“It’s Mary,” she said softly so that no one else could hear. “I’m worried that she might be overexerting herself.”
“Then tell her so.”
“I don’t want to ruin her fun. Look how happy she seems.”
My Jane seems to be quite the people-pleaser.
He stopped. My Jane? Where had that come from? He shook the thought from his head.
“What could happen if she overexerts herself?” he asked.
Jane sighed. “She has spells of nausea so great that she can’t keep anything down, including water. It’s dangerous for both her and the baby to be without sustenance.”
“Well, then,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, “I don’t think there is much to question, is there? She asked you here to look after her. That’s your responsibility now, even if it is somewhat unpleasant.”
“You’re right,” she said with a determined nod as she straightened her shoulders. “Thank you, Duncan.”
She released his arm and he felt the loss more than he would like to admit, but before she could approach Mary, Billy called out that they had found “the one,” and the entire group let out a cheer of celebration while Jane released an audible sigh of relief.
Duncan stepped up behind her and placed a hand on her elbow.
“I’ll help look out for her on the trek home,” he said. “Not to worry.”
The grateful smile she sent his way went right to his heart, and he wondered at these strange feelings this London visit was bringing his way.
For they were not typical of Duncan McDougall.
Not typical at all.
Chapter 7
The Miller family overlooked Duncan’s obvious reluctance to participate in the festivities in favor of his strength when it came time to return with the Christmas tree. He tried to resist and grumble out a denial to their request that he carry it home, but then Jane had looked up at him with that trusting smile of hers and the next thing he knew he had hefted it up on his shoulders and they were back on the road to the Millers’ townhouse.
Somehow along the way, he completely lost track of Jane, and soon enough the tree was bobbing precariously low over his shoulders and he had to keep his gaze straight ahead or else risk a face full of pine needles.
He knew without turning around to look that Billy’s brother, who had been holding up the back end of the tree, was now conspicuously absent.
“Through the front door?” he asked as they approached the house, which, if he hadn’t known better, seemed to open the door itself and welcome them within, telling them that they belonged there with their newly acquired greenery.
“In we go!” he heard Billy’s voice call gaily, and by some miracle the tree fit through the door. Duncan was directed to place it within a small metal tub that had been prepared in the middle of the drawing room, around which he and Billy placed rocks to keep it standing upright. By the time he was done, despite the chilly winter air that had followed them in, he had to wipe a drop of sweat from his brow. He noticed the cat step into the room, who eyed the tree with some trepidation. Everyone else, however, seemed quite thrilled by it.
“Well done!” Billy said, clapping a hand on his shoulder, to which Duncan turned and looked at with some disbelief. Billy seemed oblivious to Duncan’s hostility, although it was proving more and more difficult to completely dislike the man who had stolen Mary’s affections — not that they had ever been Duncan’s to begin with.
Instead, Duncan took a step back and followed Billy’s gaze toward the evergreen in front of them. The drawing room, which had already been rather cheerful and bright, was now filled with the fresh scent of pine, and the tree looked quite at home where it now stood next to the fireplace, inside which the embers were already coming back to life after one of the multitudes of family members had obviously stoked them.
“Brilliant,” Billy said, a wide grin on his face, and then turned around to look behind him. As Duncan watched him, his exuberance fled, to be replaced by a flash of panic.
“Mary!” he called out, and then crossed the room to the corner, where his wife was bent over double on the chesterfield. Jane was already there, one hand rubbing her sister’s back. Duncan’s first instinct was to follow, but to do what? He was a houseguest, and no longer anything more than that. He was good for things like carrying Christmas trees, but he had no place in an intimate family moment.
Billy bent and lifted his wife in his arms, pushing past concerned family members as he carried her up the stairs. Jane rushed into the kitchen, disappearing for a few minutes until she emerged carrying a mug of what must be hot liquid from the way she cupped it gingerly in her hands. Still wearing her cloak, she took to the stairs and was soon out of Duncan’s sight.
He looked around the room at all of Billy’s family, who slowly returned to their conversations, some of them even beginning to place an assortment of items on the tree in the corner, such as popcorn garland and candles. Bizarre, Duncan thought, shaking his head, his mind occupied by what was going on upstairs above him.
Realizing he had his own cloak still wrapped over his shoulders, he shrugged it off to place it in his room.
No one else seemed to notice as he ascended the staircase, and he had no sooner placed his cloak on the bed than he heard voices down the hallway.
“I thought you were here to help!” Billy’s normally pleasant voice rang out, and Duncan was about to step into the corridor when Jane’s calm voice came wafting down toward him.
“I am,” she said softly. “Unfortunately, I do not believe there is much else that can be done besides ensuring that she gets plenty of rest. We must also make sure that she eats every few hours through the day, and that she drinks whenever she is able. She has become sick so often that dehydration is a worry.”
“You said that before.”
“When I first arrived, yes I did,” Jane said, and Duncan could sense from her tone that she intended to say more. He willed her to, and finally she did. “I wish you had written to me sooner, when she first became so ill.”
“She’s been ill the entire pregnancy. I know it’s common, especially at first, so we thought nothing of it.”
“She can hardly keep anything down. If I had to guess, I would say she weighs less than she did before.”
Billy sighed, and Duncan could hear him beginning to pace the floor.
“What have you given her?”
“Ginger tea, as usual,” Jane said, before her tone turned to one of some despair. “There is not much more I can do. I feel rather ineffectual, if I am being honest.”
“No, no,” Billy said, his voice contrite. “You’ve been a blessing since you arrived, Jane. I can tell Mary finds solace just from your presence.”
“I am supposed to be a healer,” Jane responded, “and yet I haven’t been much help.”
The conversation was interrupted when a great retching sounded from the room beyond them, and they both rushed through the bedroom door.
Duncan, feeling the voyeur but concerned about what was occurring in the next room, stepped out into the hall, finding a view through the door across from him. Mary lay on the bed, crimson curtains surrounding her, leaning over a bowl. Billy wasn’t in Duncan’s view, although he supposed he was likely standing across from her. Jane sat on the edge of the bed next to Mary, gently soothing her hair back away from her head as she murmured in Mary’s ear what Duncan could only assume were calming words of encouragement.