The Duchess

by Danielle Steel

  “I can’t…I can’t…just let me die…”

  “Another push! Now!” The doctor was shouting at her as Eugenia cried, but roused herself for one last push, and this time the baby’s head emerged and it gave a cry, but its mother was too weak to care, as she lay back against the pillows, crying, and threw up again, while the doctor told her to keep pushing, as he delivered the shoulders and gently turned it to deliver the rest. The baby was out, as Eugenia lay sobbing, and screamed again.

  “My back…my back…,” she said again, as the doctor cut the cord, swaddled the baby, and handed it to the nurse. It was a big handsome boy who was crying loudly, as his mother continued to sob, and the doctor looked at her with concern. It had been a difficult birth, which was unusual for a fifth child.

  “Eugenia, the baby is fine,” he said gently. “He’s a beautiful boy.” But she screamed again, and lay back against her pillows, hysterical with the pain. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. The doctor felt her still swollen belly, and examined her carefully, and then glanced at one of the nurses with surprise, and said in an undervoice, “This isn’t over yet.” He had been waiting to deliver the placenta, but what he could feel in the birth canal was another head, and the contractions were still strong. He tried to explain to Eugenia what was happening, and that he needed her help. “There’s another baby—you’re having twins.” Both nurses looked at him in surprise, and Stella was visibly shocked. “We have to get the other baby out.” He sounded as though it was urgent.

  “No, I can’t,” Eugenia cried miserably, and started vomiting again. The contractions seemed worse with the second one, and Eugenia never stopped screaming again until it was out, but it was smaller than the first one, came down more quickly, and slid into the doctor’s hands. It was a girl. Everyone in the room shouted victoriously when they saw her, except her mother, who was nearly unconscious from the pain and what she’d been through. She had stopped vomiting, but her eyes were closed and she was trembling all over. She was bleeding heavily, and her face was gray, as the doctor showed evident concern. He had never heard a second heartbeat and realized they must have been one behind the other, but it explained why she’d been so huge, and the delivery was so hard. She had done double the work that night, and the first baby, the boy, weighed nine pounds. The girl was smaller and weighed six.

  The doctor watched her carefully after the nurses cleaned her up, and pressed down on her uterus to slow the bleeding, and both placentas appeared in due course. But Eugenia looked as though she’d been left for dead, as they sat at her bedside all night, and with the help of some drops the doctor gave her, she finally stopped crying and fell asleep. She wasn’t peacefully asleep until nearly dawn. It had been a very long night. It allowed him to make some repairs where she’d been torn when the first twin was born. He had not expected the delivery to be this hard, and it had taken them all by surprise, particularly Eugenia.

  The doctor was still there, and the nurses, as well as her maid, when she woke at nine. She said her back still hurt terribly, and she felt as though she’d been beaten all over, but the bleeding had slowed, her heart was normal, and she had no fever. Nothing had gone wrong, it had just been a difficult birth. She didn’t even have the strength to sit up in bed, there were deep black circles under her eyes, which were bloodshot from popped veins, and her lips were gray. She had lost a lot of blood.

  “Would you like to see your babies?” one of the nurses asked her when she woke up, still groggy from the drops. “They’re beautiful.”

  “Not now,” she said weakly, and closed her eyes again. She wasn’t crying, but she was still shaking. She had never been through anything so terrible in her life, and promised herself as she lay there that she’d never do it again. She couldn’t. She had thought she was dying all night, and at some points wished she would. The doctor had seen deliveries like it before, and they always took a toll on the mother. It would take her time to recover, but she was young and strong, and he was sure she would. She was in no danger now, although she could have been the night before, and they could have lost either or both twins from it taking so long. It was stressful for the babies too. His only concern now was infection, but there was no sign of it.

  He left the drops with the nurses and told them when to administer them, and left Eugenia at ten. He had been there for sixteen hours, and looked tired too. Stella left the room with him, as Eugenia drifted off to sleep again. She hadn’t seen the twins yet, but wasn’t feeling up to it. And the wet nurse had been called to tend to them.

