Patricia kept to her bedchamber for the rest of the day. The maid brought her meals up to her, and Marcy helped her take care of the baby. At one point, Patricia thought about asking the maid to invite Stephen to see the baby, but then she thought she’d wait until the next day to see him.
She’d probably scared him by making him deliver the child. She honestly thought she’d had more time to go before delivery was imminent, but the pain hadn’t intensified right up until the very end. From there, she’d had the urge to push, and nothing was going to stop her at that point. Then the next thing she knew, the baby came out, and Stephen was holding her.
It was a shame he’d been wearing the mask. The moment was such a personal one that she would have preferred to see his face, even if it wasn’t like other people’s. But she could respect his need for privacy. He’d been willing to deliver the child, and she couldn’t ask any more of him than that.
Marcy had apologized for not doing it, adding, “I was so frightened that I’d hurt the child. I’ve never held a little one before.”
Patricia had quickly reassured her that it was all right. The important thing was that the baby was healthy. And as soon as she held the girl in her arms, Patricia’s heart had swelled with so much love she hadn’t felt it was possible to feel that way about another human being. She’d had no idea that being a mother could be such a wonderful experience.
The next day, Patricia ate breakfast in her bedchamber, but she only did that because she’d slept in until noon. She was determined, however, to go to the dining room that evening. She’d like to talk to Stephen. She wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk to her. She supposed if he didn’t, then he would stay in his bedchamber instead of eating with her.
She sighed as she rocked her baby in the chair by the window. She might not mind Stephen’s absence so much if she didn’t like him. But she did like him. He was pleasant to be around. He listened to her, and he seemed genuinely concerned about her.
Besides Lewis, it’d been a long time since she’d felt a connection with anyone. With Lewis, however, the connection was that of protection. Lewis was a friend in some ways, but he was mostly like an older brother who wanted to keep her safe. She didn’t feel that way when it came to Stephen. Yes, Stephen was a friend, but there was something else—something more—she felt with him.
There was a knock on the bedchamber door.
“Who is it?” Patricia called out, her heartbeat picking up in excitement.
“It’s your lady’s maid,” Marcy replied.
Patricia squashed down her disappointment. She should have known better than to think it might be Stephen coming to ask how she and her daughter were doing. The maid had probably reassured him that she and her daughter were doing well. So really, there was no need for him to see her.
Pushing the thought aside, she encouraged Marcy to come in. “I’m decent,” she assured her.
And even if Patricia wasn’t, she could hardly be embarrassed anymore. Marcy had seen her at her worst. The poor lady had had to clean her up and then put sanitary cloths under her right after the baby’s birth. The days of Patricia being modest at all times had come to an abrupt end. She didn’t think she’d get those days back any time soon since she still needed Marcy’s help with cleaning herself up. It didn’t help that she was sore between her legs, either. She hadn’t expected that to be the case. She’d assumed she’d go right back to normal after the delivery. But she hadn’t.
Loretta had only given her tips on how to take care of a baby. Patricia hadn’t thought to ask about how long it’d take to recover from giving birth. Marcy and the maid who’d helped her had no experience with having children, so they couldn’t help her.
Marcy came into the room, shutting the door behind her as she did so. “The Duchess of Lambeth is here, and she’s brought her children with her.”
Patricia’s eyebrows furrowed. Loretta was here? She thought over the last conversation she’d had with Loretta and realized the two had agreed that Loretta and her children would come out here today in order to get Stephen to leave his bedchamber.
“Oh! I forgot she was coming.” Patricia stopped rocking her daughter. “I invited them over.”
Patricia tried to stand up but wobbled. Marcy hurried over to help her regain her balance.
“Thank you,” Patricia said, her face growing warm.
“I’m happy to assist you in any way I can,” Marcy replied. “Your body has been through quite an ordeal. It’ll take some time before you can bounce right out of a chair again.”
“I didn’t expect that to be the case, but it’s surely turning out to be.”
“I’ll get a clean cloth for you, and then I’ll help you into a different gown.”
Patricia wondered if she could wear one of her old gowns anymore. Her body didn’t exactly look like it used to before she’d gotten with child. She hadn’t thought over how that might impact her ability to wear the gowns Lewis had bought for her right after she married Ichabod.
As it turned out, she was able to fit in them after all. At the time Lewis had bought them, they had been somewhat loose, but he had figured once she started eating well, she would no longer be unduly thin. Then, when she conceived, he’d gotten other gowns, and the maid at that time had adjusted the seams as needed on those gowns. So now she was finally back to the ones Lewis had originally gotten her, and they fit just right.
“You are such a pretty lady,” Marcy said as she pinned Patricia’s hair up into an attractive style.
