by Alexa Aston
She did laugh out loud at the mortified look which crossed his face. “Don’t worry. This is Tessa’s first time for childbirth. A first babe traditionally takes its time coming into the world. Even if her water broke while we visited, it would be many hours before her babe came.” She grinned. “Enough time for you to escape back to Kinwick.”
His voice turned gruff as he said, “I suppose I have simply never been around any women in that condition.”
If he had, Alys thought, surely he would remember. If Richessa had, indeed, married him as expected and given birth to his children, wouldn’t he remember that? Then again, he could have been away fighting if and when that occurred. Or made himself scarce around her if he was at home. Many women in the nobility went into confinement, often not seeing their husbands for several months. Now that she pondered it, she decided many of the titled gentry probably had no idea how large their wife’s belly would expand.
Her father was an exception. Throughout each time her mother found herself with child, her father had catered to his wife. Rubbing her feet. Bringing her sweets. Brushing her long hair and rubbing oil into her temples to soothe her. She smiled, knowing how lucky her mother was to have a husband wait on her in such a manner. Alys supposed part of it was due to the fact he had missed the months when she and Ancel grew inside her womb. Alys pushed the thought aside as they continued to the Bransons.
“You set a quick pace, my lady.”
She froze in her tracks. “Forgive me, my lord. I’d forgotten you have been injured.”
He laughed and kept walking. She hurried to catch up with him.
“As I told you before, I’m no invalid. Does my body ache? Of course. Do these troublesome ribs scream inside me? Aye.” He raised his eyes to the sky. “But to be outdoors again, moving about? It’s worth any slight inconvenience.”
They walked in companionable silence after that until they reached their destination. Alys knocked on the cottage door and frowned when she received no response.
“Would Tessa be working out in the fields?” Kit asked.
“Nay. She is too close to delivering the child. I have given her strict instructions to rest as much as she can.”
“And she would naturally follow them,” he said with a smile.
“Of course.” Alys decided to push the door open and slipped into the cottage. The single room had no windows, so she left the door open for light.
As she stepped deeper into the room, she gasped.
Tessa lay on the floor, moaning, surrounded by the water that had broken. A gash on her forehead led Alys to believe that the girl had fainted and struck her head. She might have been unconscious a few minutes—or several hours.
“Her time has come,” she told Kit. In fact, Tessa was well past that time. She lifted Tessa’s skirts and determined she had been laboring a good while.
“You cannot be here. Return to Kinwick and find my mother. Oh, please hurry!” she urged.
“What’s wrong?” He paused. “I see now. She has hit her head. Will she deliver soon?”
“Aye.”
“Then I will stay.”
“Nay. Men do not attend births.”
“But you need help.”
She did. It was hard to admit, but much needed to be accomplished in a short time, and she could actually use Kit Emory’s assistance if he was willing to stay and aid her.
“Put water on to boil. Stir the fire first. Fill that pot over there.” She reached to her boot, where she carried her baselard, and removed it from its sheath. “Drop this into the water.”
Kit grabbed the pot and went outside in search of water as she tried to awaken the girl.
“Tessa. Tessa. Can you hear me?”
The girl’s eyelids fluttered. Alys continued to talk to her as she took items from her basket.
“The babe!” Tessa groaned. “It comes.”
“Aye. You must have fallen and hit your head.”
“Oh, Christ Almighty.” Tessa let out a long wail just as Kit returned with the water.
Alys had no time to watch for his reaction. She had no time to coddle him when Tessa needed her.
“Tell me what to do,” he said. “I am a soldier. I know how to follow orders without question.”
She had him find a clean blanket and settle it in a corner. Tessa already shivered after lying in the cold puddle of water for so many hours. Alys started to lift her, but the girl screamed loudly.
“Let me.” Before she could warn Kit about his ribs, he bent and swept Tessa up. She heard his quick intake of breath, but he did not falter as he carried her across the room and put her atop the blanket.
