Without hesitation, the other riders fell into place behind him. This was not the time to hold back his horse.
I’m coming, Penelope.
He did not even realize that he chanted her name in his head, over and over again.I’m coming for you, love.
She had asked for him.
The terrain was familiar now, the road, and then the drive, and then the large stately mansion that he’d always considered home. The cold, dark thought flitted through his mind that the last time he’d arrived here, he’d been greeted with the news of his mother’s death.
As he rode up to the house and swung off the horse, a woman came running out the door. She wore an apron, covered in blood, her hair disheveled about her face. Monfort was off of his own mount in a flash, and Abigail threw herself into the duke’s arms. “Alex! It’s horrible,” she cried. “The first one isn’t breathing and the second one refuses to be delivered! The doctor has torn her up with the forceps and oh, God, my dear poor Penelope. I don’t know what to do.!”
Not even stopping to consider what needed to be done, Hugh rushed past the two of them and into the foyer. He ran up the stairs, two at a time, and down the corridor toward his wife’s chamber. In that moment, a man emerged, closing the door behind him.
“You are the viscount?” he asked. The man, like Penelope’s cousin, was covered in blood. At Hugh’s nod, he spoke solemnly, “There is not much more for me to do. I was able to remove the first baby with forceps, stillborn, unfortunately. But I cannot get a hold of the second one. There is no telling if the remaining child lives. I will leave the choice to you.”
“What choice?” Hugh demanded. Cortland stood behind him.
“I can cut the child out of your wife in an attempt to save the baby. If the child cannot be delivered, both will die. If I use a knife to take the child out, at least the baby stands a chance.”
This was no choice. Hugh remembered this man, always rushing to his mother with various tonics and leaches, ready to utilize the modern techniques he’d read in some journal or other.
“Get out of my home.” Hugh could barely contain himself from punching the man in the face. But this was not the time. Hugh was barely aware of Cortland leading the worthless physician away as he entered the birthing room.
He would have rather taken a punch to the gut.
A bullet even.
Heavy curtains covered the windows and a fire burned in the grate. Several candles flickered, creating eerie shadows on the walls. Rose sat in a chair, cradling a naked and bloody infant against her breast. She had a war-torn look in her eyes. The infant was still. As was Penelope.
His beautiful, courageous, wickedly intelligent wife lay on the bed, a bloodied sheet covering her.
“We tried to stop him, Hugh,” the lady’s maid said. Except he knew that Rose was so much more than a maid to Penelope. They were more like sisters. “She begged us to stop him, but he wouldn’t stop.” Tears flowed freely from her as she tucked the tiny head of matted hair beneath her chin. “He wouldn’t stop.”
All that mattered now was Penelope.
He would not allow her to die. His eyes focused on the situation.
Penelope’s hand twitched ever so minutely, giving him the signal he needed to take action. A calm like no other took hold of him.
She yet lived.
Gently steering Rose away from the bed, Hugh came up beside his wife, wrapping his arms around her gently. “Penelope, love, it’s me.”
Her lashes fluttered but couldn’t seem to open. “Hugh,” she said.
“I’m here, darling, and you and I are going to deliver our child.”
At his words, her eyes fluttered again. “You’ve come back. You’ve come back.”
“I am here.”
“I cannot, Hugh.” Her voice was thin and weak, barely a whisper, “I’m so tired.”
“I’m going to help you.” He knew what he had to do. His experience from years ago, working with his father’s farm animals, suddenly provided the answer.
He turned away and washed his hands in a nearby basin. They were covered in dust and animal sweat. Locating a clean sheet, he dried them and then returned to the bedside.
The forceps lying beside her sent an icy, controlled anger through him.
