The Valentine Gift by Sandy Raven

Author:Sandy Raven
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: 0
Published: 2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

TWO DAYS before the feast of St. Valentine, Caroline woke yet again to incredible nausea. She hadn’t even left her bed, nor had she had anything to eat or drink, and the roiling in her belly was making her feel as though she just wanted to die. The door to her room opened and her maid entered silently.

“Nelly, please tell me you brought the tea with herbs,” she moaned.

“Aye,” the maid replied, sounding a bit too cheery for Caroline’s liking. “Got it right here, milady.”

She sat upright, and Nelly placed a napkin over Caroline’s lap before handing her the cup. “That’s so you don’t burn yourself again. Careful now, it’s still good and hot.”

“The temperature doesn’t make it taste any better,” Caroline said. “It’s still a foul combination.” She took the first sip to take the temperature of the tea. Since she thought it cool enough, she downed the rest of the mixture in two fast gulps, then pushed the cup away.

Once she’d taken a breath, she settled back into her pile of pillows. “My husband will be home any day now. I don’t want him to see me like this. How can I take this with him in here with me?”

“You cannot,” Nelly said. “Maybe if ye can get out of bed and go to the dressing room, I can meet you there with it, but you’re so sick before ye even get out of the bed… It’ll be impossible for sure.”

Caroline didn’t want to agree with her maid, but had to concede the fact that she was ill even before waking in the morning. And she wasn’t sure exactly why that happened. It just did. Thank heaven it would only last for another month, according to the midwife.

“Well, if he arrives today, I will let him think I’m coming down with something. It would just be for one day, since I want to surprise him with this news on the day after tomorrow. It’ll be my Saint Valentine’s Day gift to him.”

“Jack says the roads are gettin’ better now that things are dryin’ out. So it could be any day now.” Nelly chattered. It had never bothered Caroline. Until now. All Caroline wanted was to go back to sleep now that her stomach was settling somewhat.

“I bet you’ll be happy to have the captain back home.”

Caroline gave her a grunt of agreement as she closed her eyes. When she woke again, it was to her maid telling her that her mother was coming up the stairs, intent on seeing her.

“No! We cannot let my mother know anything,” Caroline sat up a moment while Nelly plumped up her pillows. “You have to go along with my ‘sickness’ being a tummy upset. If she gets wind of the real reason I’m not feeling well, she will be over-joyed, and we both know she could never keep it to herself, then the entire county will know before my own husband.

“How do I look? Please tell me I look wan and pale…

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