He straightened, his eyes rounding. “Anna, that is concerning indeed. Are you able to keep any food in your belly?”
She nodded. “Enough.”
“Have you any fever?”
“Nay, nothing like that.”
“Flux?”
She shook her head.
“Fatigue?”
“Aye.” She relaxed her knotted fingers, grateful she could finally look at him while she spoke. “I find I must lie down mid-day or I cannot finish my chores come supper. That’s never happened to me before.”
“Hmm.” He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “I feel I should ask you a few questions of a more personal nature.”
Her skin burned. Were these questions not already personal? “Of course.”
He must have sensed her anxiety, for his eyes somehow softened even more. “I do not wish to make you uncomfortable. I simply must know if my understanding of what you’re experiencing is correct.”
She nodded and he smiled. He motioned to his chest. “Are you having any tenderness here?”
Her breasts? Merciful heavens. Her voice refused to work so she nodded her answer.
He was silent a moment and she looked back to him. His forehead creased. “Have you missed your monthly?”
The question shoved her upright. She blinked. Come to think of it… “Aye, I suppose I have.” Her shoulders dropped. “What do you think that means?”
Nathaniel pushed up and sat back, a knowing, almost teasing-like smile lifting his features. He raised his hands as if she should know exactly what it meant.
Still, her mind was blank. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Wrong?” He leaned back in his chair, a grin widening his face. “I would not say anything is wrong, Anna.”
“But what is it?”
He sat straight, a kind sort of frown owning his expression. “You really do not know?”
Nerves bubbled and her voice escaped more pinched than she’d wished. “Nay, tell me.”
“’Tis very likely you are with child.”
Anna’s breath stilled as the words whirled around her, soft and beautiful like the scent of a spring bouquet that lay just beyond her grasp. “Nay, ’tis impossible.”
His smile vanished, replaced by a drawn concern. “You have not been intimate?”
Anna opened her mouth but any sound lodged in her throat. She shrunk back in her chair and cleared her throat to dislodge the embarrassment. “We have…but…”
“You have.” His statement held enough question to require confirmation.
Her face was surely crimson. “Aye.”
The mirth in Nathaniel’s kind face returned ten fold. “Then I do believe ’tis possible that you are not ill in the least. Rather, quite healthy indeed.”
“Nay, Dr. Smith. You do not understand. When I was young I was very ill. The doctors attested I would never have a child, and after ten years of marriage I never did, so you must understand that—”
“How long have you experienced these symptoms?”