She started out of the kitchen and had just made it to the stairway in the foyer when pain shot through her. She grabbed the banister and groaned. It felt like a fist had struck through her body. The pain knocked her to her knees.
She gasped as she struggled the rest of the way up the stairs. She needed to get to her room.
The more stairs she climbed, the quicker the pains came. The large window above the stairs allowed the moonlight to shine through, bathing the room in blues and shadows.
She touched her stomach. It hurt enough to bring tears to her eyes. She cried out when she got to the landing. She heard footsteps and then saw them stop in front of her.
“Madison?” It was Leo. “What’s wrong?”
The pain shot through her again. She sagged against the railing and then Leo swung her into his arms.
They made it to her room just as another pain seemed to rip her in two. “The baby!”
He put her on the bed and a footman came to the doorway. “Get the midwife!”
Madison rolled over. The softness of the bed only made the pain worse. On her hands and knees was better. Already in the perfect position, she began to pray. She prayed God would take the pain away. Her body was trying to eject the baby. It was excruciating. Another wave rolled through her, and she clenched her teeth. She gasped.
Leo stood in the middle of the room with his eyes wide. He didn’t move. He’d at least turned on a lamp.
Some maids came in and tried to touch her, to get her on her back. “No!” She knocked their hands away. She didn’t know what she was doing, but she didn’t want Matthew’s people near her. “Leave me!”
She sat up on her knees and could hear Leo speaking to the servants. She continued to pray, to ask God for forgiveness. He was the only power she knew that could take this away from her.
Leo wrapped his fingers around hers. “You’re all right,” he told her, though he looked panicked. “Just try and wait until the midwife comes. I’ve sent as many footmen as I could in search of her.”
She nodded. “All right.” She calmed after that.
The pain went on, but the reassurance that the midwife would arrive soon helped.
She rolled back onto her back and Leo left.
She rested for a time, but the pain was unbearable. She eventually got up out of the bed and began to pace.
The servants came and went with water and towels, but no one touched her.
Time seemed to creep along. She sang to herself. She wept. She prayed. When more than two hours passed she began to panic again.
Where was the midwife?
A maid returned. “The midwife is with another woman. It seems everyone is busy. This child isn’t the only one coming tonight. Is there anything I can get you?”
She wanted to ask for her mother. She had to bite her own lip from calling for her. She couldn’t bring her mother into this situation. When Matthew returned, and he would, he wouldn’t be pleased.
Madison shook her head and then gasped as the pain shot up her spine.
Someone grabbed her shoulders. She saw boots and then lifted her hand to find Leo.
“You came back.”
“I tried to find Matthew, but I can’t.” His hand on her arm was cold. He’d been outside. “I don’t know where he’s gone. I can keep looking—”
“No, don’t leave.” She started to cry. “I have no one.”
“I won’t leave.” He squeezed her shoulders. “I’m here.” His eyes were wide. “I won’t leave.”
She nodded and placed her hands on Leo’s hips.
The pains were coming more frequently.
She couldn’t stop crying. “I’m sorry.” She was asking so much of him. This child wasn’t his, and he didn’t even like her. Yet he was helping and had sworn not to leave. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.
He seemed to understand why she was apologizing and shook his head. “No, don’t… I want to help.”
She doubted it.
“Madison, I want to help you. Just… do what you must.”
She nodded. She needed to get through this quickly, not only for him but for herself.
She started pushing when the pain struck.
It was sometime later when Leo asked, “What are you doing? You keep tensing. You need to wait.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. He’s coming.”
Leo’s eyes widened. His grip tightened. “What? No. Just wait…”
His pleas were drowned out by her own. She wept for an end.
“Madison…” He cursed and helped her back onto the bed.
She felt her body stretching and nearly fainted.
Leo’s other hand went to her shoulder. He shook her. “Madison?”
She groaned and pushed. “I can feel him.”
Leo murmured something she couldn’t understand.
She cried out one last time and then heard another cry. A small one.
Leo grabbed her just as she started to fall and set her away. She looked around in search of the baby, but her vision was blurry. She felt something being pressed into her hands and grabbed hold of it.
The baby.
She blinked. And smiled. And wept over the small form in her hands.
The baby calmed when she pulled it closer.
A maid came in and said something about feeding him.
“Don’t leave,” Madison said as Leo started from the room.
He looked at her. She could tell he was uncomfortable by what was going on, but she didn’t care. She stared at him until he gave her a nod.
Only then did she listen to the maid and turned the baby to her breast.
He took to her easily.
She barely paid attention as the maid went around, cleaning and cutting.
The midwife had been right. He was a boy.
His eyes were closed. His tiny face was the most precious thing she’d ever beheld.
And something clicked inside Madison’s mind. Mine.
* * *
Leo turned away as the maids cleaned Madison up. When they finished, Madison sent most of them away.
Leo moved to a chair and kept his eyes above where the baby fed from her. This scene reminded him of Wess’ birth. Wess’ mother hadn’t lived long enough to hold him.
