Sorrow gripped his throat as he feared they had arrived too late. Someone had gotten to the widow first, and if she wasn’t dead yet, judging by the amount of blood and the whimpering sounds coming from the room, she would be soon.
But when they entered the room, the sight that met their eyes was much different than what he had expected, if no more reassuring. She was there. Mrs. Phipps. The young widow’s face was pale as milk, sweat plastering pale, limp hair to her temples. But she didn’t seem to be bleeding from any wounds. Rather, she knelt on the floor, clutching her belly, a soiled blanket beneath her. Her eyes darted up, wild with terror.
“Stay back!” she gasped. “Don’t hurt me—please!”
Alice was already moving, putting away her gun. Sinking to her knees beside her. “Mrs. Phipps, we’re not here to harm you. My name is Alice. This is Nathaniel. We’re with the Foreign Office. We want to help you.”
Nathaniel crouched behind Alice, his hand on her shoulder. She glanced at him. “Get a doctor. Quickly.”
He hesitated for a fraction of a second. He didn’t want to leave the women here alone. Unprotected. But it was obvious it was too late to remove the widow to another location. And she needed a doctor or midwife urgently. He nodded sharply and raced toward the carriage still parked outside, his boots pounding down the hall.
Aliceturnedbacktothe widow, concern and pity twisting in her gut at the sight of the young, terrified woman in such desperate straits. “You’re safe now. Help is on the way.”
Whatever Mrs. Phipps saw in Alice must have reassured her somehow, for the smallest glimmer of hope shone in her eyes, and her hand clutched Alice’s as if holding on to a lifeline.
Another spasm took hold of her, and she doubled over, panting as she clutched her belly. Alice tried to soothe her as much as she could. God, how could she help this woman if Nathaniel didn’t return soon with a doctor or midwife? She knew next to nothing about pregnancy or the birth of a baby.
But she knew that the bed was more comfortable than the cold, hard floor. The least she could do was get Mrs. Phipps comfortable.
When the spasm subsided, she helped the widow to stand. “Here, let me help you to your bed, Mrs. Phipps. You’ll be more comfortable there.”
The young widow nodded and stood with Alice’s help. “Call me Clara,” she said, taking a few labored steps to the bed, before collapsing gratefully on it.
After that, time blurred between Clara’s labor pains. It felt like hours, but it was probably not even an hour yet since Nathaniel had departed. In the meantime, she busied herself doing all she could. She fetched water, wiped the woman’s brow, murmured reassurances. And silently prayed that Nathaniel would return soon with the doctor.
In the breathless lulls between pain, Mrs. Phipps talked.
“My Tommy…he wasn’t a bad man,” she whispered. “One mistake… They blackmailed him. Forced him to pass messages. Steal documents. He wanted to stop. He planned to tell someone—but they killed him.” Fresh tears spilled from the woman’s face, and Alice remembered it wasn’t even a month since herhusband had been assassinated and she had been forced to run. Alone. Scared. Pregnant. Alice’s heart twisted at what this woman had suffered.
But the best way to protect her now was to catch the people who did this to her and her husband. “Did he ever say who forced him?”
The widow shook her head weakly. “Only… ‘Lord A.’ That’s all I know. I don’t think even Tommy knew the identity of his tormentor. He would always describe the man as a shadow. A hooded figure.” A sob wracked her body. “I thought if I delivered the last package at the Black Swan, they might leave me alone. But then I saw that man—Dimitri, Tommy called him. I caught him searching my home the day after Tommy died.” She stopped on a sob. “Our eyes met, and I saw murder in them. That’s when I knew for sure Tommy’s death had not been an accident. He skulked away that time, for there were other people in the house, but I knew he’d come back for me. Because I had seen him. That’s why I ran. I grabbed what I could and left my house before he could come back.”
“You were right to run,” Alice said gently.
“But they’ll find me. Sooner or later, they will find me. They know I’m a threat, a loose end. They are powerful. They are everywhere. They know everything.”
“You’re not alone anymore,” Alice soothed her, wiping her brow, which seemed much too hot. “My superior is a powerful man as well. We can protect you.”
The widow clutched Alice’s hand. “You can’t. But my baby… Please, promise me you’ll save my baby.”
“I swear it, dear. You need not worry about a thing but delivering your baby. We’ll protect you both.”
It was nearly midnight when Nathaniel returned, a breathless doctor in tow. By then, Alice had grown frantic with worry as the birthing pains were coming so close together and she wasabsolutely at a loss about what to do. She gratefully guided the doctor in, thinking things would improve now that a competent doctor was in charge.
Instead, everything got worse. So much worse.
The birth was long, messy, and harrowing. The cramped room smelled of sweat and blood, Clara’s cries echoing off bare walls. Nathaniel waited in the tiny front parlor, pacing like a caged animal. She could hear the floor creaking under his boots. Every once in a while, she would come out to report on the progress…or lack thereof.
Then, at last—a baby’s cry. Alice exhaled sharply, sagging against the wall. Surely now everything would get better.
Except it wasn’t over. Clara’s pains didn’t stop, and soon, the doctor announced there was another baby.
Twins? Oh, God. Could Clara survive another such difficult birth? Alice continued to press cool clothes against the woman’s forehead, which seemed to get hotter as time went by. She was bleeding so much. Her strength leaving her like water from a broken pail.
She grabbed the first baby. A boy. Cleaned and swaddled him as best she could with a clean small blanket she found folded inside the wardrobe, which contained the meager preparations the widow had been able to make for the arrival of her baby. Alice took the baby to the mother, whose gaze had become unfocused and distant with pain, fever, and blood loss. But at the nearness of the baby, she summoned a bit of strength and smiled at the child.
“It’s a boy,” Alice said.