  “You can send for Mr. Ferguson now. In fact, I think you should,” the doctor told Stella, who looked as tired as he did.

  “Is she in danger, Doctor?”

  “No, she’s not. We always worry about infection, especially after a difficult birth, but there’s no reason why she should have a problem. She just needs to rest and get over the trauma of the birth. This wasn’t easy for her.” That had been obvious to everyone in the room. “I’ll come back and see her this afternoon.” And he knew the nurses would be checking her for signs of a fever. But failing that, he expected her to recover like the young, healthy woman she was. “It’s often this way with twins,” he reassured Stella, who was shaken by what she’d seen too. She felt desperately sorry for her mistress, but glad that she’d been there to do what she could to help. But nothing had brought Eugenia relief during the birth.

  “Will her back be all right after this?” Stella asked, with concern, and he smiled.

  “It’s fine, there was no damage to it. The babies must have just been pressing on her spine as they came down. It’s all very normal. I was never worried about her back, just the twins. And of course we don’t want to lose the mother. I’m sure she’s going to be fine. I want her in bed for the next two or three weeks. Longer, if she seems weak. And no visitors for a month.” Stella nodded as she walked him downstairs, and let him out. A footman was standing nearby and opened the door. Stella had let one of the maids know about the twins after they were born, and the staff was jubilant, far more than their mother was upstairs. She didn’t even want to see them after the excruciating pain they’d caused her.

  Stella went to the servants’ hall for a cup of tea then, knowing that Eugenia would sleep for several hours and that the nurses were with her. One of them was going to sleep on a cot they’d put in the dressing room, and the other was going to rest when she woke up. They would be taking turns tending to her for the next several days.

  “How was it?” Mrs. Allbright asked her as soon as she came in.

  “Terrible,” Stella said honestly, and sat down in a chair, looking beaten. “The poor thing seemed like she was going to die.”

  “Let’s hope she doesn’t,” one of the maids said somberly. “My cousin did, and my brother’s wife.” It was common.

  “Mrs. Ferguson is not going to die,” Mrs. Allbright said clearly, and Stella nodded. “She just gave birth to twins. It’s normal for her to have had a hard time. We need to take good care of her now.” They all chattered animatedly at the table, as Mrs. Allbright spoke to Stella quietly. “How is she? It must have been very difficult for her, to have two, not just one. She’s always come through it easily before.”

  “She didn’t this time,” Stella said seriously. “I’ve never seen anything worse. She looks awful now.”

  “She’ll perk up soon. She’s young,” Mrs. Allbright said confidently. “We sent for Mr. Ferguson. I’m sure he’ll be here shortly.” Stella nodded and went to her room to get some rest herself.

  Harry Ferguson arrived after dinner, and was thrilled. The first thing he wanted to do was see his babies as he bounded up the stairs like an excited boy. The baby nurse and wet nurse and both babies had been put in a large guest bedroom near theirs. He strode into the room, and each of the women was holding one, and both babies were sound asleep. He peeked at them, beaming, gently touched their tiny fingers, and noticed instantly that the little girl had red hair and perfect features
. Other than that, she resembled her older sister, and the boy had dark hair and was huge. He was the size of a three-month-old. They were beautiful children, and he was extremely pleased, with Eugenia, and himself. He had two daughters now, and four sons. They were a perfect family, and as he left the temporary nursery, all he wanted to do was see his wife. She was asleep and woke up groggily when she heard him enter the room and speak to the nurse. He approached her bed then with a broad smile, and was shocked at how she looked. They had cleaned her up, but her hair was tangled, her eyes were sunk into her face, and she was still deathly pale.

  “…’lo Harry…,” she said sleepily, “…it was awful…never do it again…never…no more babies…” It was all she could think of now. Just seeing her, he could tell how hard it had been. He felt momentarily guilty, but ecstatic over the twins at the same time.