He couldn’t help but feel some anger toward Madison. How was it fair that some women never got to keep their babies while others threw the opportunity away?
Hypocrite. His mind whispered the truth he’d been fighting to ignore. You abandoned Wess. How is she any different? He shook the thought away. He was different. Wess would never need for anything. Leo cared about him.
While Madison…
“More water, please,” Madison said to the maid.
The woman had barely stepped out of the room before Madison turned to him. “Leo,” she hissed. “Come here.”
The panic in her eyes compelled him forward. He looked down at the baby who was curled against her chest and then back up at her. “What is it? What do you want?”
“The baby.”
He frowned. “You have the baby.”
She shook her head. “No, I wish to keep the baby. Help me.”
She wanted to keep the baby?
He smiled. “Good. I’m glad. We’ll tell Matthew. Once he—”
Her eyes widened. She was trembling. “No, we have to go.”
“What?”
“Before he returns, Leo. We have to go now. Please,” she begged.
He straightened away from her. He recalled Matthew claiming she was hysterical. “You need to rest.” Was it safe to leave the baby alone with her?
“Leo, please.” Her eyes watered, and she closed them. “I wasn’t supposed to look at him. I wasn’t supposed to hold him. He told me not to.”
“What do you mean? What are you saying?”
She looked up at him again. “Matthew is going to send me away. It was always his plan, his revenge against Judd.” She began to choke on her tears but knew she had to keep he
r voice low or she’d be heard. “He said I’d never get to see the baby, but I have and I want him. Please, Leo. I want my baby. Don’t let him take my baby from me.”
Leo narrowed his eyes. He didn’t want to believe her story. He didn’t want to believe Matthew capable of something so cruel. But Leo was a man who knew that such darkness did exist.
Was that the secret they’d been keeping?
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Leo asked.
Her mouth fell open. “Was I to tell you before or after you threatened me repeatedly? I thought you were on his side.”
“I am.”
She reached out and took his hand. “Please, Leo.”
“Lady Hivers—”
“I’m not Lady Hivers,” she hissed. “Matthew has never touched me. The baby is Judd’s.”
Leo stiffened.
“I’m nothing more than revenge for him,” she told him. She squeezed his hand. “Please. Matthew and I are not married. I’m not Lady Hivers.” She leaned her head back against the pillows that had been piled behind her. “Help me keep my son.”
Leo said nothing.
Slowly, she dropped her hand. She opened her eyes and looked down at her baby. The expression was bittersweet. She touched his hair. “Will you… at least make certain he keeps his promise to me? That my son will know my father and mother?” She looked at Leo with hope. “Just make sure he knows them and that I…” She blinked.
Leo looked around the room, not really seeing anything. Then he noticed her trunk was gone. “Where are your things?”
“Matthew has likely already put them on the carriage,” she whispered. “This was my final night in Oxford. It was why I said goodbye to my family.” She sounded resigned. She’d likely always been resigned.
Leo looked up and saw Matthew by the door.
Madison pulled in a breath and swallowed.
Matthew crossed the room. Leo moved so the child’s father could take his position. Matthew didn’t bother to ask Madison how she was feeling as he reached for the infant.
Madison’s arms locked.
Matthew stilled and looked at her in silence.
Defeat washed over her face as she turned away but let Matthew take the child.
The young boy didn’t fuss as he was handed from one parent to the other.
Matthew looked down at the baby with a blank look and then up at Leo. “Thank you for being here for her. The midwife will be here soon. You can leave now.”
Leo looked at Madison and found her eyes just as blank as the day they’d met. He’d thought her cold then. But over time, he’d learned she had a beautiful soul underneath. Would that soul ever see the light of day again?
Leo didn’t know what to do, but as he moved to the door, he hoped he was doing the right thing.
∫ ∫ ∫
2 6
* * *
Madison didn’t watch Leo walk away. Instead, she continued to keep the defeated expression on her face even as her mind worked and plotted.
The baby fussed. Keeping her voice plain, she said, “He’s hungry, give him to me.”
Matthew glared at her. “I’ll have the nursemaid feed him.”
“And she can do that when she gets here.” She held out her hands. “Come on, Matthew. It’s just one feeding.” He owed her that at least.
At least, that was what she made her eyes say. But in truth... She would not leave without her baby. She would kill Matthew before she let him take her child. She begged God to forgive her thoughts and looked up when she heard the door close.
Leo was still in the room.
Matthew was looking at her and not paying attention. His back was to the door. “Be quick about it.” He gave her back the baby.
Madison quickly averted her attention to her son. She grabbed him just as Leo approached Matthew from behind. In a blink, Leo grabbed him. An arm went around Matthew’s neck, cutting off his shout, the other held Matthew’s head in place.
Matthew’s arms went up, and he struggled as Leo began to drag him away. The scene’s violence and utter silence were hard to watch, but she refused to look away.
Matthew couldn’t fight because his feet couldn’t keep up with Leo’s lead. Then his motion slowed right before his eyes closed. Leo laid Matthew down. Then he opened her empty wardrobe and without much effort pushed Matthew inside before locking it.
