Charlotte

by Virginia Taylor

  Luke indicated Nick. “We’re about to wander over to the tavern for a bite to eat. Join us, and after I’ll go home and grab a valise, as long as it’s only for the next couple of days. I have a court appearance on Tuesday.”

  The four men spent a surprisingly convivial hour together while James’s driver went to fetch clothing for Luke that might be suitable to wear during a few days heavy work in the country. Like the others, Nick was well content with a simple meat pie and tankard of ale.

  The meal consumed, the four idled outside the cottages, waiting for the return of James’s curricle. James was pushing the lighter, shorter Hubert in a wheelbarrow along a builder’s plank when a brougham arrived bearing Charlotte and Sarah.

  Nick stood, arms crossed, but one glance at his wife told him she bore no grudge for his drunken fumbling last night and his surly behavior this morning. He sighed. Desiring her didn’t entitle him to lash her with his frustration.

  A tiny frivolous hat sat on top of her dark curls. She wore a green trimmed, short-sleeved gown that made much of her graceful body. “Nick, do you have time to show us around the cottages? If you’re otherwise engaged, we’ll come back another day.”

  Luke pushed past him to the carriage. “He’s not otherwise engaged with us,” he said, opening the brougham door, apparently sure Nick would welcome another diversion. “We’re all about to leave for Tony’s house at Kadina.” He handed her out.

  Sarah followed, left to take the steps by herself. “Which would be a gentleman’s residence and therefore perhaps not quite the right place for you.”

  Luke looked down his nose at her. “Ah. I see you’re still pleased with me.”

  Sarah offered Luke a sweet smile. “You might need your eyes tested.”

  Fascinated, Nick stared at the couple while Charlotte, evading James’s precipitate arrival with the entrapped Hubert, sidestepped to the nearest cottage’s entrance with a laugh of alarm.

  “Isn’t that gown cut a little low for morning wear?” Luke glanced at Sarah’s cleavage.

  “Do you have a flair for fashion?” Sarah twirled her parasol. “Your jacket says otherwise.” She turned her back, about to follow Charlotte.

  Luke’s bottom lip took his square chin forward. “You’re fated to be a spinster, Sarah, unless you learn to guard that sharp tongue of yours. It would cut the insides of a man’s mouth to pieces.”

  Sarah stopped.

  “You’ll have to forgive Luke,” James said, discarding his wheelbarrow with a thump that shot Hubert to his feet. “He’s been hefting stones, and the unaccustomed exercise has clearly affected his brain. We are about to take him away for a weekend in the country where he can keep working off his bad temper.”

  Luke stood as stiff as a maypole and nodded curtly at Sarah, perhaps his version of an apology.

  With a sideways glint at him, she glided past him to James. “Thank you,” she said, smiling up at the lad and taking his arm. “You have the chivalry Luke lacks.”

  Luke crossed his arms and leaned against the brougham.

  “I didn’t know you and he had such a volatile relationship,” Nick said to her, torn between laughing and sympathizing with Luke.

  “I just don’t like rude people.”

  Nick eyed Luke. “He’s a very eligible bachelor.”

  “I prefer polite eligible bachelors. Like James.”

  James grinned. “I’m not sure that being preferred to Luke is a compliment.”

  She laughed and the episode ended nicely, James taking her to join Charlotte in the first house into which she had disappeared. Hubert followed, and the four stood in the wood shavings, gazing around the main room, none but Charlotte appearing interested.

  Nick left them inspecting the new fireplace, already bored by the sightseers. He wanted to get back to work, but instead he watched Harvey reposition the carriage to make room for James’s recently arrived curricle, blocking the tiny street. The resulting ruckus brought James and Hubert outside to take their leave. Luke re-appeared mounted on his horse and joined the pair.

  After the group left, Nick quickly showed the ladies the other cottages and delivered them to Harvey who was waiting with the steps down and the carriage door open.

  Adjusting the perfect tie of her hat, Charlotte turned to Nick. “James told me that Tony is already in Kadina. That leaves Nell at home alone.”

  “Alone with twenty servants,” Sarah said, climbing into the carriage. “Stop worrying, Charlotte. She’ll be adequately cared for.”

