“No, Elizabeth.” Mary’s voice was hard and unwavering. “I said it’s not my time and it’s not. Sit down.” Her voice was somehow both commanding and fragile at the same time. Out of habit, Elizabeth obeyed and sat down in a chair beside Mary’s bed. She shut her mouth just like she always had when one of her older siblings overruled her. She eyed her sister as Mary lowered herself from her elbows back down onto her back. Elizabeth heard her push out a shaky breath.
She’d never seen her sister like this before—so clearly frightened but unwilling to admit it. “What advice did you need?” asked Mary.
“Oh.” Elizabeth looked down to the invitation she was still clutching. It was bending from the pressure of her grip. It felt so wrong to bring it up now. But what else was she going to do? She couldn’t very well just sit there and stare at her sister writhing in pain. “Well, things have been progressing with Lord Hastings and his—” Elizabeth broke off when she saw her sister’s whole body clench up in pain again. Mary reached out and gripped Elizabeth’s hand with the strength of Goliath. This time, a shriek escaped Mary’s mouth.
Elizabeth shot to her feet, her eyes roaming over Mary’s clenched body. “This is absurd, Mary! You must let me call the doctor.”
“No!” Mary called out through her pain. “No! It’s not time yet,” she said in a sob this time, still gripping the covers.
Elizabeth’s shoulders sunk and everything in her felt helpless. Robert needed to be notified. The doctor needed to be called. The bed linens needed to be prepared. Like it or not, this child was coming.
Elizabeth pressed her lips together as her own agony welled up inside her. After a time, Mary’s body relaxed and she looked exhausted. Elizabeth shifted on her feet. “At least allow me to fetch you some tea. Perhaps some chamomile will soothe you.”
“Do you promise me you will not call the doctor or Robert?” Blast. How did she know?
Elizabeth let out a tense breath, not sure what else to do. “I promise.”
Mary nodded her consent and Elizabeth flew
out of her room and down the stairs. She was moving as fast as her feet would allow, but to what purpose? She felt helpless. Scared. What if something happened to Mary or the baby? What if the cost of Mary’s poor judgment was her life?
At the bottom of the stairs, Elizabeth sat down and put her face in her hands. Tears of frustration and uncertainty dropped down her cheeks.
It was in that moment that black boots entered her vision. “Elizabeth?”
She looked up and met Oliver’s eyes. She blinked a moment wondering if she was imagining what she hoped to see. “Oliver? What are you doing here?”
She stood up and his eyes roamed over her face. He stepped forward and put his hands firmly on her shoulders, as if to protect her. “What’s happened?”
“It’s Mary,” she said, and then quickly recounted everything that had just happened.
Oliver paced a step away and ran his hand through his hair. “Blast. And Robert isn’t here. I was told I could wait in his office until he returned, but there’s no telling when that will be.” He stopped and looked at Elizabeth. “You must call for the doctor.”
“I know!” Elizabeth said in a pleading tone, tears welling in her eyes again against her will. “But Mary has forbidden me to. She refuses to see reason. She’s denying that the child is coming.”
Oliver came to her again, taking her hands in his. The warmth of his skin wrapped around hers and she felt a calm rush over her. How did he always have this effect on her? How did he have such a way of suddenly making everything seem right and whole? “Elizabeth,” his voice spoke to her heart. “Your sister needs you to be courageous for her right now. She’s not well, and if you do not act on her behalf, you could lose her or the child—or both.”
Oliver was right. Mary needed her.
Elizabeth looked toward the top of the stairs and then back to Oliver. She held a little tighter to Oliver’s hands, afraid that if she let go, he would take all of the calm and strength she was feeling with him. “I’ll ring for the doctor. Will you fetch Robert from parliament?”
“Of course I will.” Now was when she should let go. But her fingers would not budge. Instead, she looked down and ran her thumb along the back of his large knuckles. Oliver squeezed her hand. “Everything is going to be all right.”
“Will it?”
He shifted on his feet and leaned forward, hesitation and determination both marking his brow. And then he softly kissed her forehead, his lips lingering against her skin for the span of one full breath. “I hope so.” He turned around and walked out the door.
“You what?” asked Mary, sounding as angry as a hornet.
“I rang for the doctor.” Elizabeth rolled up her sleeves, ignored the fuming look Mary was giving her, and instructed one of the many bustling maids in the room to set the basin of water beside Mary’s bed. They all looked eager to finally be of service to Mary.
“You promised you wouldn’t!” Mary sounded panicked and near tears. “You promised, Elizabeth. I’m telling you, it’s not my time yet. The baby is not coming. It’s only…it’s only…” Tears were beginning to pour down Mary’s cheeks.
Elizabeth sat down on Mary’s bed and took both of her sister’s hands in her own. She looked into Mary’s eyes and, for possibly the first time in her whole life, Elizabeth realized that Mary was frightened. “Listen to me,” she said, trying to keep her own tears from falling. “I know you’re scared. I know that you’ve still been hurting over the loss of your last child, and you feel like you can’t bear to lose another.” Mary shut her eyes, beginning to shake with a sob. “I cannot promise you that everything is going to be all right. But I can promise you that whatever happens, you will not bear it alone. You have me and Robert and our entire family that loves you and wants to help take care of you, Mary. You don’t have to hide your fear from us. Let us help.” She reached up and pushed Mary’s sweat- and tear-drenched hair from her face. “Let me help you.”
Mary sucked in a breath between her sobs and nodded. “I’m so scared, Elizabeth. And I don’t know what to do with these feelings.”
“I know. I’m scared, too. But you’re strong, Mary.”