“You’re pretty, too, Marcy,” Patricia replied, noting the cute blonde curls that framed her lady’s maid’s face.
Marcy’s cheeks turned pink as she smiled. “That’s very nice of you to say. I take after my mother, God rest her soul.”
“What happened to your mother?”
“She died while giving birth to me. My father said I reminded him of her.”
“Your father said you reminded him of her? Does that mean your father is not alive anymore?”
She nodded. “He went to join my mother three years ago. I started working here after that. I used to do the laundry before you came here. Then I became your lady’s maid.”
“Really?” Patricia turned around so she could get a better look at her. “I did laundry, too. Except I didn’t do it for a household. I was part of a group of ladies and children who cleaned clothes and linen for the middle class.”
“I didn’t know that. You hold yourself like a lady. I would have assumed you were born into wealth.”
“No, I wasn’t. My mother and I grew up in the poor area. I continued on there after she died.”
“How did you get out of it? Did Lord Pruett fall in love with you and marry you despite the difference in your stations?”
Patricia shook her head. “No. It wasn’t anything romantic like that. Lord Pruett’s brother found me and arranged the marriage.”
“That sounds romantic.”
“It would have been if Lord Pruett and I fell in love, but that didn’t happen. The truth is, I didn’t really ever know him. He kept to himself all the time.”
“That’s a shame. Deep down, I’ve always been a romantic. I love happy endings.” Then, after a moment, her smile returned. “Perhaps you will have a love match with Mr. Bachman. You two have been together.” She blushed again and cleared her throat. “I’m not spying on either of you. I just happened to notice that you two were taking a walk together when I was going past a window.”
“I know you aren’t spying on us,” she hurried to reassure her.
Patricia had had the heavy feeling of being watched after the gypsy had placed the curse on her and her mother. She hadn’t felt it at Ichabod’s estate, nor did she feel it here. Lewis had done as he’d promised. He had kept her safe. She turned her gaze to the girl in her arms. It was a good thing Lewis had brought her here. She had this innocent little person to care for.
“You’re ready to go downstairs,” Marcy said once she finished pinning the last of Patricia’s hair in place. “Would you like me to help you?”
Patricia nodded and held the baby out to her. “Hold her for me.”
Marcy gently took the baby in her arms. Patricia couldn’t blame her for being timid. It’d taken Patricia a couple of hours before she knew she wasn’t making her daughter uncomfortable. Loretta had told her to make sure she supported the baby’s head. “It’ll be a little while before a baby can hold his, or her, head up without assistance,” Loretta had warned.
Stephen seemed to have already known this since he’d held the baby as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It was a good thing he’d been the one to help her with the delivery.
The process of walking down the hall and going down the stairs went slower than Patricia had anticipated. She was surprised that, in addition to being sore, her muscles were also stiff. Marcy followed her, still carrying the child.
When they finally arrived at the drawing room, Loretta and Stephen were talking. Stephen was bouncing a happy Edmund on his lap. Rosamond was playing with an ivory doll.
Janus was eating next to Loretta on the settee.
“I wish I had known,” Loretta was telling Stephen. “I would have come over yesterday.”
“Patricia needed her rest,” Stephen replied. “She was up late in the night. I don’t think she was up to receiving visitors.”
Rosamond looked over at Patricia and Marcy. Her gaze went directly to the baby. “There’s the baby!” she called out to Loretta before running over to Marcy.
Chuckling, Marcy gave the baby to Patricia. “When you need to return to your bedchamber, summon me, and I’ll help you up the stairs.”
“Can I hold her?” Rosamond asked as Marcy left the room.
“Oh, well…” Patricia glanced at Loretta. Was a five year old able to properly hold a baby? Rosamond did have two little brothers, one of which had just turned four months old.
Loretta sighed. “Rosamond, I told you not to ask your aunt that.”
Stephen picked Edmund up in his arm and got up from the chair. “Your aunt just had the baby yesterday,” he told Rosamond. “I think you should wait until the baby is older. They aren’t like dolls. They can get hurt if you’re not careful.” He went over to Patricia. “Why don’t you take that chair?” He gestured to the one he’d just been sitting in. “It’s the most comfortable one in the room.”
Patricia stared at him for a moment. He seemed so much more at ease today. He was more like the person she’d gotten to know before he’d holed himself up in his bedchamber for a few days. She wished he was always like this. It was a very pleasant side of him.
“When can I hold the baby?” Rosamond asked Stephen as Patricia settled into the chair.
“That’ll be up to your aunt to decide,” Stephen told the girl.