  “I don’t like to think of her being without anyone but servants when she is so close to her time.” Charlotte’s lips pressed together. “And so, I’m going to drop Sarah off at the Grace’s and call on her.”

  “And you’re asking my permission?” Nick stepped back, annoyed that Charlotte was keen to gossip about babies and forthcoming accouchements when she would never have a baby of her own—a good thing, too. A body as beautiful as hers should be preserved forevermore to tantalize her desperate husband.

  “I’m letting you know that the brougham won’t be collecting you later. You’ll need to find your own way.”

  Harvey shut the door on her last word. Nick heaved a breath, his physical frustration deciding him to take the long way home.

  * * * *

  Charlotte followed a young maid into a room furnished with cushioned chairs and small tables littered with fabric, paper patterns, scissors, and button jars, among various other knickknacks.

  “Mrs. Alden,” the girl said, stepping back so that Charlotte could enter the sunlit area.

  She had been in this room before with other ladies, making baby gowns for the residents of the Adelaide Maternity Hospital. “James said he was off to Kadina this afternoon and that Tony was already there.”

  Nell was sitting on a long couch, a book balanced on the limited space of her knee. “Forgive the informality,” she said, holding out her hand to Charlotte. “Tony took the butler with him and half the servants. He’ll need help with the injured men. We don’t know yet what has happened. Since today is the normal day off for the servants, I let most of the others go, too. I’m making do for myself in here.”

  Charlotte crossed the brightly patterned carpet and shook Nell’s hand. “I didn’t like the thought of you being alone with the servants, but I had no idea you were alone without the servants.”

  “I have Millie.” Nell indicated the departing maid. “My needs are few while I’m in this condition, but it’s so kind of you to call. I think now that I’m at term I make people nervous. Either that or they can’t bear to see me this size.”

  Charlotte smiled. “I doubt both, and I’m not being kind. Rather, self-serving. I want your advice.”

  “Ah, the words every woman loves to hear. Please sit. There is nothing more satisfying than giving advice. How can I help you, my dear?”

  Charlotte made herself comfortable in a chair lined with soft velvet cushions. “Nick’s father wants me to organize a dinner or a dance, or a combination, but I have never organized a social function other than as an exercise at Miss Main’s. I was hoping you would help. You manage all your own functions with such flair, and I would love to succeed on my first try.”

  Nell’s book slid off her knee. Bearing in mind her size, Charlotte picked up the novel and put the shut pages on the table.

  “Thank you,” Nell said in a forced voice. “I should be able to help as long as you don’t plan to hold your function this week. I believe I will be otherwise occupied.”

  Charlotte examined the other woman’s expression. Her words sounded unaccommodating but not her tone, which was a little breathy. She waited a moment, and then realization dawned. “The baby?”

  “Yes.” Nell made a wry face. “I’ve been having odd cramps all afternoon, but I seemed to have settled into a routine of pains about every ten minutes.”

  “Have you sent for the doctor?”

  “Indeed, but I’m a health
y country girl. I don’t expect complications.”

  “I should leave. My petty concerns are of no account compared to this momentous occasion.” Charlotte gathered her gloves and reticule.

  Nell gave her a pleading smile. “Although I’m trying to be very brave, I have to admit I’m relieved you came. I’m not quite sure Millie will be as much use to me as I had hoped. The other servants won’t be back any time soon. Oh, no.” She took a deep breath and paused, breathing hard. “I assumed I wouldn’t need anyone until then, but I’m not so sure now.” She glanced at the fob watch in the table beside the book. “That was under six minutes.”

  Charlotte absorbed the information with only a vague idea of her use here. “How long ago did you send for the doctor?” she asked, unable to suppress the quaver in her voice.

  “About an hour ago, but he was away from home. I think I’ll send Millie again.”

  “I’ll send Harvey, my coachman. In the meantime, I suspect I ought to help you into bed.”

  “I believe I’m supposed to walk in these early stages,” Nell said, sounding apologetic. “If you could assist me.”

