Hope - Lesley Pearse [1]
Whether it was the slap or the threat of death that did it, Lady Harvey’s screams turned to a kind of bellow, not unlike a cow in labour, and all at once she was pushing with real determination.
Some twenty minutes later Nell’s eyes grew wide as she finally saw the baby’s head coming. The hair on it was gypsy-black, in stark contrast to her mistress’s lily-white thighs.
‘That’s it! He’s coming now.’ Bridie’s voice was suddenly softer with relief. ‘Let him come, don’t push no more.’
Nell watched entranced, her exhaustion forgotten as the baby slid out into Bridie’s knurled old hands. The belly which had seconds ago looked as taut and swollen as a ripe pumpkin suddenly sagged, and her ladyship let out a gentle sigh of relief that her ordeal was finally over.
Bridie pointedly placed the new baby well away from its mother, not even proclaiming that she’d had a girl. Nell caught the older woman’s eyes, saw the fear in them, and all at once the joy and wonder she’d felt at the miracle of new life was extinguished.
This baby wasn’t intended to live. Bridie was not going to slap its little back, or breathe into its tiny mouth to help it survive. It was meant to die.
‘Is it really over now?’ Lady Harvey asked, her voice just a hoarse whisper.
‘Aye, it’s over now, m’lady,’ Bridie said as she quickly tied the cord and cut it. ‘Just the afterbirth to come and you’ll be able to go to sleep and forget it all.’
Nell looked down at the motionless, silent baby lying on the bed. Her younger brothers and sisters had all been ugly and purple with bald heads at their birth. They’d squalled with anger at their speedy arrival into a harsh new world. But this one was pretty, with dark hair and a mouth like a little rosebud. Nell thought that was perhaps because it was ordained to go straight to heaven.
‘Did it die?’ Lady Harvey asked sleepily. The angry red veins on her face and neck had already faded, but she looked gaunt and pale. Her long golden hair, Bridie’s pride and joy, was matted and dull. Nell could hardly believe this was the same young woman she’d always admired for her serene elegance and beauty.
Bridie merely glanced sideways at the infant as she massaged her mistress’s belly. ‘Aye, m’lady, I’m afraid so,’ she replied with a break in her voice. ‘But perhaps that’s just as well.’
‘Just let me see it?’ Lady Harvey asked.
Bridie nodded at Nell, who took up a piece of flannel, wrapped it around the baby and lifted it up. Lady Harvey reached out one finger to run it down the infant’s cheek, and then turned her head away as the tears came. ‘God’s will,’ she whispered. ‘But I’m grateful for his mercy.’
Bridie nudged Nell towards the door. ‘Take it to the still room, then you go to your bed,’ she whispered. ‘I’ll deal with it later when I’ve finished here.’
Holding the tiny lifeless baby in her arms, Nell walked quickly down the corridor towards the backstairs. Briargate Hall was as silent as a crypt. All the other servants had been sent to the London house three weeks ago to prepare it for Sir William Harvey’s return from America. He had been there for almost two years, and this of course was the reason why Bridie hadn’t attempted to save the baby. If she knew who its father was, she wouldn’t say. She had guarded her mistress’s secret pregnancy as if it were her own. Even when she was compelled to include Nell in the conspiracy because she couldn’t handle the birth alone, she told her nothing more than that her ladyship was carrying an unwanted child.
It was the end of April, and it was only yesterday that they’d finally seen signs of spring after a long, bitterly cold winter. It was going to be another fine, warm day today too, because the sun was already streaming in through the east window by the backstairs.
In the huge mirror beside the window, Nell could see herself reflected. The image shocked her, not so much because she looked so untidy, her apron stained and her cap all askew