Their night together had been oddly enlightening. She’d read of the scientific theory that men and women were complementary to each other, rather than equal, and always considered it to be erroneous. She did think that perhaps men and women ought to be considered equal to each otherbecausethey could be complementary to each other. It was a thought she stored at the back of her brain for later consideration.
In the present moment, she had more personal concerns to contemplate.
If Penelope were to withhold herself from him,mightHugh seek gratification outside of their marriage? She’d not even considered this aspect until now. She’d been so very concerned with the fact that he hated her, it had been the least of her worries.
Except that now it worried her.
“Do you, Pen?” Rose persisted.
“I don’t know,” Penelope answered honestly. Perhaps he still felt guilty, as she had, for their uncivilized bout of lovemaking—if one could even call it that. Perhaps he would leave her alone for a few nights, thinking a new bride needed a break, so to speak. “But I don’t think that I should.” And then, making a decision, she turned to Rose. “Please, will you send for the midwife? There are a few things I think I ought to have a better understanding of with all of this marriage business.”
“You and me both,” Rose said. “I’ll send for her immediately.”
* * *
Mrs. Mary Huber was a strong-looking woman. She was not timid or foolishly feminine in any way, and yet she was gentle when she examined Penelope and seemed to not judge anything about Penelope’s recent marriage and premature condition.
Penelope liked her and felt confident speaking with her regarding such personal matters.
“It ought not have caused you to bleed, but I don’t see anything of concern at the moment. You are certain you did not experience any stretching pains, or pains in your back?”
“I did not,” Penelope answered after confirming her answer in her own mind. “But there was enough blood to frighten me—some of it thick-like.”
The woman’s hands were feeling around on Penelope’s stomach, firmly but not uncomfortably so. “I’m relatively certain you are carrying twins. You will most likely deliver earlier than a normal term.”
“You can feel them?” Rose asked.
The midwife, unsmiling until that moment, nodded. She took one of Penelope’s hands in hers and held it over the babies. Penelope felt a lump.
“I think that’s one,” the midwife said. And then, moving her fingers around a little, she placed Penelope’s hand along the side. Another lump. “And that’s the other one.”
Penelope was in awe. Rose looked about to burst. Penelope reached out for Rose’s hand and placed it where the midwife had just showed her. “You have to push in a little, Rose, it’s okay.”
The midwife nodded.
“What should I do now? Can I get up? Can I walk about the estate? Ride a horse?”
Rose had removed her hands and so the midwife drew Penelope’s gown downward and the sheet up. “To be safe, I recommend you keep to your bed for at least two days. And after that, lots of rest. I don’t want for you to take on any strenuous activity. No lifting, no long carriage rides, and most definitely no horseback riding.” She looked over to Rose and wagged her finger. “Be certain your mistress drinks plenty of liquids. Tea is good and perhaps some watered-down wine or a bit of ale. She also needs to eat regularly. The wee ones she carries get all of their nutrition from the mother. If the mother doesn’t eat, the babies don’t either.”
“Should she enter confinement?” Rose asked.
“It would not hurt. Soon, perhaps.”
“What about marital relations?” Penelope asked, not wanting to let the midwife escape without having some very pertinent answers. “Does it hurt them?”
The midwife pursed her lips. “It does not hurt them, per se. But your womb, your body, is vulnerable right now. My belief is that the womb responds to signals it receives concerning the woman’s health. If your health is compromised, in any way, the womb will go into early labor. It’s better that way. If the womb doesn’t receive such signals than the woman’s health can be in peril. These babies are tiny. Your female body needs all of its strength in order to protect and grow them. So, relations with your husband are fine, but they must be tender. And the husband must be willing to halt if the woman feels anything troubling.” The woman frowned. “Carrying more than one child most definitely poses more danger to both you and the babies. They are born smaller than single births. They cannot always breathe enough to survive. I don’t wish to scare you, but you are a plain-speaking lady and I have no wish to wax things over for you.”
Penelope considered the woman’s words and nodded thoughtfully. She and Hugh had not been tender with each other this morning. She was lucky, indeed, that things hadn’t ended up badly.
Her little fish were doing well, and she would not jeopardize them for anything.
If Hugh decided to visit her bed again, they were going to have to have a discussion. This was not the time for squeamishness!
Things between the two of them had become so… complicated. Surely, not all relationships were this way! The Duke and Duchess of Cortland had met and courted before he had become the duke. They’d been engaged, even, from what Lilly had told her. And then they’d had a great misunderstanding, which had kept them apart for nearly a decade! They’d serendipitously found each other again, but the duke had been engaged to Lady Natalie, now the Countess of Hawthorne.
When Natalie and Lord Hawthorne had courted, he’d been something of a pariah. That had not been a simple courtship, she was certain of that. But when the respective couples had married, they’d been in love. It had seemed as though everything had been settled.
Abigail and the Duke of Monfort had not married for love. But something had happened after their wedding, and they were now a most loving couple.
