning, but perhaps he was simply keeping himself away by force as to not arouse suspicion or be underfoot. When finally little Louis had fallen asleep, I lay him to rest in his cradle as Marguerite took up the chair. All of us were weary, none of us had truly rested, but it was Marguerite's turn to watch over the dauphin. I did not trust her to do this, but as it was her duty, I could not interfere with her position. Leaving the nursey, I went to tend to Anne.
All through the night as she cried, I held her, rocked her, did all I could to comfort her, as little as that was. I do not remember sleeping, but I felt as if I drifted many times during that long night into a realm between dreams and alertness, warm and drowsy as I stroked Anne's hair as she curled herself against me. As she slept restlessly, whimpering and moaning as she continually cried, I watched the pale streams of light rising through the window, and it was some time before I realised that the light heralded a new morning. For the first time in a long while, I dreaded what the day was to bring.