The Scandal of Lady Eleanor (33 page)

“A toast to the Captain,” Swenton came proudly to his feet, and the others followed.

“To the Captain,” they called in unison as they raised their glasses.

Daniel took the news of her marriage to his father rather well; at least, Ella thought as much. She sat in a large wing chair in the earl's bedchamber, having relieved Lady Linworth of tending to the ailing earl. Martin Kerrington excitedly made plans for James's succession until he had worn himself out, but the color had returned to the man's cheeks, and Ella thought him more animated than she had expected.

Now, James's father rested, his medication making him sleep. Ella tried to read the historical essays she held in her hand, but nothing on the page made sense—her mind was elsewhere.Worthing's family embraced her as their own, and she wanted so much to believe her life had changed last night. Even the household staff had offered their solicitations, obviously wanting Viscount Worthing to find happiness with his future wife. Such ruminations brought a mental picture of the man—naked and in all his glory—to her mind. In another week, she could lie with him legally every night, wrapped in his arms. Just the thought of him sent the blood pooling to her most private parts. Impulsively, Ella squirmed in the chair, feeling guilty about such salacious thoughts.

A rapid tapping at the door caught her attention, and Ella scrambled to answer it before the noise woke the earl. Cracking the door only a few inches, she peeked out. “Daniel,” she hissed, “what are you doing?”

Obviously distraught, the boy blushed before fixing his gaze on Ella's face. “Lady Eleanor, you must come quickly. Aunt Georgina...” Daniel paused, totally out of breath. “Aunt Georgina is lying on the floor, and there is blood everywhere! I could not get her to wake up!”

“Where is she?” Ella demanded, shoving the door wide.

The boy went pale, swaying a bit with fear. “Outside her room.”

“Daniel, you must listen to me. I need you to be the man of the house in your father's absence. Can you do that for me?” Ella tried to do what she always had done—take charge.

His voice shook, but the boy rolled his shoulders back with resolve. “Yes, Ma'am.”

“First, go to your grandmother's room and tell her I need help. Then do the same with the housekeeper. Tell her I require clean bandages and hot water immediately. Tell Mr. Lucas to send for the midwife. Do you have all that?”

“Yes, Ma'am.”

“I am counting on you, Daniel.” She was off at a run, never looking back, knowing the boy would do her bidding.

Seconds later, she turned the corner leading to the hallway of the family quarters. “Oh, my God, Georgina.” She motioned for a footman who was coming up the stairs to follow her.

James's sister lay in a wet heap on the floor. Ella knelt by Georgina's side, not knowing where to begin. The footman rushed forward. “Get her into the bed,” Ella ordered as the bulky servant lifted her almost-sister from the floor. Rushing forward, Ella led the way into the room as the man gently put Lady Amsteadt on the bed and then left.

Lady Linworth half-staggered into the room, sleep and shock making her look years older and frailer than Ella imagined her to be. This family had lost James's wife to childbirth; now they all feared losing his only sister too. Ella could not let that happen. “Will she?” Camelia Kerrington whispered.

“I do not know,” Ella looked about, trying to figure out what to
do first. “You and I,” she told Lady Linworth, gripping the woman's hand tightly, “must do something now, or it might be too late by the time a midwife or a surgeon gets here.”

Camelia wavered for a split second, but then moved to her daughter's bedside. “Tell me what to do.” She placed all her trust in Eleanor Fowler.

“Let us help Georgina out of her corset and stays.” Ella said a quick prayer so she might make good choices. James's sister was unconscious, but she breathed normally, and that seemed positive.

“Her water has broken,” Mrs. Mooreton, the housekeeper, attested as she came to help. “Here are the smelling salts.”

Once they settled Georgina against the pillows, Ella waved the pungent spirits under Lady Amsteadt's nose, and the woman came around, although she was still a bit groggy. “What happened?” she seemed confused.

“The baby is coming.” Lady Linworth wiped Georgina's face with a damp cloth.

Fear crossed her daughter's eyes. “It is too early!” Georgina protested.

“It will be fine. Eleanor and I will take care of you.”

Georgina turned her gaze fully on Eleanor. “Save my child,” she stated flatly. “Do you hear me, Lady Eleanor? Save my baby.”

A minute nod of Ella's head gave Georgina the comfort she needed. Relief played across her face; the woman had accepted her fate. Ella swallowed hard, afraid she could not change what was happening. If Georgina lost her life, it would kill James. Ella would lose him to his grief. “Let us make you more comfortable,” she began to arrange the pillows. “We will need to move you to the birthing chair soon. It seems to me that a walk would speed this up and help our chances. Are you willing to try, Georgina?”

“Anything you say, Lady Eleanor. My life is in your hands.”

CHAPTER 12

“WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS?” Ella exclaimed as she helped Lady Linworth undress Georgina.

Lady Amsteadt looked at the linen sash fastened about her middle. “It is a Tansy Bag. The midwife at home insisted I wear it. She and Thomas feared the journey from Devon too strenuous on a woman so far advanced, but I needed to come. Father and all.” Ella nodded her understanding. She would have done the same even for William Fowler.

Removing it, Ella laid the poultice on a nearby table. “Tell me what the midwife said of the bag.” Besides being curious about the herbal medicine, Ella wished to keep Georgina Whittington's mind from the situation.