  “They’re beautiful…I’m sorry…they’re just wonderful, though. You did a terrific job.” She nodded at him with glazed eyes.

  “No more…”

  “All right,” he said gently, as the nurse left them alone. If she really meant it, he could live with it. Six children was enough. He had always wanted six children, and having twins made it perfect for him. “I love you very much,” he added as she drifted off to sleep again. And after he left her, he went back to the nursery to take another peek at them. The little girl was just waking up, and seemed to stare at him with puzzled eyes, and then yawned. Her brother was sound asleep, and Harry left them a moment later, and went to pour himself a drink. He stood in the library, gazing out the window, over his land, thinking of their babies, grateful to Eugenia for having them, and all was well in his world.

  Chapter 7

  There was jubilation in the nursery the day the twins were born. Angélique and Helen were thrilled to hear the news when Sarah came to tell them, and when they told the children, they were very excited that they had a brother and a sister and wanted to see them. But Angélique explained that they had to give them a few days to rest.

  “Why? Did they get tired getting here? Did they come from a long way?” Emma asked. They were all young enough not to have made the connection between a baby coming and their mother’s growing girth. And it had not been explained to them, so they were surprised to hear that the babies were tired now.

  Emma wanted to see her mother, but Angélique said she was exhausted and probably asleep. And Emma looked disappointed.

  “Did they come from far away? Did Mommy go to fetch them?” It all seemed very confusing to them. And their father came to see them that afternoon while they were having tea. He said that their new brother and sister were being named George and Rose, and they could see them very soon. He said they were very small and were going to sleep for a few days. And their mother was fine, and had things to do. He didn’t want to worry them, and there was no reason for them to know or see how battered she was by the birth. By the time they saw her again, he wanted her to be well and feeling better. There was no sense in frightening them, and had they seen her then, they would have been. He was worried about her too.

  She looked better the next day, and sat up in bed to drink some tea. She hadn’t eaten in two days. She was following the doctor’s orders closely, and well tended by the nurses, and the doctor had told her that if she wanted to recover quickly, she had to rest. She had no trouble following his orders and said she felt so weak that she was sure that if she tried to get out of bed, she’d fall down. But she got stronger every day, and had better color. And when the babies were a week old, Angélique was allowed to bring all four children down from the nursery to see them. Both twins were wide awake, wearing little wool dresses and warm caps and matching booties, and were tightly wrapped in blankets as the wet nurse and baby nurse held them and warned the children not to touch them. Their four older siblings stared at them in awe, and Angélique was touched by how beautiful they were. They looked absolutely perfect.

  “Can I hold one?” Emma asked with interest, as she hovered over Rose, and the nurse said she’d have to wait until the baby was stronger, and soon she’d be in the nursery with them. The baby stared at her big sister, listening to the sound of her voice.

  “Why are there two of them?” Simon asked. “Why didn’t we just get one, like we were supposed to?” It seemed mysterious to him and made no sense. Last time there was only one baby when Charles was born, and Rupert before that.

  “They gave us an extra one,” Angélique explained.

  “Did no one want the other one, so they gave him to us?” he asked, frowning.

  “Your mother and father wanted both of them,” Angélique said, smiling, although it clearly seemed like unnecessary excess to him. “Now there are six of you.” Simon nodded. That made sense.

  They lingered in the temporary nursery for half an hour, and then they went outside to play, and they seemed pleased. Emma commented that Rose was very pretty.

  “She looks just like you,” Angélique told her, “except for her red hair.”

  “Will she get ringlets too?”

  “We’ll have to wait and see.”

  After that, they went to visit the babies every day. Simon got bored with it after a few days, they were always asleep, and Rupert and Charles were still too young to be interested. But Emma asked to see the twins every day, and Angélique took her to visit them. Emma was particularly enchanted with her new sister, and enthralled by the fact that there were two babies, although Simon still said it was silly. It seemed like a mistake to him. Like a delivery error from a shop, that had sent two babies instead of one. But Emma liked them, and talked about the babies constantly.

