Page 39 of Beyond the Grave
She blinked in surprise at me, then smiled. "Thank you, Miss Holloway. You're quite an admirable young woman yourself. You weren't afraid of escaping through the window, for instance."
"Years of practice," I said, laughing.
"Did anyone at the hospital know about your witchcraft?" Lincoln asked.
"No, nor outside it, either. It was a family secret."
"No one? Didn't Lord Harcourt discover it?"
She shook her head. "I don't believe he did."
"He must have," I said. "You see, the late Lord Harcourt belonged to our organization. When he learned of something supernatural, he reported it to Mr. Fitzroy, here. Oh." I suddenly saw the hole in my logic. "He never brought this case to your attention, did he?"
Lincoln shook his head. "Why was your name in his journal, Miss Pearson?"
"Because he discovered I was the nurse who delivered his grandchild, and he had some questions for me."
"Whoa," Seth said, hands up. "The present Lord and Lady Harcourt are childless."
"She gave birth to a stillborn boy, five years ago. The birth was difficult, and we almost lost her too. I managed to give the little boy an extra day, through my spell, but that was all. As with every resurrection, the family was never aware that it was my magic that kept him on this realm a little longer."
"So why did old Lord Harcourt need to see you about it?" I asked. "And why was he angry with you? Are you quite sure it wasn't because he found out about your witchcraft?"
"He never mentioned it when he met with me, a few years later. He wasn't angry with me, you understand, he was angry with his son and daughter-in-law. The couple had been married only four months when I assisted with the birth, yet I delivered Mrs. Buchanan, as she was known then, of a full-term baby. You see, when she announced her pregnancy, everyone assumed she'd fallen in on the honeymoon. Including her husband. However, she was already well into her pregnancy by the time she married. Some five months, in fact. She must have hidden it well."
"She told you this?" I asked.
"I learned it after the delivery. One cannot hide the difference between a full-term baby and a four-month old fetus."
"Why were you summoned to deliver the child?"
"She'd heard of my skill." Estelle straightened, but did not puff out her chest or sound in the least boastful. "I have a reputation, you see, and I've often been asked to assist in home births in good households. Mrs. Buchanan knew she was going to deliver a full-term baby and, by asking for me, I'm quite certain she hoped the baby would survive. Despite her lie, she wanted that child very much."
"How sad," I murmured. "The poor thing died."
"Very sad. She was distraught, but the extra hours I gave the baby helped, I believe. She held him every moment until he finally slipped away a second time."
I dabbed at the corner of my eye.
"It was then that Donald Buchanan discovered his wife's lie?" Lincoln asked.
She nodded. "It was impossible to hide."
"How did he react?"
"Confused, shocked."
"Was the baby his?" I asked.
"I don't know. He never suggested otherwise in my presence, and never spoke harshly to his wife or questioned her. Of course, that could have been because she was distraught and weak. She only had eyes for her son. He never said a word to anyone about the baby being full-term, I do know that much. As far as the outside world knew, she was delivered of a stillborn fetus at four months gestation. The baby never had breath to cry, so it never made a sound, and aside from Mr. Donald Buchanan, myself and the local parson, who christened the baby, no one entered that bedroom. The servants and villagers were all told that Mrs. Buchanan needed to be alone to recover and mourn. Her husband and I took care of everything."
"Villagers? So this happened on the Harcourt estate?"
"They lived up there after the wedding," Seth said. "Old Lord Harcourt preferred London. He liked the theater too much to live far away from it."
The theater and its delights in the shape of Julia Templeton.
"Old Lord Harcourt must have discovered the truth," Lincoln said. "That's why he came to you, to have it confirmed."