“I have no time for modesty. If you must leave, do so, my lord,” she instructed.
“I want to stay and help,” he promised.
Alys pulled up Tessa’s skirts and rubbed rose oil along her flanks. She took another ointment that helped speed delivery and spread it across the panting girl’s belly. She wished Kit had time to find vinegar and sugar for Tessa to drink but as Alys looked down, she saw the head starting to crown.
Tessa let out another screeching wail.
Alys looked to Kit. “Loosen her hair. Pull the pins from it and unwind the braid. It will give her some mild relief.”
He followed her instructions and even rubbed Tessa’s scalp, calming her. Then another contraction came and Alys thought the world might end, so loud was Tessa’s scream.
“You need to push,” Alys told the girl as more of the crown became visible.
“I can’t,” wept Tessa. “It hurts too much.”
“Your pain will continue until you expel the babe,” Alys said calmly. “The more you push, the faster your babe will come out to see you. Then the pain will be no more.”
“Truly?” Tessa’s eyes grew large.
“Push, Tessa. Hard. Now,” Alys said as she watched Tessa’s progress. She caught Kit’s eye. He had continued to rub the girl’s temples, attempting to sooth her. “Remove the pot from the fire. Pour some of the boiled water into a deep dish. Not much. We have need of it soon. Locate where the salt and honey are, but don’t bring them to me yet. Instead, I need a small blanket and my knife. It should be clean enough by now.”
He moved across the room as Tessa did as she’d been told by Alys, pushing and panting. Minutes later, the babe squirted from its mother’s body in a rush of water and blood.
Alys held the babe in her hands, marveling at God’s handiwork. She realized Kit had come to stand next to her.
“You have a son, Tessa. A fine, handsome son.” She took the knife Kit handed her and cut the cord. Turning the babe over, she gave him a light smack on his bottom. Immediately, a strong cry went up, one that could have matched those his mother uttered prior to his birth.
“Take the babe,” she told Kit. “Place him in the blanket and rest him in your lap. Dip a small piece of linen into the boiled water and clean him. I want not a bit of the sticky covering to remain upon him.”
Kit’s eyes widened but, true to his word, he did not question her. He wrapped the newborn in the blanket and took the babe back to where the fresh water stood.
After some minutes, Alys helped Tessa with the afterbirth. Once that was completed, she called, “Is the babe clean yet?”
“Almost.”
“Once he is wiped clean, rub salt over him and rinse him again with tepid water.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Alys heard the smile in his reply. She stood and retrieved some of the water and brought it back to bathe Tessa. She helped the new mother to her straw pallet in the corner and bound clean linen rags about her, explaining to her what had happened to her body and how often to feed her son. She also cleaned the cut on Tessa’s forehead and covered it with a healing ointment.
“I’ll be right back, Tessa. Rest a moment.”
She went to where Kit rinsed the fussy babe. He looked at her.
“I have never dealt with a fish this slippery. Even clean, this boy wishes to
fly from my hands.”
“Where is the honey?”
He cocked a head to his left. Alys went and dipped her finger into the pot. She brought her finger to the infant’s mouth and rubbed it on his gums. He smacked at it and stopped his crying.
“Why did you do that?” Kit asked.
“It will make him more eager to suckle.”
“Ah.”
Alys looked around and found a chest with the swaddling cloths on top. She quickly wrapped the clean child tightly in them and took him back to his mother.
“Keep him swaddled. Loosen it every three hours and clean him. Babies feel safe when swaddled. It’s as if they are back in your womb. Now, try to feed him. I will stay until he is successful in nursing.”
The babe missed in his first two attempts, but he understood what to do by his third pass.
“Oh!” Tessa exclaimed. “His pull is strong.”
“A good sign,” Alys assured her. “Now I shall burn your umbilical cord.”
She brought it to the fire and tossed it in. Kit had remained on this side of the room to give Tessa privacy while she fed her child for the first time.
