Past Perfect by Danielle Steel

Author:Danielle Steel
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2017-11-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

By the end of October, as was proper for her time, Bettina no longer left the house. It wasn’t considered appropriate for her to be seen in public in her condition, and she accepted it without complaint. But she looked profoundly depressed whenever Sybil saw her at dinner, which wasn’t often. She remained very ill and violently nauseous throughout the pregnancy. Her mother said she still threw up several times a day and could barely eat. It sounded awful to Sybil, who’d had easy pregnancies with all three of her children.

“I don’t think I could have done that,” Sybil said sympathetically when Gwyneth came to visit her in her office. Sybil was trying to work on her book, but still with little success. There was always too much going on with Blake, the kids, or at night with their friends they shared the house with. They had dinner with the Butterfields two or three nights a week, and usually went out once a week to a restaurant with clients or one of Blake’s associates from work. They had a full life.

“I was very sick with Josiah,” Gwyneth said and looked sad as she said it, she missed him so much. They were having a beautiful portrait done of him in his uniform, from a photograph that had been taken right before he left. “I had less trouble with the girls,” she commented. “And I was in bed for six months with Magnus so I wouldn’t lose him. He came early, and hopped around all the time. He was in such a rush to be born.” She smiled at the memory.

“Do you think Bettina’s baby is all right? She eats almost nothing. She can’t be getting much nourishment.”

“The doctor has come to see her several times, and he says she’s fine, and the baby is quite small.” That didn’t sound good to Sybil, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to worry her friend. They had their own way of dealing with things, according to the times they lived in. And a small baby would make for an easier birth. She would have the baby at home with a midwife in attendance, and a nurse who would stay on. It was how Gwyneth had given birth to her babies too. She said Magnus had almost fallen out, he was so anxious to arrive, and had come three weeks early, which could have been dangerous, but all had gone well, and she was sure it would for Bettina too. She was young and strong, in spite of how ill she had been for months.

“Is Bert feeling better about it?” Sybil asked Gwyneth, and handed her the cup of tea Alicia had brought for her. She couldn’t justify asking for two cups of tea when she appeared to be alone.

“Not really,” she said honestly. “But he’s relaxed a little. He feels sorry for her. Apparently, her husband’s family wants nothing to do with her. They were afraid she’d ask them for money.

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