Alcott Hall: Second Sons Book Three

In the blink of an eye, Madeline went from fencing with Mr. Burke in the grand gallery to helping Rosalie up the stairs to her bedchamber. She cast an apologetic look over her shoulder at Charles and he just nodded, making it clear he meant to wait for her below.

The maids did their best to make Rosalie comfortable, turning down her sheets, changing her out of her dress and stays into only a chemise and dressing robe, and offering her cool cloths for the back of her neck.

Madeline just tried to stay out of the way.

Rosalie panted, pacing beside the bed as she rubbed her stomach. “And Doctor Rivers is coming? You’re absolutely sure?”

“Yes, Your Grace,” replied Mrs. Davies. “His Grace and Captain Renley went directly to Finchley to collect him.”

“And Little G—”

“Perfectly content with the nanny, Your Grace,” Mrs. Davies soothed, rubbing her back with a gentle hand. “Your only care is to bring this new little one into the world. Should you like to lie down, Your Grace?”

“No,” she panted. “Not yet, I—this doesn’t—I want Doctor Rivers.”

“He will be here soon,” said Madeline. “James will not return without him.”

“This feels so different from the last time,” she admitted, breathing out sharply through pursed lips. She glanced between Madeline and the housekeeper. “Say nothing to the gentlemen. I don’t want to alarm them.”

Madeline’s heart skipped a beat. “What feels different?”

Rosalie shook her head, still pacing. “I feel strange. And the baby feels…hard. I noticed it a few days ago.”

Madeline tried to control the direction of her racing thoughts. What she knew about birthing and babies would fit inside a thimble. “Hard?”

“Yes,” Rosalie groaned, pausing at the end of the bed, one arm wrapping around the post as she leaned forward, panting through a new pain. “Come feel.” She reached out a hand for Madeline.

Nervously, Madeline stepped forward, letting Rosalie take her hand and place it on the side of her belly.

“Feel this?”

Madeline pressed down ever so lightly, moving her hand left then right. Yes, something certainly felt hard.

“Feel here.” Rosalie moved her hand around to the other side, pressing down. “What do you feel?”

Madeline smoothed her hand over Rosalie’s side, gasping as she felt a series of little ridges. “Is that…”

“Feet,” Rosalie murmured. “Oh, Madeline, I think it’s the baby’s feet. I think it’s turned the wrong way. No, I’m sure it is.”

“And is that dangerous?” said Madeline, holding her friend’s gaze.

Rosalie glanced from Madeline to Mrs. Davies, who now looked stricken. “I am no expert, but I believe…” She took a deep breath, pushing it out. “I think the baby cannot be born this way.”

“I don’t understand,” Madeline murmured. “Surely, it can come out. It must come out—”

Rosalie shook her head, eyes shut as a tear slipped down her cheek. “It can’t. Not if it’s turned the wrong way.”

Madeline’s heart dropped through her chest. “But I don’t—”

“That is why I need Doctor Rivers,” Rosalie pressed, pacing away. “He will advise me. He’ll know what to do.” She turned at the wall, her gaze fierce. “You will say nothing to any of the men. Not James. Surely not Burke or Tom. They will only needlessly worry. Doctor Rivers will come, and he’ll have a plan. Agreed?”

“Of course, Your Grace,” Mrs. Davies replied instantly.

Rosalie turned to Madeline, waiting for her answer.

Madeline worried her bottom lip before nodding. “Alright, fine, yes. Agreed.”

“Let me just go and check on His Grace’s progress,” said the housekeeper, taking her leave in a jangle of keys.

As soon as the door shut, Rosalie sighed, sinking back into her anxious pacing. “I’m so sorry about the timing of all this, Madeline.”

“Think nothing of it,” she replied, desperate to busy herself with something. She walked over to Rosalie’s dressing table and began sprucing the flowers in the vase.

“But Mr. Bray had come at last,” said Rosalie. “That look in his eye was so determined. Did he come to settle things between you?”

Madeline just shook her head. “I hardly know. He’s been through so much these last several days, what with his uncle’s death, the funeral. And my proposal came from so far out of the blue…”

“Don’t despair,” Rosalie said, breathing through her pain as she subtly kneaded her side. “He loves you, Madeline. Or if he’s not there yet, he’s well on his way. He cannot keep his eyes off you. Even at the funeral, you were all he could see.”

