Amber nodded. ‘Yes, as I told you in me letter, it started when I suggested to Uncle Jeremiah that I thought Mrs Carter would like a pet,’ she giggled. ‘I guessed right from the day I got here that she had feelin’s for him – it was as plain as the nose on your face. Anyway, he turns up wi’ little Fancy, the dog, an’ next thing they’re takin’ him for walks together. Then recently Uncle suggests that Mrs Carter should join us for dinner an’ they seem to be gettin’ on like a house on fire.’
‘If that’s the case I couldn’t be more pleased fer him.’ Alice smiled. ‘She’s a good woman is Martha Carter. She were married briefly a long time ago, I believe, to a fisherman but his ship went down in a storm. Not long after that your uncle bought this house an’ she came to live wi’ him as his housekeeper an’ she’s been here ever since. Nothin’ would please me more than to see ’em get together for they’ve both led lonely lives one way or another. But now what about a slice o’ that cake, eh? It’s makin’ me mouth water.’
*
Just as predicted, Jeremiah was delighted to see his sister when he arrived home that evening and dinner was a merry affair as they chatted non-stop.
‘Couldn’t you stay for another day or two, Alice?’ he asked but she shook her head.
‘Much as I’d love to, I can’t. I’ve got to be back for when the men drop anchor else they’ll think I’ve run off an’ left ’em,’ she told him and he nodded understandingly. He knew how devoted his sister was to her family and thought that this was just as it should be.
After dinner Alice joined her brother and Mrs Carter for a stroll along the front with the little dog gleefully running ahead of them on his lead and as Amber watched them go from the window, tears pricked at the back of her eyes as she realised that there would never be anyone special in her life now. Who would want her when they knew that she’d given birth to an illegitimate baby? With a sigh she returned to sewing the tiny nightdress that Mrs Carter had insisted the baby should have. They’d stitched a number of clothes between them now, although Amber knew that she would never get the chance to see the child wearing them.
There were tears when her mother took her leave early the following morning. ‘Oh, I wish I could be here to help wi’ the birth,’ Alice fretted. ‘Promise you’ll send word the minute it’s born, won’t you? I’ll burn the letter then, just in case your dad or one o’ the lads reads it,’ she promised.
After she’d left, Amber felt totally bereft, wondering how she would manage to give birth without her mother by her side.
*
Just one-week later Amber came down to breakfast looking pale with dark shadows beneath her eyes, and instantly concerned, Mrs Carter asked, ‘Didn’t you sleep well, dear?’
‘Not really,’ Amber admitted, rubbing her back. ‘I think I must have lay funny. I’ve had a dull backache all night.’
‘I see. Well, sit down and have a nice hot cup of tea and some breakfast.’
Amber did as she was told but found she couldn’t eat a thing. Soon she was prowling up and down, and Mrs Carter began to feel a little nervous. Never having had any children of her own she wasn’t sure what signs to look for when a baby was about to make an appearance but she had a feeling that this might be the beginning of Amber’s labour. She was just relieved it was a Saturday. Jeremiah would be home just after lunchtime so at least she would have moral support, if nothing else.
‘Would you like me to send Biddy to fetch the midwife to have a look at you?’ she offered.
Amber shook her head. ‘No, I’m not having pains. It’s just this damn backache. It’ll probably go off in a minute.’
But it didn’t go off and by mid-morning she felt worse.
Mrs Carter was hovering by the door when Jeremiah returned and the minute he stepped in, she told him, ‘I think Amber is close to having the baby but she doesn’t want me to send for the midwife yet.’
‘I see.’ Jeremiah looked almost as panicked as she did and heartily wished that Amber’s mother was there; she’d know what to do whereas he and Mrs Carter didn’t have a clue.
At that moment, as Mrs Carter was hanging his hat and coat on the hallstand, they heard a low moan issue from the parlour, and hurrying into the room they found Amber hanging on the back of a chair with a pool of water on the floor between her feet.
‘I?.?.?. I’m so sorry,’ she panted. ‘I reckon me waters have just broke all over your clean rug.’ She herself had heard many babies come into the world in Argument’s Yard. The people lived in such close proximity to each other that it would have been hard not to, so she had a good idea what to expect and she knew the worst was yet to come.
‘Shall I send Biddy for the midwife?’ her uncle asked as he tried not to panic, but still Amber shook her head.
‘No, not yet. First-time mothers can be hours havin’ the baby an’ I ain’t had no real pains yet.’ The words had barely left her lips when she suddenly gasped and doubled over. She felt as if someone was tightening a steel band about her stomach and the severity of the first pain took her breath away.
As Jeremiah guided Amber to a chair and gently pressed her down into it, Mrs Carter bustled back in all of a fluster with a mop and bucket.
‘So what do we do now?’ Jeremiah asked, trying to conceal his panic.
‘We need to time how far apart the pains are,’ Amber told him and he instantly unhooked his gold Hunter watch from his waistcoat and checked the time. ‘An’ per’aps Mrs Carter wouldn’t mind gettin’ the bed ready.’
Once the pain had died away Amber felt better and began to wonder if perhaps it had been a false alarm but ten minutes later another pain had her gripping the arms of the chair.
‘It’s all right,’ she told her uncle who had gone alarmingly pale. ‘No need to send for the midwife till they’re at least five minutes apart.’
It was five o’clock in the afternoon before Biddy was duly sent to find Nurse Bonnet, the midwife her uncle had employed to deliver the baby. Amber had as yet refused to go to bed but when the little woman appeared she bossily ordered her upstairs and much to his relief told Jeremiah, ‘An’ you can stay downstairs, if you please, sir. The birthing room is no place for a gentleman, although I’d be glad of Mrs Carter’s help if only to fetch me hot water and towels.’
‘Of course.’ Mrs Carter gave a faltering smile, although she was quaking in her shoes. She’d never attended a birth before and had no notion what to expect, but she had an idea it wasn’t going to be pleasant.
