That was an odd question. “Yes, I do.”
“Your lips are very chapped. They are red and a bit swollen. Your skin on your cheeks seems a bit chapped, as well.”
Fromhiswhiskered jaw.
And her lips were still remarkably sensitive.
Gemma laid her hand against her face. “I feel a bit hot. There must be something in the air. If you will excuse me?”
She would have made her escape, except Mrs. Warbler wasn’t done with her. “Were you with Mr. Thurlowe this afternoon?”
Such an innocent question. Such a silly one.
He answered, “She was. I requested her help. Sometimes a woman will share with another woman what she is too shy to say to her doctor. As a healer, I thought Gemma would be great help, and she was.”
“Was she?” Mrs. Warbler echoed. “I mean, I didn’t know that you knew about childbirth, Gemma.”
“You doubt me, Mrs. Warbler?” Gemma asked.
“Oh, no. I am one of your greatest supporters. And we do need a midwife. We can’t rely on Mary.”
“Actually,” Gemma said, “Mr. Thurlowe was a most excellent male midwife.”
“Although I am not going to do it as a regular calling,” Ned was quick to add.
Mrs. Warbler studied them both for a moment, her suspicions obvious.
Gemma remained stoic, meeting her eye, refusing to feel guilty, and also knowing she should. What they’d done had been wrong, so very wrong...
The coachman interrupted the tension of the moment. “Are you ready to be driven to your house, Mr. Thurlowe?”
“Actually, I will walk from here,” Ned said.
“I’m obliged to drive you, sir,” the coachman answered. “The master was quite clear.”
“It’s a nice evening. The air will feel good,” Ned said. “You have done your duty.”
“Very well, sir.” The coach pulled away to thecrossroad and made a huge circle before he drove past them on his way home. The three of them stood, watching. Gemma knew Mrs. Warbler’s mind was a hive of questions—questions that were not going to be answered.
Questions she needed time to consider.
She pretended to yawn, the action allowing her to withdraw her hand from his. “It’s been an eventful day.” That was an understatement. “If you will excuse me?” Before she left, she turned to Ned. “Thank you. You are a remarkable doctor.”And so much more.
Their eyes met. His were laughing. Did he not know the anger Mrs. Warbler could bring down upon them?
Gemma didn’t want to have regrets over what had happened in the coach. But now, back to her everyday life, she needed to sort things out.
Ned took her hint. “Good night, Gemma, Mrs. Warbler.” On those words, with a tip of his hat, he went walking down the road.
“He is feeling very good about himself,” Mrs. Warbler observed.
“As he should. He saved that baby.”
“Ah, the baby. What are the details about the baby?”
“Her name is Anne. It was a long labor.”
“Did she have hair?”
