Page 26 of Her Honorable Viscount (Noble Pursuits #3)

CHAPTER 26

M ichael was pacing back and forth across the drawing room so quickly that Edward had to stand up and check if his brother was wearing a hole in the carpet.

“This is all my fault,” Michael said, running a hand through his hair.

“Well, I suppose that is true, but that happened months ago,” Edward said. “You should have realized that by now.”

“I am not referring to the pregnancy,” Michael rolled his eyes. “I mean that the baby is coming now . Adelaide was upset with me. So much so that she began packing her bags. She was leaving. Leaving here. Leaving me. She told me that she was better off with her brother. With the man who made her work for hours on end, who will likely put her back to work the moment the baby comes. Can you believe that? She was so upset that it must have been too much for her, and the next thing I knew, there was water everywhere and she was doubled over in pain. I didn’t know what to do, Edward. What should I have done? What do I do now?”

“I think you should sit down,” Edward said, striding to him and grasping him by the shoulders to try to interrupt his distress. “From what Dot has told me, Adelaide has been upset but I do not believe that you have caused it all. Much of it comes from within her.”

“What if she leaves me?” Michael said, his eyes wild and upset. “What if I never see her or the baby again?”

“That is nothing you can determine now,” Edward said. “All we can do is wait for the baby to come and see what happens. Why did Adelaide want to leave?”

“Because I was pushing her to marry,” Michael said, hanging his head. “I told her…” he looked up at Edward, his eyes sorrowful. “I told her that the baby would be a bastard.”

“Well, that is not ideal, but nothing can be done about it now. You can apologize when the baby arrives. In the meantime, would you like to play a game of cards?”

“Cards?” Michael looked up incredulously. “At a time like this?”

“It is not as though you and I can do anything at the moment,” Edward said. He wished they were upstairs in the room he preferred, but that had become his inner sanctum with Dot. “Dot has this handled. There is nothing to worry about.”

“How can you be so sure?”

It was a good question. Edward didn’t have faith in many people to complete a job. Usually, the only person he completely trusted was himself.

Except Dot. He trusted her with nearly everything else in his life. His own heart, to be sure. In this, he knew that she wouldn’t fail.

“It’s Dot,” was simply all he could say. “Not only is she good at what she does, but Adelaide is part of our family now, in one way or another. Dot will do everything she can. I’ve seen her interest in her work, and if anyone will know what to do, it is she.”

As he said it, he realized how much he meant it. Dot loved her work. She shone when she was researching or writing in her journals. She had approached the establishment he had set up with interest, yes, but with more subdued enthusiasm.

He was beginning to feel rather like an ass for asking her to set it all aside for him, but the same problem remained. A lady could not be roaming around London alone – but for a footman – at all hours. It wasn’t even their reputation he was worried about, not anymore, but rather the logistics and safety of it all.

And who was to say she wouldn’t be taken advantage of? It truly was a conundrum.

One he would have to worry about later, however.

For right now, his brother needed him.

“Michael,” he said, placing his hands on his brother’s shoulders again. “What do you need right now to feel better?”

His brother blinked at him as though clearing a fog away from his eyes. “I need to see Adelaide and ensure all is well.”

Men were not supposed to go into the birthing room. They were supposed to wait outside until they were presented with the joyous news.

But Edward was no longer doing what he was supposed to do. He was doing what felt right. Following his intuition and living in the gray.

“I cannot promise everything will be fine,” he said. “No one can. But we can go see her.”

“Yes. Please,” Michael said, relief washing over his face. “Even if all is not well, it is better than not knowing.”

They left the drawing room and began walking up the stairs, exchanging a look of shock when they heard the cry of pain echoing down the corridor.

“Are you sure about this?” Edward asked, his own heart beating more rapidly.

“Very,” Michael said grimly.

The corridor was devoid of servants as they approached, and Edward lifted a hand and knocked tentatively on the door, wondering if he would even be heard.

Mrs. Adams opened it a few seconds later, surprise covering her face when she saw the men.

“Is all well?” she asked furtively, looking behind her.

“Michael would like to see Adelaide,” Edward said, speaking for his brother as he seemed incapable of words.

“Very well,” she said, opening the door, and Edward waved his brother in while the door remained open. Adelaide’s bed was across the room, thankfully facing the other wall so he wouldn’t see anything especially untoward.

Her face was strained as she groaned, but she didn’t appear to be in unusual distress.