  First Charlotte rang the bell and asked Millie to give Harvey a direction to the doctor’s lodgings, and then she walked Nell to the far end of the passage and back. In that period, Nell had two more contractions. By the time Harvey came back with the message that the doctor was currently delivering twins, Nell was sitting on her bed wearing her commodious nightgown and having frequent long contractions.

  “Have you ever delivered a baby?” she asked Charlotte in a shaky voice.

  “I’m rather hoping they deliver themselves. But I don’t know a thing about babies. Nick says the only thing I know is how to make them.” Charlotte clamped her lips, horrified she had been so indiscreet.

  “You’re not…?” Nell doubled over, her eyes on Charlotte’s face.

  “Expecting? Of course not. It isn’t possible.” She glanced around the room, hoping to find a hole to swallow her up. First she had given Nell the impression she was more knowing than she was, and now she had blurted out the truth. “From bad to worse. I think I’m panicking. I’m so sorry, Nell. You must be wishing anyone but me was with you.”

  Nell gave a low laugh. “If anyone could take my mind off this, you could. I don’t intend to be sticky-nosed, but I had a long conversation with Nick some months ago. I had the impression that he never intended to have children. And so I was very surprised when—” She doubled over again, rocking and panting.

  Charlotte assumed Nell was about to say she was surprised that Nick had agreed to marry Charlotte, but she didn’t want this conversation. “I think we’ll need to send for another doctor.” She rang the bell and Millie appeared in the doorway. “Tell Harvey to find a doctor. I’m sure he knows one. And tell him if he doesn’t, to find my husband. He’ll help.” Wide-eyed, Millie left at a run.

  Nell lifted her head and smiled at Charlotte. “I’m so glad you’re here. I couldn’t have asked for a better support. I’m sure you’ll manage your supper dance well, judging by your current behavior. You haven’t panicked despite what you say, and you’re so very practical. What a good idea to call for Nick. May I have another sip of water?”

  Charlotte half filled a glass from the jug on the bedside commode.

  Nell gave her head a little shake. “After the tragedy with Clara Benbow, I could see by Nick’s face that he thought I was also doomed.”

  Charlotte nodded, passing over the water. “He doesn’t approve of women having babies.”

  Nell laughed and shrugged. “He believes he killed Mrs. Benbow by giving her his baby, but I suspect that having a stillborn birth killed her rather than the labor.”

  “Stillborn?” Charlotte’s mouth dried.

  “The baby was malformed Tony said. Nick blamed himself—shiver my timmmmm-bers. The next pain.” Nell began panting, breathing, panting, and ended with a long groan. She leaned back on her pillows and closed her eyes. Her face looked red and hot.

  Charlotte wiped the sweat from Nell’s brow.

  Nell’s eyes opened. “How very unfortunate that we should be discussing a woman dying in childbirth.”

  “When do you expect Tony back?”

  Nell raised her knees and massaged her abdomen. “Some time tomorrow. He’ll be so cross with me. I told him I had days. Oh, dash, dash, dash,” she said, her face creasing with pain. “Why did I think having a baby was a good idea?”

  Charlotte took Nell’s hand and had her fingers crushed. She hoped Nick would answer her plea for help. Without the only person she knew who had been present at a birth, she didn’t know how she could manage if this baby came before the doctor.

  * * * *

  Nick settled at Beth’s dining table with his accounts for the cottages, which he planned to total. A sulking mistress was preferable to a wife who would likely prose on about layettes and her rosy views of babies and childbirth, reminding him he couldn’t have a full physical relationship with the only woman he desired to the point of sweating out his fantasies. He turned to the second page, noting the price of glass hadn’t been included.

  The front door shook with a thundering knock.

  “What now?” Beth uncrossed her arms and pushed herself out of the chair in which she’d been muttering to herself. With a swing of her heavy skirts, she marched to the door.

  A gruff voice loudly said, “I wonder if I might have a word with Mr. Nicholas Alden.”

  “Never heard of him.”

  Wood crashed against plaster, and Beth gave a squeal of alarm. Nick knocked over his chair in his leap into the hallway where he spotted Harvey. “What the devil are you doing here?” He planted his fists on his hips.

