“You are yelling in my ear,” Felicity snapped. “How could I not hear you?”
Meredith tugged her forward. “Save your surliness for your husband. He is the one who got you into this ordeal.”
“I’m sorry. I did not mean to be—” Felicity groaned, doubling over and grabbing her stomach.
“How long have you been having these pains?” Meredith asked when the worst of it seemed to pass.
Her sister simply moaned in reply.
“You stubborn mule!” Meredith should’ve known her sister would ignore her own needs to tend to her. She wanted to shake Felicity until her teeth rattled, but that really wouldn’t help matters. “You have been having contractions this whole time, haven’t you?”
Meredith didn’t expect an answer, which was fortuitous since she didn’t get one. Every few steps, Felicity had to stop until the pain passed. Sweat began to run in rivulets down Meredith’s back as the times they were forced to stop grew closer together. When another contraction consumed her sister, she reconsidered the wisdom in going for help.
“I am going to retrieve Julian,” she said. “We will never make it in time alone.”
Felicity clutched her arm, her fingers digging deep into Meredith’s skin as another powerful pain swept through her. “Please,” she panted. “Don’t leave me.”
“I’m sorry, but I must.” Meredith pried her sister’s fingers from her arm. “I will be back very soon. I promise.”
For the second time that day, Meredith dashed for the castle. The uneven ground caused her to stumble, but she righted her balance and kept going. In the distance, she spotted a figure moving in their direction.
“Over here,” she called, waving her arms overhead. “Hurry! I need help.”
The man broke into a run, answering her call. As he neared, she realized it was Colin, but she was too frightened for her sister to worry about their rescuer’s identity.
When they reached one another, she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward her sister. “Felicity is having her baby.Now. She cannot walk any further.”
Colin released her hand, rushing forward to lift Felicity into his arms to tote her back to the castle. Meredith had to hurry alongside him to match his long strides. The sky had darkened to a dark plum and lightning stretched across it like weathered tree branches.
At the edge of the garden, Colin urged Meredith to go ahead to alert the servants. “Dr. Campion was called for the duke. He should be here by now.”
Her heart leapt into her throat. “Why does the duke need a doctor? Is he ill?” Danby had blanched when she had taken him to task earlier, but otherwise, he’d seemed healthy.
“He bruised his knuckles,” Colin said. “He is fine. Now, go. I’ve only helped deliver lambs. I doubt I will be of any help if your sister decides to have her baby in the garden.”
Meredith heard Felicity berating him as she raced toward the house. Julian must have spotted them from the castle because he charged out the door before she reached it. “Is she hurt?” He didn’t wait for an answer.
“She is having the baby,” Meredith called to his back.
Colin relinquished her sister to Julian as Dr. Campion bolted outside with his black doctor’s case. Felicity had one just like it that had belonged to their father.
“Take me to my chambers. We will need boiling water to sterilize your instruments.” Meredith’s sister continued to bark directions at the poor man all the way inside, but to be fair, Felicity had likely delivered more babies than the good doctor. She would definitely hold an opinion on the correct way to go about it.
When the trio disappeared inside, Meredith grabbed her head with both hands and exhaled loudly. Her legs were quivering. “I cannot believe we made it. I need to sit.”
Colin placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her toward a stone bench nestled in a bed of thyme. She collapsed on the hard surface, spent after such a trying afternoon. The earl left his hand on her back, and she didn’t possess the wherewithal to tell him to remove it. The warmth of his hand seeped through her gown, comfortable and oddly familiar.
“You left before I returned with your books,” he said.
She fixed her gaze on the flowers in front of her and nodded, although a response wasn’t needed.
“Do you remember that I wanted to speak with you—about what happened between us?” His hand made a slow pass up her back then back down to her hip. He continued to caress her, lulling her with the gentleness of his touch.
“We both know what happened between us,” she said, “and now I know why. The countess showed me the letter and explained everything. You wanted to drive me away to fulfill your bargain with the duke.”
“Audrey knows very little,” he said with a slight edge to his voice. “You should never listen to her again. If you wish to know something, you should come to me. I promise to be honest with you always.”
“You speak as if we have a future together.”
