The Regency Season_Convenient Marriages_Marriage Made in Money Marriage Made in Shame_Mills & Boon M&B by Sophia James

Author:Sophia James [James, Sophia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2018-02-21T23:00:00+00:00

Epilogue

Daniel sat with Robert and Lucien in the small sitting chamber off the main bedroom, his eyes glancing at the clock every few minutes.

‘We should have gone to London for the birth.’ He had told Amethyst this again and again, but she would not listen. Standing, he walked to the window and looked outside.

Oh, God, please let my wife and child be safe.

The refrain had been his mantra for weeks and weeks, words that rolled around in his mind first thing in the morning and last thing at night. He had tried to keep his fear from showing, but he had been sleeping badly for months now and the dreams he did have, if he was lucky to slumber, seemed to mirror his every anxiety. If anything happened to Amethyst, he would want to be dead too. If she died, then he would want to follow, in his heart and his soul and his body

‘Susannah used to say that giving birth was a woman’s glory and her triumph for being feminine.’

At this moment Robert’s sentiments were the last things Daniel wanted to hear. Glory. Triumph. There were so many other words more apt to use as the cries of his labouring wife had fallen down into whimpers.

This was when they died. When their energy was spent and their blood was thin and the will to live waned under constant pain. God, how much practice had he had in that on the battlefields?

But he was a man and strong and fit while she...

A single shout had him at the door before anyone could stop him and he was through into the master chamber, ignoring the protests of Julia, Christine Howard and the midwife.

Amethyst’s forehead was slick with sweat when he reached her and the red blush of blood on the sheets beneath was telling.

‘Dr MacKenzie will be here soon, my love.’

She gripped his hand.

‘I cannot do this without you, Daniel. Please, I want you here...’

He looked around the room, the pale face of Julia and the flushed one of Christine. Only the midwife looked unconcerned.

The midwife had all the herbs and candles his wife had instructed her to bring, but still it did not seem to be enough. Fear rushed in like the enemy and he made himself breathe through it.

For so many battles and for so many years he had found in himself the strength to forsake dread and fight, yet in the end this was the most important battle of them all.

He turned to his wife and smiled, hoping that the glory and triumph of which Robert had spoken just a few moments past was there on his face to see.

‘This baby needs to come, my darling, and together we can help it arrive.’

Her fingers entwined around his own and she nodded. ‘It won’t be long,’ she said quietly and then stiffened, her hand squeezing his in a grip that was surprising.

* * *

An hour and a half later Amethyst sat changed and washed, her hair arranged in two short thick plaits by Christine, and the swaddled baby at her breast.

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