Page 35 of Beyond the Grave
"Yes." The crisp tone had returned, along with a flattening of her lips.
I nudged Seth. If anyone could get her saying more it was him, if he used his charms correctly.
But before he could take her hand again, another nurse bustled up. "Have you seen Dr. Merton this morning?" she asked the midwife on the desk. "He's supposed to have begun his rounds but no one's seen him."
"Have you checked his office?"
"I knocked but there was no answer." She wrinkled her nose. "I suppose I should try again."
The nurses exchanged grim looks then the newcomer bustled off.
"Excuse me," I said to the desk nurse. "I think I'd like to speak to this Dr. Merton." I hurried after the disappearing midwife, dragging Seth with me.
"You can't go through there!" the desk nurse called. "Staff and patients only."
"We'll just be a moment. I'm sure your colleague will show us to his office. There'll be a generous donation given to the hospital when we learn which doctor delivered my housekeeper's baby!"
"Housekeeper'sniece'sbaby," Seth muttered as we rushed through the door and caught up to the other midwife. "Keep up."
The nurse eyed us curiously but didn't order us to return to the reception room. It would seem the words "generous donation" had worked their magic.
"I'm glad for your company," she said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Very glad."
We followed her through a ward lined with beds on either side. Each one was occupied by a heavily pregnant woman, some moaning, others lying on their sides, and one who was clearly about to give birth, if her groans were an indication. A doctor and two nurses attended her, and they were obviously about to inspect herdown there. Beside me, Seth went white and slowed down, gawping at the scene. I grabbed his hand and pulled him along just as the poor woman let out another low groan.
"Are you all right?" I asked him. "Are you going to be sick?"
He swallowed and wiped his brow with his handkerchief. "I think I'll manage."
I patted his arm. "You've been very brave, dear. Well done."
He blanched at my sarcasm. "Thank you,dear. I do hope you're taking notes for when we are as blessed as these patients. I'm sure it won't be long before you find yourself in one of those beds, as large as a whale yet somehow still radiant."
"Oh, I won't be confined here. Our marriage bed will do nicely."
He pulled a face, but at least he had his color back.
We followed the nurse along a corridor, her stiff skirts snapping at her ankles with each step, up three flights of stairs then into another corridor with several doors leading off it. She asked the nurses, orderlies, and doctor we passed if they'd seen Dr. Merton, but none had for some time.
"Excuse me," she called out to an orderly dressed in an ill-fitting brown jacket and trousers. He had his back to us and paused with his hand on a door handle. His shoulder-length black hair was tied back in a leather strip.
Lincoln.
He turned to her. He did not look at Seth or me, and he didn't seem at all surprised to see us there. If he was, he was good at hiding it. I wasn't quite so adept. My eyes bulged, but I managed to suppress my gasp before it left my lips. The nurse didn't notice.
"Yes, miss?" Lincoln asked.
"Have you just come from Dr. Merton's office?"
"Is this his office?" He indicated the closed door. "Only I'm new here, and I was sent up to fetch him." His accent placed him directly in London's east end, not at all from Highgate.
"It is," the nurse said. "I've not seen you before. You must be new."
"Just started today, miss."
"And they sent you looking for the doctor alone?" She clicked her tongue then eyed the door with wariness that didn't sit well on her. She'd been energetic and brisk up to this point, but now she hesitated.
I came up close behind her. "Shall we go in?" It was more a question for Lincoln than her, but it was the nurse who answered.