Edward searched Dot, needing to see her and knowing that her reaction would allow him to determine if anything was amiss.

He couldn’t look away when his eyes alighted upon her sitting at the foot of Adelaide’s bed. Her face was aglow. She had become someone else entirely as she commanded the room, two maids following her instructions as she was entirely focused on Adelaide and – dear God – the baby that was coming.

“That’s it, Adelaide!” she said encouragingly. “Baby’s almost here. One more push.”

Edward knew that he shouldn’t be here. At least Michael was the father, Edward considered as he watched his brother sit beside Adelaide, taking her hand and gripping it as he stared at her with love and awe on his face.

But Edward couldn’t look away from the scene, for he couldn’t stop watching Dot. She was entirely captivating. No one would ever be able to look away from her. How could they? She was not only beautiful but shining in her element.

And he had taken all of this away from her.

She had given it up for him, but he was hardly a worthy replacement for this purpose that she had within her.

How had he done this?

He knew that he hadn’t realized just how important this was to her, yet still, he felt that he had been utterly remiss in understanding her work and its importance to her.

He would fix this. He had to.

But first, he would celebrate this new addition to his family.

With one final cry from Adelaide, a shout of encouragement from Dot, and a few breathtaking seconds while they all waited, a cry filled the air, and a bundle filled Dot’s arms.

Birth was not clear. It was not orderly. It was chaos and unknowing and a frenzy – and it was beautiful. It was life. And he was so completely grateful that he was witness to this, to understand why Dot loved this so much.

Dot placed the baby in Adelaide’s arms. Tears streamed down the new mother’s cheeks as she looked from the baby to Michael and back again.

Edward had never seen his brother so completely enraptured, and the love emanating from his face was equally given to both the baby and the mother.

Edward understood that completely, for he felt the same every time he looked at Dot.

As though she could read his thoughts, she looked up, meeting his gaze – and her face dissolved into a joyous smile, for him, for their family, for this moment.

It was everything he ever wanted to see upon her. It was all that he wanted to give her.

It was what he had taken from her.

And what he vowed to give back to her – one way or another.

“Edward?”

The sun was beginning to stream through the windows of their townhouse. Dot hadn’t slept since the night before, and yet, she had never felt so alive. It was how she felt every time she participated in a birth. Extremely grateful for the opportunity to be part of it, to help bring new life into the world.

Especially now, with the addition of a baby girl to Edward’s family. Her family.

Goodness, but she had missed being involved in a birth. She didn’t want to admit it, even to herself, but she couldn’t help it.

It was a sacrifice that she had made peace with, but it still hurt sometimes. She supposed it always would.

She looked for Edward in his bedroom, his private parlor, and his study, but he was nowhere to be found.

Now that she had cleaned up and had ensured that Adelaide and her baby were fine and sleeping, she wanted nothing more than to be in the arms of her husband.

She had been shocked when he and Michael had arrived in Adelaide’s room, but she had welcomed them. The father had been involved in the start of the baby’s creation, so why could he not be there when the baby arrived?

She spied Edward’s valet down the corridor. “Rogers! Do you know where Lord Mandrake might be?”

Rogers turned and stopped, bowing slightly toward her. “He dressed to go out, my lady.”

“Out? Now? It is barely morning.”

“My apologies, my lady. I am uncertain of his destination.”

“Thank you, Rogers,” she said, managing a small smile for him, even if she didn’t feel it.

Had Edward been so upset about the birth happening in his home that he had needed to get away from it – from her? Not many men witnessed a birth, but she had thought she had accurately read the incredulous joy on his face – the same joy she experienced through every happy birth.

Could she have been so blinded by her own emotions that she misread his?

She resolved to wait for him to return before she made any further assumptions.

She lay on the sofa in their private parlor, noting with surprise that it was moved away from the wall toward the center of the room, replacing the second chair so that it was right next to his own chair that he loved so much.

She smiled at the worn but obviously much-loved chair.

She found her notebook and began to write out all of the details of Adelaide’s birth. She would check on her in a couple of hours after Adelaide had slept a bit. In the meantime, she would wait for Edward to ask him what he truly thought.

She would close her eyes for just a moment, she decided when they became heavy. Then she would sleep tonight and celebrate the baby.

It was her last thought until later that afternoon, for she fell into a deep, undisturbed sleep.

Exactly how Edward found her, hours later.