“But what brings you? I…” Nora hesitated. Gratitude seemed a poor excuse for this surprise visit, which could only be counted as a significant honor.
“I’m afraid I want your help,” Lady Woodbine said. “And it’s a bit of a crisis, so I came myself, hoping I could carry you away with me.” She paused, and Nora noted the anxious bobbing of her throat.
“It’s my cousin. She’s expecting, but it’s still six or seven weeks before her time. She started having pains last night. We sent for her doctor, but he’s been called away to see his sister. If you know any way to halt her pains…” Lady Woodbine licked her lips. “I would hate for her to lose this child,” she whispered.
Nora glanced at Ruth. Many women had false contractions. Hopefully… “Of course I’ll come,” Nora said. “Ruth, are you—”
The midwife nodded. “I can help, if you want me.”
“I do,” Nora said firmly. “But I understand if you are called away.” She turned to Lady Woodbine. “This is Mrs. Franklin. A very skilled midwife. We’ll come at once.”
“Thank you, Dr. Gibson.” Lady Woodbine’s whole body—face, shoulders, hands—softened with relief. Her tension had been well hidden by her manners and fancy trappings, but it was plain now. “My carriage is waiting outside.”
***
The house was an imposing one, at the end of a row shaded by plane trees, but there was no time to admire the facade or the architectural symmetry of the street. Nora pushed her shoulders back, alighting from the carriage and mounting the steps in long strides that would have done credit to any hurdler. Ruth followed, toting Nora’s bag since Nora was carrying her medicine box in one hand and the vaporizer in the other.
“This way.” Lady Woodbine ushered them through the hall and up the carpeted stairs, a housekeeper and two maids falling in behind her.
Ruth glanced at Nora and raised her eyebrows. Though she’d helped many women, Nora realized Ruth might not have attended any in a home like this.
“I’ll leave you here.” Lady Woodbine stopped just outside a stately double door in the upstairs corridor. “Green, the housekeeper, can provide anything you need. My cousin, Mrs.Roland, has her maid, Gladys, with her, and she’ll help answer any questions.”
As Nora hastened forward, Lady Woodbine touched her arm. “Please.” She blinked twice. “Do what you can.”
“Of course. We’ll take a look, and that should tell me what we’re up against.”
“I’ll be just across the hall.”
Lady Woodbine retreated, and Nora followed Ruth inside. “Mrs. Roland? Your cousin fetched me. I’m Dr. Gibson, and Mrs. Franklin and I are here to help.”
Mrs. Roland didn’t seem to hear. She grimaced—one eye closed, her face a mask of concentration—and held up a hand, signaling Nora to wait.
“She’s having another pain,” the maid, Gladys, explained unnecessarily.
“When was the last?”
Gladys gave her a blank look. Nora set down her burdens and hurried to the bed. She couldn’t see anything of Mrs. Roland’s body. Everything but her face and hands was concealed beneath a billowing, ruffled nightdress clinging to her in damp patches. Her hair, too, stuck to her neck and forehead. “I need to feel your belly,” Nora said, but as she placed her palms, Mrs. Roland squirmed miserably.
“The pains are getting stronger. My back never hurt like this before,” she said.
“You have other babes, then?” Ruth asked.
Mrs. Roland panted, her face screwing up in concentration. “Two.”
Nora eyed her patient, not her watch. But even so, falsecontractions didn’t last this long. None of her medicines would stop this.
“How long have you had the pains?”
“They only grew stronger this last hour. I hoped they were phantom pains, because it’s too early. And my waters haven’t come away, so—”
Ruth picked up Mrs. Roland’s hand. “Don’t fret yourself. You just need to rest and let Dr. Gibson have a look at you.”
Mrs. Roland settled back on the pillows, and Nora quickly ran her hands over her patient’s distended belly, feeling for the top of her uterus.
Not yet, not yet—there.She glanced at Ruth. “Too high.” She frowned. “Mrs. Roland, your cousin told me you are only seven months along.”
She nodded. “Yes, that was when I last bled, and—”