“I’m surprised you want to hold her,” Loretta said. “You thought your brothers were boring.” She glanced at Patricia. “She only held Edmund one time, and that was when I was sitting right next to her.”
Rosamond went over to Patricia and peered down at the baby. “This is a girl. She can play dolls with me.”
Patricia smiled. “Someday, she will. Right now, she’s too young.”
Rosamond frowned. “Why do all babies have to be little?”
“Ladies can’t give birth to children your size,” Loretta told her. “It’s impossible.”
Patricia’s gaze went to Stephen, wondering what he thought of the conversation since he was a gentleman. Did this kind of thing bother him?
To her surprise, Stephen laughed. “Part of the fun of having children is that they start out little. It gives parents, aunts, and uncles time to enjoy being with them. Before long, they’ll be all grown up. We need to make the most of the time that we have.”
Though Rosamond didn’t seem particularly impressed with his words, Patricia thought they were sweet.
“I got to deliver the baby,” Stephen told Loretta.
Loretta’s eyes grew wide. “You did?”
He nodded. “It was a beautiful experience.”
“I thought you were scared,” Patricia blurted out before she could stop herself. In a million years, she never would have thought he’d say delivering a child was a beautiful experience. Not when he and Marcy had argued over who had to do it.
“I was scared at the time,” he admitted. “I’d never done it before. I was afraid I was going to do something wrong. But once the baby was in my hands, I realized I had just witnessed someone coming into the world.” He paused for a moment then added, “It’s probably my best memory.”
Patricia relaxed. “That’s good. I thought I had terrified you for life when I said I couldn’t wait for the doctor.”
Loretta chuckled. “Stephen is braver than most. He’ll be a good father.”
“Yes, he will be,” Patricia agreed.
Stephen’s smile widened, and Patricia came to realize just how much he wanted to be the girl’s father. “Do you want to hold her?” Patricia offered.
“I’ll take Edmund,” Loretta offered.
He got up and handed Edmund to her before he took a chair and pulled it up to Patricia’s. Then he accepted the newborn into his arms. He smiled at the girl and tapped her nose with his finger. She looked up at him, as if trying to figure out who he was.
Patricia laughed. “Don’t you remember him? He’s the first person you saw when you came into the world.”
“That might be true,” Stephen said, “but she went through a lot that night. It wasn’t easy on her to come into a cold, unfamiliar world.” He glanced at her. “You did a lot of work, too. I’m glad I was in the room when she was born.”
“Stephen,” Loretta began, “I think you’re the only gentleman, besides a doctor, who’ll ever say that. My husband, for one, nearly faints when I mention I’m ready to have a baby. He never would have made it through the experience.”
“Stephen did a wonderful job.” Noting the way Stephen was holding the baby, Patricia added, “It’s as if he was born to take care of children.”
“I agree,” Loretta said. “Stephen, you have a gift for dealing with children. When I told Rosamond and Janus we were coming here today, they got excited. They love spending time with you. Even if you didn’t give them gifts, they’d still want to be here.”
“We’re not getting gifts anymore?” Rosamond asked, glancing from her mother to her uncle as if the thought could very well mean the end of the world.
“I would never do that,” Stephen assured his niece. “I get to spoil you and your brothers. With my daughter, I have to discipline and guide her along. A father’s role is different from an uncle’s role.” His gaze went to Patricia’s. “I’ll be the best father I can be.”
“I know you will,” Patricia whispered.
Rosamond went over to him and studied the girl. The girl, in turn, seemed to study her.
Stephen glanced at Patricia. “If I were to put Rosamond on my lap and let her hold the baby, would that be all right? I’ll make sure she holds the baby securely.”
Since Rosamond perked up in excitement, Patricia didn’t have the heart to say no. Besides, Stephen would make sure she was careful with her daughter.
Once Patricia nodded her agreement, Stephen let Rosamond climb up in his lap. Then he instructed her on how to hold the girl, making sure to keep his arm around the baby, too.
“What do you think?” Patricia asked Rosamond.
“She’s like a doll,” Rosamond said. “But she’s real.”
“Yes, she is,” Stephen replied with a chuckle.
“Does she have a name?” Rosamond asked.
Stephen looked at Patricia expectantly.
Patricia shrugged. “I haven’t picked anything yet. What name do you like?”
“Are you asking me?” Stephen replied.
“Yes. Do you have a name that you like?” Patricia asked. “I was going to name the baby Lewis if it was a boy, but I hadn’t picked out a name for a girl. I’d like for you to do that.”
After a moment, he said, “I’ve always liked the name Susanna.”
Patricia smiled. “I like that. Let’s call her Susanna.”
He returned her smile then turned his attention back to Rosamond and the baby.