Page 141 of The Secret Love of a Gentleman
‘Do not worry, Mr Marlow, leave this to us now. Mrs Martin, would you remain to help me?’
‘Where is Mrs Marlow?’ Another voice carried from downstairs.
‘Upstairs, my lady.’
It was his aunt. As Rob stood to leave the room, the door opened again. His aunt’s gaze caught on the blood-stained sheets before it turned to him. ‘Rob.’ Then to Caro. ‘Well, you have some work to do, Caroline.’ She walked closer, smiling.
Caro’s hand slipped from Rob’s.
‘Mr Marlow is just leaving,’ the doctor said to Aunt Jane.
‘Good,’ she said to Rob. ‘Caroline will wish to maintain her dignity as the birth progresses. Your Uncle Robert came with me, he is waiting to keep you company downstairs. Do not worry, we will take care of Caroline.’
Rob turned, knelt and kissed Caro’s forehead in a dreamlike state now that the responsibility had been lifted from his shoulders. But he would worry – and pray.
He stroked Caro’s wet hair back from her forehead. ‘I will leave you and Sarah in the doctor’s hands, and you must not beafraid, because he will guide you through. I will see you again when Sarah is in your arms.’
She nodded, sickly pale and looking exhausted, even though this had only just begun.
When he rose, Aunt Jane’s hand closed about his arm and she guided him to the door. ‘I have done this numerous times, Rob, you must not worry.’
‘I am not a fool,’ he whispered back. ‘My mother gave birth and never bled like that. Please have me come back if all is not well. Do not leave it until the last moment.’
‘I will send for you if necessary,’ she said before closing the door on him.
His uncle was waiting in the drawing room. He had already helped himself to a glass of Rob’s brandy, and he held out a second full glass for Rob to take. ‘It may be a long day. Sometimes a labour is quick, sometimes it is long.’
‘She is bleeding,’ he told him.
‘I can see. You have blood all over you.’
Rob looked down at his clothes and then internally collapsed. Externally he dropped to perch on the edge of a footstool, his elbows on his knees and his hands holding his head.
‘You are wishing your parents here, I am sure, but you will have to manage with me.’
Truly, he did wish them here. He’d never been in so much need of someone to share the load of his burden.
He looked up at his uncle, ‘If I were to lose her…’
‘Do not think of it. We will believe and pray it will not happen.’
Rob accepted the glass that was held out.
The hours passed slowly, and at least once every half hour, or perhaps more often, Rob climbed the stairs, knocked on the door of their bedchamber and asked after Caro.
Each time Aunt Jane’s answer was, ‘She is working hard.’ While he heard Caro screaming within the room.
By the third hour, Rob could no longer sit. He paced the room, walking to the windows and back again, then turning and walking the same path.
‘You are making me anxious,’ his uncle said.
‘You ought to be anxious,’ Rob growled.
‘Except that working yourself up will change nothing. Come and sit down and tell me what you have been up to with the farms. I have heard good things. Are you turning a profit?’
‘A slight profit, but I hope the autumn will bring much more.’
‘Sit and speak to me.’