  They were allowed to visit their mother for a few minutes, three weeks after the birth. She was lying on a daybed in her dressing room, and she still looked tired and pale, but they were happy to see her and said they liked their new brother and sister very much.

  “Are you feeling better now after your trip?” Emma asked her politely, and Eugenia looked blank. “They said you were very tired after you went to fetch them. It must have been far away.”

  “Yes, it was,” Eugenia said, smiling at her. “Very far away. But I’m better now.” She and Angélique exchanged a smile and a look, and then their mother said they should go out to play. The weather had been glorious since the twins were born. Their visit with her lasted only five minutes, and for Eugenia, it was enough. She didn’t want to exhaust herself with them, and was trying to regain her strength.

  The twins were a month old when she came downstairs for the first time. She had dinner with her husband in the dining room, sat on the terrace for a little while to get some air afterward, and then went back to bed. He was leaving for London the next day, and she was planning to join him in a few weeks, and hoped she would be stronger then. The social Season was starting in a few weeks, and she didn’t want to miss it. Gwyneth’s ball was at the end of June, and she had promised Elizabeth she’d be there, and hoped to have gotten her figure back by then. She had begun having Stella lace her into her corsets, and felt more like herself once she did.

  They had acquired a second pram, and both nurses took the twins out every day, to get fresh air. They slept peacefully while the two women wheeled them through the park, and the older children peeked at them whenever they could, as did the rest of the staff, who couldn’t wait to see them.

  Later in June, Eugenia’s friends began coming to visit, excited to see the twins too. Eugenia had finally begun holding them. She had been so distraught after the birth that she hadn’t seen them for the first two weeks, and didn’t want them brought to her, but Harry had been so ecstatic about them that she eventually asked for them, and held each of them for a few minutes, and sent them away when they started to cry, saying that they needed to be fed. Newborn babies always made her uncomfortable, they were so small and delicate, she said she was afraid she’d break them, like porcelain dolls. But she was content to look in on the nursery and peek at them once in a while. Mostly, she was concerned with her fig
ure. And as always, after a delivery, she was careful about what she ate. And the weight she had gained had already begun to slip away. She had no intention of losing her figure because of them. And by the end of June, when they were seven weeks old, she looked beautiful when she left for London. Her shape was still a little fuller, but she was voluptuous and lovely. And of course she left the twins in Hampshire, with the other children. She said that London was no place for newborns, with all the activity and noise. The staff at the house on Curzon Street were disappointed not to see them, but Harry had told them they weren’t coming.

  The moment Eugenia arrived in London, she felt like she’d been released from prison, after the last boring months at their country home, and her long recovery from the delivery. But just as the doctor had predicted, she was young and got her strength back quickly, and told all her friends that having them had been the worst experience of her life, and she wouldn’t think of doing it again. Harry believed her, which made the twins seem even more special to him.

  Once Eugenia left Hampshire, Angélique began spending more time with the babies. She wanted to get to know them, and get used to them, before they moved to the nursery in August, when they were weaned and the baby nurse went back to London. They had kept her longer than planned since they were twins. And Helen had been told that she would have to help Angélique care for them, since there would be six children in the nursery for a month, and five when Simon left for Eton. And Eugenia still insisted they didn’t need a second nanny, which Sarah said was crazy. How was Angélique going to manage five children, and two of them brand-new babies?

  “You’ll have to be an octopus to manage that one,” Sarah said wryly.

  “The baby nurse said they’re easy babies,” Angélique said confidently. It was going to be a new experience for her, caring for such young infants. Mrs. Ferguson had assured her she could do it, and that she had total faith in her to do it well. Angélique loved holding them, and like Emma, although she didn’t admit it, she had a marked preference for Rose. She even looked like a rosebud, while George looked like a sturdy little man. One of the Scottish housemaids called him a “bonny bairn.”