Then he turned to her. “We need to go. Now.”
“Is he dead?”
His eyes softened. “No, just sleeping.” He came over and held out his hands for the baby.
Madison held his eyes as she gently placed the child in his hands. She only trusted him because she had no one else. In the depths of her pain, she’d cried out to the Lord and begged him for mercy.
She’d reached out for aid and Leo had taken her hand. If this was God’s answer, she’d listen.
Leo took the baby. “Get some warm clothes on. We have to leave before the doctor arrives.”
She stood on shaky legs and went to the jacket, stockings, and boots that had been laid out for her travel in the morning.
“Do you need help?” he asked.
She shook her head. She needed to be strong.
He started for the door. “I’ll meet you at the foyer. I just need to go grab my bag.”
Her panic shot up.
Leo turned to her. “I won’t let you down this time.”
Once the door closed, she took off her ruined night rail. She wished she had time to bathe. Her body felt sticky, and she was certain she smelled terrible, but there was no time.
She thought she heard movement and turned to the wardrobe. Silence.
She dressed and was glad when her legs didn’t fail her. She’d made it to the stairway and took a breath when she noticed Leo in the shadows. He came back up the stairs and helped her down, nearly carrying her with one arm while he held a large bag in the other.
“Where’s the baby?” she asked.
“Don’t worry.”
Outside stood Matthew’s carriage. Her trunk was on it. His driver and one of his footmen were up front.
“I told them Matthew wished for you to leave tonight,” Leo said.
Madison prayed with every step to the carriage. Leo helped her in and then placed his bag on the floor gently.
He opened it and the baby was revealed. He was lovely tucked amongst a bed of shirts. He closed the door and said, “Come with me.”
Madison looked out the window and watched in the lamplight as Leo and the footman went inside. A moment later, Leo returned.
He stuck his head into the window and said, “Grab the baby and hang on.” His blue eyes were hard with his command.
She did as she was told.
There was a scuffle. The driver’s cry was cut short.
In the next second, the carriage lurched forward and Madison gasped. She looked out the window and couldn’t believe she was leaving with the baby. She’d never thought it possible.
She cried tears of joy as she held her son. And of all people, it was Leo who had helped her.
She leaned back in the carriage and thanked God over and over again as she held her sweet bundle of life in her arms. They were free.
The empty places inside her were now so full of love and unshakable hope that it spilled over in an unimaginable way.
She didn’t care what happened now. It didn’t matter what hardships she faced from this moment forward. She would remember this moment and be thankful for her undeserved blessing.
∫ ∫ ∫
2 7
* * *
Leo didn’t know what he was doing. He tried not to think about the enormous mistake he could be making. There was a chance that he’d just stolen another lord’s son. A future earl.
The courts could very well have his head for this. But something about Madison’s pain had grabbed hold of him and he’d been unable to shake it. A nagging sense of obligation had filled him.
He couldn’t leave her.
Instead, Leo stopped in front of the abandoned house he’d inquired about a few days ago and got down. He opened the carriage door and found Madison looking at him with an inquisitive brow. “Where are we? We couldn’t have left Oxford already.”
“You’re somewhere you’ll be safe. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
She nodded. “All right.” There was a soft glow on the new mother’s face. She also looked very tired.
Leo closed the door and then jogged a few yards away to the owner of the home, who happened to live adjacent to the property Leo had thought to buy.
He knocked on the door and Mrs. Ann Wilson opened it. She frowned up at Leo until recognition warmed her eyes. “Oh, you’re the young man from the other day. What was your name again?”
He thanked the Lord for forgetful minds. “Mr. Joseph Lewis.”
“Right.” The woman smiled. “Lewis.” She was a sweet old woman. They’d talked for a time the day they’d met, making comments on little more than the weather. Leo put Mrs. Wilson around seventy or so.
“I’d like to buy the property.” He’d sell it later. He honestly just needed a place to keep Madison until he could return.
“All right. We’ll meet in the morning.”
“No, I wish to buy it now.” He quoted her more than the amount she’d previously asked for. “I can write you a check for that amount right now.”
She frowned. “Oh. And you’re sure it can’t wait until morning?” She looked ready to close the door.
“It can’t. My sister and her boy are very tired and she needs to rest. Our journey was long and it is cold.”
“Oh.” Mrs. Wilson smiled. “How old is the boy?”
“A month old.” Leo couldn’t very well tell her that today was his birthday. When word got out about the missing child, she might put two and two together.
“That house is stuffy and full of dust. We wouldn’t want them to fall ill. My house is warm. Bring her in here. I’ll have Mr. Trim clean it out tomorrow and then you can move in.” Recalling their conversation from before, Leo knew Mr. Trim was the widowed Mrs. Wilson’s neighbor.
Leo didn’t like the idea of forcing Madison to trust yet another person, but he didn’t see any way around it. He couldn’t stay with her. There were things he needed to see to on her behalf.
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