“And why do you do that, my lady?” he asked.
“Fire purifies. It’s a way to counteract the sinfulness of his conception.”
He frowned. “Do you think it sinful?”
Alys shook her head. “Nay. I believe God means for women to give birth. To revel in bringing new life into His world.” She smiled. “Just look at how happy Tessa is. She glows.”
“She has you to thank. If you had not stopped by the cottage today . . .” His voice trailed off.
“Don’t think of that. Focus on the good that came from our visit.”
And not dwell on how badly I wish you would bury your seed within me.
Alys would give anything—anything—to be a mother to Kit’s child.
Mayhap that was the way she could keep a piece of Kit Emory with her always.
Chapter 10
He insisted on carrying both baskets as he followed alongside Alys after they left Tessa. The new mother, tired but glowing, urged them to continue making their rounds on the estate. They departed with the babe nestled in his mother’s arms, fast asleep. Alys promised to return in a few days to see how they had adjusted with the new babe in the family.
“What you should do is go home and rest,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because . . . you just delivered a babe,” he sputtered. “I did very little. You and Tessa did all of the hard work. You must be exhausted.”
She shrugged. “Tired or not, I still have a few who need my remedies. If you are tired, my lord, I insist you be the one who returns to the keep.”
“Nay. I won’t return to my bed until late tonight when sleep is unavoidable. I want to be up and about for as long as I can. I’m no infant who needs to be coddled.”
Though the thought of Alys curled up next to him as Tessa’s child had been with his mother caused his mouth to grow dry.
They visited four other cottages, with Alys dispensing advice and medicines at each and food at two others. Finally, she determined they could head back to Kinwick.
As they strolled down the lane, he asked, “Is this how you spend much of your days?”
“Aye. If I am not seeing to our people’s needs, then I’m collecting herbs and flowers that I can use to create my medicines. I also help Mother with various household tasks and before the boys went to foster with Lord Hardwin, I tended to and played with them.”
“What of your sister, Nan? Is she also interested in healing ways?”
Alys shook her head. “Nan shows no interest in womanly tasks. If I take her in the garden to hoe, she turns the tool into a weapon and fights off imaginary dragons. If I bring her to grind herbs, she quickly loses interest and slinks about the room until I am occupied. Then she slips out and wanders the estate. She wants to be a page for Lord Hardwin as her brothers are. No matter how many times Mother and Father tell her that young ladies can’t become a page, Nan quietly insists that the earl will take her on in due time.”
She leaned down and picked a few flowers on the side of the road. He paused and let her drop them into one of the now empty baskets.
“I have taught her both letters and numbers. She reads voraciously for one so young, and she follows our steward, Diggory, around. He has let her start making entries into the ledgers. Listing the number of bales of hay put up or some such stuff. Diggory says Nan has quite a head for numbers. Father says it’s important to allow Nan to follow her passion. I try not to worry about her overmuch and hope she’ll grow out of such peculiar habits.”
“She has visited me a few times,” he revealed. “Told me the most outrageous stories as if they were the Gospel truth.”
“Nan does have a vivid imagination. If you tire of her presence, let her know. She will flit off as a butterfly and move on to her next unsuspecting victim.”
They reached the open gates of Kinwick and continued through the baileys. When they arrived inside the keep, Alys motioned Tilda over and requested that hot water be brought to both of their rooms.
“I am sure you wish to wash after such a long day, my lord.”
“It was a long day,” he agreed, “but a good one. Will I see you for the evening meal?”
“Of course.”
He parted from her and went to his bedchamber. Soon, two servants arrived with water. He doffed his clothes and washed up, putting on his only other gypon and pair of pants. Lady Merryn and Lady Alys had each made him something to wear. He wondered, once more, how he would ever repay the de Montforts for their generosity in taking him in and caring for him.
A knock on his door drew his attention. When he answered it, he found Tilda standing in the corridor.