“Mrs. Woodson, the midwife, swore the bag would stop a miscarriage if a woman was frightened somehow or there was some other accidental cause.” Georgina took several deep breaths. “You do not think the bag hurt my child, do you, Lady Eleanor? I would die if my foolishness has caused me to lose this child.”

Ella braced Lady Amsteadt's back as her mother slipped a muslin gown over her daughter's head and shoulders. “I cannot believe you could do anything foolish, Lady Amsteadt,” Ella assured, although she privately wondered about the folk remedy. She smoothed the woman's hair from her face as she removed the pins holding the chignon in place.

“It is just that Mrs.Woodson told me to wear the sack from time
to time, sometimes in the morning and sometimes at night.” Ella noted how fear returned to Georgina's face. “I thought, you see…” She caught Ella's hand tightly.“I thought if sometimes was good to prevent… to prevent a miscarriage, using the bag every day in the morning and at night would make my chances better.”

“Nothing you did was wrong,” Lady Linworth declared. “Do not go on so, Georgina.”

Tears misted the girl's eyes. “But what if it was wrong, Mama?”

Ella took control. “Besides a good handful of leaves of tansy, was there anything else in the sack?”

“Nothing…I swear by all that is holy; there was nothing else in the sack, Lady Eleanor. We just sewed the leaves in the sack of gill and heated it upon a warming pan. Then I laid the bag across my navel,” Georgina's voice rose with the recitation.

“Georgina, listen to me.” Ella cupped the girl's face in her hands, forcing James's sister to look directly at her. “Lady Linworth and I will let nothing happen to this child.You must believe me.”

For elongated seconds Lady Amsteadt stared deeply at Ella. “I believe you, Lady Eleanor.” Ella prayed she had not made the mistake of promising something she could not deliver. However, it seemed important to win the girl's trust until help came.

As Ella picked up the discarded clothing about the room, Lady Linworth came up behind her and whispered, “Could the treatment have hurt Georgina?”

“Probably not the tansy leaves, but maybe the heat,” Ella murmured. “Truthfully, I have no idea. Do you suppose the midwife will come soon?”

“I pray so,” James's mother continued. “What do either of us know of delivering a child?”

 

Ella thought things could not get worse, but when word came that the local midwife tended to the birth of twins in the next village and the nearest physician had left for London yesterday, she bit back the desire to scream in frustration.

They correctly settled Georgina on the bed rather than on the birthing chair, although Lady Amsteadt swore the pain increased to the point of delivery. “What are we going to do?” Lady Linworth pleaded as she caught Ella's arm.

Ella forced herself to smile although she had not a clue as to what she was doing. True, she had once read a medical text, part of which was on giving birth, but that was several years ago. Also, while her father convalesced, she had seen her share of animals being born on the estate.Yet, she, like Lady Linworth, was a genteel lady.
What did she know of childbirth?
“We are going to deliver Georgina's baby.” She stated the obvious, praying James's mother would take the lead, but Her Ladyship looked to her for guidance. “Help me position Georgina to give birth to her first child.”

The countess nodded her understanding. They prepared the birthing chair for later, prepared additional bandages, and laid out medicine available from the estate's housekeeper.

Not surprisingly, the earlier walk and the movement triggered Georgina's urge to push, and the girl let out a blood-curdling scream, causing her mother to shudder with gut-wrenching sobs while Ella flinched with shock. “Georgina.” Ella's tone demanded the girl's attention. “I need for you not to bear down and not to hold your breath when the pains come.You
must
breathe as normally as possible. If you push before the baby is ready, you will hurt it.You must let it come naturally. Can you do that, Georgina?”

“I will do what is necessary for this baby, no matter what it takes.” It crushed Ella to hear Georgina hint at her own demise.

“Lady Linworth, you hold Georgina's hand and keep sponging her face with the water.” Ella firmly pressed against Lady Amsteadt's abdomen, examining it for its fullness. “It will be a while.” She did not know that to be true. Somewhere Ella remembered hearing stories of women spending several hours in childbirth; her own mother claimed nearly seventeen hours in delivering Brantley. It seemed important to ease everyone's distress by pretending everything was normal.

“Eleanor is correct, Georgina. I spent close to ten hours waiting for you,” Camelia confirmed. Lady Linworth's agreement gladdened Ella. Maybe her instincts would prove her capable, after all.

 

Six hours later, Georgina still gritted her teeth and worked her way through the birth process. Ella took to timing how long the discomfort lasted and how long between the spasms. Again, she had no reason to do so; it just seemed natural. The pains were now between ten and twelve minutes apart, according to the mantel clock, down from twenty minutes when they had first carried Lady Amsteadt into the bedchamber.

“Is there not someone else to help us?” Lady Linworth whispered, close to where Ella stood. They changed out the water used to bathe Georgina's face.

“I have my maid in the kitchen taking care of the water and medicine if we need it. However, none of the household staff wishes to be held responsible, as your daughter is a month early in the delivery. They fear Elizabeth's fate.” Ella wrung out the cloth they used, preparing to return it to Georgina's forehead.

Lady Linworth sighed deeply. “So do I.”