  “Mrs. Alden asked me to get you,” the man said, a wooden expression on his face. “Thought you would be able to help her find a doctor. Mrs. Hawthorn is in distress. The baby, you know.”

  Distress. Nick’s chest thumped and his mouth dried. The baby. His brain numbed. In a dim haze, he collected his hat. The street was quiet and dark and still. Only a single echoing hackney trundled past.

  “If you leave me for her again, I won’t take you back,” Beth said, her arms crossed.

  Nick glanced at her and back to the coachman. “Harvey, did Mrs. Alden tell you where I was?”

  “No, Mr. Nick. She asked me to find you.” With a creak of wheels, Harvey settled on the driver’s seat.

  Nick moistened his lips. “You may as well go home now.”

  “She might want me, Mr. Nick. I’ll go back to her.”

  “You will retrieve my accounts’ books from Mrs. Blocker and return home with them. If I need you again tonight, I’ll send for you.” Nick crossed to the mews where he’d stabled his horse. He couldn’t imagine what might have happened to make Charlotte send the coachman for him, except the very worst of events. In which case… The muscles in his face froze. At least this time he wasn’t the direct cause of the disaster.

  * * * *

  A parlor maid knocked on Nell’s bedroom door. Nick attributed the girl’s reluctance to bring him this far to his working garb. He held his breath until the door opened a crack.

  Charlotte appeared, her face so white that the color of her huge eyes reflected on the dark circles beneath. She sidled out and shut the door behind her, further eroding his confidence in a promising outcome of Nell’s pregnancy.

  Another step and she reached out to him, landing against the wall of his chest. “I don’t know what to do,” she said, her voice muffled in his jacket.

  Nor did he. He kept his arms by his sides and closed his eyes. After Clara had died, he’d watched the women clean up the bed. The baby had been taken away long since.

  “If the doctor won’t come, who else can we call? There is not a single servant in this house who knows.” She turned her face up to him, resting her hands on his shoulders.

  “I know who you can call,” said the maid, a pretty young creature who cou
ldn’t manage to keep eye contact. “Not that I should say, but Mrs. Adams has delivered many a baby.”

  Charlotte dropped her hold on him. She turned to the maid, frowning. “Who is Mrs. Adams? And why did you not tell me about her before?”

  “Mistress wanted the doctor, according to Millie. Mrs. Adams is a midwife.”

  Charlotte glanced at Nick as if asking his opinion. He shook his head, trying to clear his foggy mind. “The baby isn’t here yet?”

  “I’m sure it won’t be long if we can find someone who knows what to do.”

  “Are you telling me you’ve been here all this time alone?”

  “Alone with Nell, yes.”

  “And all you want is a doctor or a midwife? Perhaps you should have sent Harvey for aid. He appears to know everyone’s business.”

  “I sent him for the doctor or you.” Her shoulders drooped. “I didn’t think of a midwife.”

  He took a deep breath in an attempt to collect his wits, and then he looked the maid in the eye. “You go off and find this Mrs. Adams.”

  “Yes sir,” she said, her eyes lowered. She backed to the staircase and fled down the steps.

  “Please stay, Nick.” Although Charlotte’s eyes pled, her posture stiffened. “Just be here. I can’t do this alone.”

  He opened Nell’s door, strode to the bell-rope by the bed, and yanked. “I expect someone can boil water and provide clean sheets and a newspaper.”

  “Newspaper?” Nell echoed faintly from the bed. “I’m too busy to read. Good evening, Nick. How kind of you to call.”

  “I can’t stay,” he said, with a polite inclination of his head. “But at least I can help you women get organized. You’ll want newspaper padding if you don’t intend to ruin your mattress.”

  “Ah, the practical details. I see we are in safe hands, Charlotte.”

  Charlotte sat beside Nell, staring hopefully at Nick.

  Wishing he were anywhere else, he sat on a chair in the hallway, contemplating deserting Charlotte and invading the kitchen to give his orders. When the baby was born, someone would want to wash the creature. They’d need warm water. And they’d want to wash Nell, be she alive or dead. Fortunately, the bell was answered by a manservant who looked harried. He explained he’d had an afternoon off, apologized for the wait, and hurried off to attend to the water.