“Lord Geoffrey said to come to the solar for your evening meal now, my lord,” she informed him. “Guests have arrived for tomorrow’s May Day celebration. He would have you meet them.”
“Thank you, Tilda.”
He closed the chamber door and went down the corridor to the solar. As he drew near, he could hear raucous laughter from within. The door stood open, and he hesitated in the doorway.
A couple he had never seen before drew his eye. A petite, older beauty with dark hair and a striking dimple smiled up at a tall man with burnished red hair. His arm was wrapped possessively around her waist.
“Come in!” Lord Geoffrey called. “I wish you to meet my cousin and closest friend. This is Lord Raynor Le Roux of Ashcroft and his lovely wife, Beatrice.”
Beatrice Le Roux was even more beautiful up close. Her dark brown eyes, rimmed in amber, held both kindness and mirth in them. She curtseyed to him while her husband offered his hand.
“I will tell you my name, my lord, when it comes to me,” he said.
Lord Raynor’s grip was strong. “Geoffrey told me about your situation. I’m sorry for what you suffered through.”
“But under Merryn and Alys’ care, you will be better in no time,” Lady Beatrice assured him.
“They have been both gracious and helpful in my recovery,” he confirmed.
Alys entered the room with her mother and both women embraced their guests.
“I am so happy you could come for the May Day celebration,” Lady Merryn told them. “I only wish the children could have come with you.”
Alys looked to him. “Raynor and Beatrice have two boys near my brother Edward’s age and a girl who is eight. They are all precious children.”
“I miss them every day,” Lady Beatrice said. “But they will return from fostering when summer begins. You must bring everyone to Ashcroft, Geoffrey, when your boys have their break.” She looked at him. “Ashcroft is but a few hours’ ride from Kinwick. We are often back and forth between our estates.”
“And Michael and Elysande should be here by the noon meal on the morrow,” Merryn shared. “Lady Mary will accompany them.” She turned to him. “Elysande is Geoffrey’s niece. She marri
ed the Earl of Sandbourne, who once served as one of Kinwick’s knights.”
“And Lady Mary is my sister,” Geoffrey added. “We are a large family and use any excuse to gather and make merry.”
A feeling of emptiness sat hard in his stomach. Whoever he was, he did not have this in his life. If he did, he would know the joy he missed out on. This familiarity and warmth seemed almost foreign to him.
“Come,” Lady Merryn urged. “Let’s be seated. Cook has made Raynor’s favorite berry tarts.”
“Then we should start with the end and work our way backward through the courses,” Raynor proclaimed.
Alys poured out the wine as Nan brought cups to those present. Kit ate until he thought he could eat no more—until he took a single bite of the tart.
“This must be the most delicious tart I have tasted,” he exclaimed.
“King Edward tried on more than one occasion to steal Cook from under our very noses, claiming her fruit tarts to be the best ever baked in England,” Lord Geoffrey shared. “But remember, we have the May Day feast tomorrow. Save room for that in your belly.”
He listened as the Le Rouxs spoke of life at Ashcroft and the de Montforts shared what had happened at Kinwick since Lord Geoffrey had returned from the peace talks in Belgium. It surprised him that Alys remained quiet. Around him, she was usually talkative.
When a lull occurred in the conversation, he said, “Lady Alys delivered a child today.”
The women began peppering her with questions. As she spoke, he realized how modest she was being.
“Lady Alys took charge like a captain of a ship would. I served as a member of her crew,” he said. “Frankly, I had no idea birthing a child was so involved—or so painful.”
Alys chuckled. “Since men are not allowed to witness the labor or birth, why would you? But I appreciated your help today, my lord. Tessa Branson did well, too, and her babe is a sweet one.”
“I will go with you when you check on her,” Lady Merryn volunteered. “You know I cannot resist holding a new little one.”
Suddenly, he saw a flash of a woman holding a pale infant in her arms. The babe did not move. She offered it to him. He felt himself shake his head and turn away.