*
Through the night, Jane was turned, given possets, and wrapped in hot flannels, all in an effort to relax her womb. The draughts that Dr. Jones had provided did, indeed, make Jane dull, but not enough to allow her to sleep through the bearing pains. As the ache began in her back again, Jane shifted in bed, surprised to see that morning had broken.
Seated by the bed, Vincent lifted his head from his book and reached for his watch. He still wore his formal clothes from the evening prior, but the cravat was wildly rumpled and his hair looked as though it had been nested in by a frightened owl. “Another?”
“Yes.” She sighed as the ache spread across her middle. “It is not as bad, I think.”
From her chair by the balcony doors, Nkiruka quietly snored with her head resting against the cushions. More alert, Dr. Jones sat up on the chaise lounge. “How long was the interval this time?”
“A little over two hours.” Vincent kept his eye on his watch as he had been instructed.
Jane rested her hand on her stomach, waiting for it to ease. Early in the evening, she had been counting, but now she could barely form numbers in her head, much less string them into a rank. “It is lessening.”
“Thirty-seven seconds.”
Dr. Jones stood up, stretching. “Good. I think that we can safely say that these are false pains.”
Jane did not agree that the pains were entirely false, but she understood what the doctor meant. She closed her eyes in relief.
“But I do not want to chance you standing.”
The little bit of relief Jane had enjoyed subsided. Though she would very much have liked to protest that she was well, she was exhausted and frightened. “You think bed rest is still necessary?”
“I do.”
Nkiruka snorted and woke, jerking her head up from where it had sagged. The lines of her years were more apparent on her face that morning. She should have gone to bed hours ago. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Nkiruka sat forward. “Wha happen?”
“Mrs. Hamilton’s pains seem to have slowed.” Dr. Jones came to the bed and lifted the log that Vincent had been keeping of Jane’s bearing pains. “More significantly, they are irregular now. You will likely be fatigued today, but as the time passes, you will become afflicted with ennui. Have you a project with which to occupy yourself?”
Her head was so heavy that she could scarcely imagine being interested in doing anything.
“Dat book? Mebbe you can work on dat?” Nkiruka rubbed her eyes and peered at Dr. Jones. “It all right to bring visitors? Talk glamour?”
They had set it aside while working on the glamural, and then, with the injured here at the great house, Jane had given it little thought. She could not even recall where they had left off, though that might have as much to do with the draughts that Dr. Jones had given her.
Dr. Jones raised her eyebrows and gave Nkiruka a look that Jane did not quite understand. “Yes, one or two visitors a day will do no harm. One or two.” She turned back to Jane. “So long as you stay in bed and do not become overexcited.”
“It shall be the driest prose imaginable.”
“You do not need to go to such heroic lengths. Simply pay attention to your body. If the pains become regular or less than twenty minutes apart, send for me at once.” She fixed Vincent with a glare. “And do not agitate her.”
“I will do my best.”
Dr. Jones turned to Nkiruka with something that almost looked like anger. “May I ask for your assistance with the patients?”
“She need me here.”
Vincent cleared his throat. “I will stay with Jane.”
She hated being such a bother. If she were going to do nothing but lie in bed all day, all she needed was a bell to ring for someone. It took too long to assemble that thought into a sentence. By the time it was prepared, the farewells had already occurred.
Vincent closed the door behind them and leaned against the handle for a moment. Clearing his throat again, he rounded the end of the bed so that she did not have to strain to see him. “Shall I read to you? Or do you want to try to sleep?”
“Will you lie down with me?”
He looked at the bed with something like fear. “I do not want to disturb you.”
“Please believe that you cannot disturb me any more than I already am.” Jane rubbed her face, which was sticky with dried sweat from the hot flannels she had been wrapped in. “I cannot believe that you slept at all last night.”
He tilted his head in a half shrug. “You may be right.”
“So come.” She patted the bed behind her. “Lie down and try to get some rest. I worry about you.”
He shook his head and snorted.
“What is amusing?” She so wanted to go to him, or at the least to sit up.
“You fret about me all the time, but never complain on your own behalf.”
“To be fair, my health has been generally good.”