Madeline shook her head with a soft laugh. “Stop playing matchmaker, Rosalie. You have much more important matters to attend to at the moment than my love life.”

“But is there a love life to speak of?” Rosalie pressed. “Has Burke’s meddling proved fruitful?”

Madeline gasped, holding the duchess’s gaze. “Burke’s meddling? What on earth has he done?”

Rosalie scoffed, pacing away. “I told you there is nothing he loves more than an intrigue. He’s made it his mission these last two weeks to help hurry things along for you. I’m sure even I don’t know all the layers of his machinations.”

“Well, surely you must know one layer,” Madeline pressed.

Rosalie just shrugged, clearly trying to hide the extent of her present discomfort. “I may know a few. I know he spoke to Charles alone…and Mr. Warren…and he planned the Christmas party for Mr. Selby. I think he hoped that by winning over Selby, you could more quickly win over Bray.”

Madeline gasped. “You know about Mr. Warren then?”

“What, that he’s the bastard son of a lord and he refuses to claim his inheritance? Or that you’ve been besotted with him from the moment you arrived at Alcott? Or do you mean to imply that he’s been in love with your Mr. Bray for nigh on a decade…or perhaps you mean to question whether I knew that James caught them coupling in my hothouse.”

Madeline groaned, turning away.

“You’ll find there is little I do not know,” Rosalie called after her.

Madeline was mortified. She’d never learned how to have these kinds of conversations with another person. Her mother taught her to feel nothing but shame and self-loathing for romantic or impure thoughts. It felt so completely strange to have a person with which she could be open at last.

She glanced over her shoulder, watching Rosalie pace. “Do you…have you ever been shared…you know, by two of the men at once?”

Oh god, the words were out of her mouth before she’d even had a chance to fully think them.

“What?”

Leaving her pride and hesitation at her feet, Madeline stormed ahead. “Have you ever been taken the way the men take each other? In the…you know…” She let her words die, realizing that she’d never actually spoken aloud the word ‘arse’ in the whole of her life.

“Heavens, Madeline, what a change of conversation,” Rosalie said on a breath. “You could knock me down with a feather—”

“I want to try it,” Madeline went on. “I want to but…does it hurt? And can a woman really take two cocks at once because it seems highly unlikely, not to mention painful—”

“Ohmygod.” Rosalie paced away again. “If Burke were here, he’d burst into a cloud of dust,” she muttered, shaking her head.

“But Burke is not here, and neither are Charles or Warren,” said Madeline. “It’s just you and me, Rosalie, and I’m asking you. I quite literally have no one else to turn to,” she added with a helpless shrug.

Rosalie sighed, facing her with both hands bracing her belly. “No…it doesn’t hurt. Perhaps if they rush, or don’t prepare you first, it can hurt. But in my experience, it feels…divine. And to be filled twice over is a thrill like none other. It is akin to a religious experience.”

Madeline smiled. “My body is a temple, you said.”

Rosalie mirrored her smile. “So let them dutifully worship. Only take care,” she added. “Too much dutiful worship without the aid of a letter will get you your own Little G…or my little sideways babe here.” She smoothed her hand over her stomach.

Before Madeline could reply, the door to Rosalie’s room opened. A pretty, freckled-faced maid popped her head inside the room. “Umm…Lady Madeline, you’re needed downstairs.”

Madeline shared a look with Rosalie. “Tell Mr. Bray I will be down as soon as the duchess no longer has need of me.”

“Go, Madeline,” Rosalie urged. “There is little enough you can do here but wait and watch. I will wait for Doctor Rivers, and then all will be well.”

“But—”

“Go,” she said, forcing joviality as she swayed slightly on her feet. “James will be back soon. Go, get your answers. Let our dashing vicar sweep you off your feet at last.”

Giving Rosalie one last look, Madeline followed the maid out into the hallway.

“Oh, my lady,” rasped the maid as soon as the door was shut. “You must come. The duke is beside himself.”

Madeline’s heart dropped out. “Why—what’s happened?”

“He couldn’t find Doctor Rivers.”