Perhaps the food had disagreed with her in some way?
She shook her head and left the room, having just reached the foot of the stairs when additional pain tore through her.One hand managed to grab the newel post at the base of the stairs, even as she doubled over in pure agony.
“Goodness gracious.”Emma’s soft voice was accompanied by the gentle touch of a hand at Samantha’s back.“Has your water broken?”
Samantha barely managed to shake her head.“Too soon.”
“Only by a couple of weeks.”
“Oh, God.”The agony peaked before easing away once more.
“Please have the carriage brought around,” Emma told Elks.“I’m taking my mistress to Saint George’s at once.”
“Would it not be better to fetch Doctor Wolf?”Elks’s voice conveyed his concern.
“This will be faster.”Emma clutched Samantha’s free hand and met her gaze with fierce determination.“You’ll be fine.”
Samantha knew that wasn’t a promise her maid could keep, but she appreciated her confidence in the moment.Especially since she herself felt like wailing.
“I want my husband,” she gasped between breaths while Emma assisted her with her pelisse.“He said he was going to see Mr.Henshaw but…I’ve no idea where he lives.”
“Mr.Croft departed on foot,” Elks said, “so he won’t be far.I’ll send a couple of footmen out to see if they can locate him.”
Samantha was barely able to manage a nod as additional pain barreled through her.She reached out, seeking support, and was met by Emma’s steadying hand.The maid wound an arm around her back and allowed Samantha the time she needed to find her bearings once more.
“Are you ready?”Emma asked when Samantha’s breaths deepened.
“Yes,” Samantha rasped.“Let’s get to the carriage before the next episode starts.”
They set off, every dip and bounce of the carriage exacerbating the tremors that drove through her abdomen every few minutes.She wasn’t sure how often they came or went.The worst was almost the calm between them — the not knowing when the pain would return, only that it surely would.
“I believe the intervals between your contractions are decreasing,” Emma said once the most recent one abated.
“What do you mean?”Samantha’s brain was screaming so loudly for a reprieve from this hellish experience, she couldn’t think or make sense of what Emma was saying.“Oh, God…” She needed to move, not sit still while dreading the next bout of agony.“Why is this happening?”
“Because you’re with child.”
“No…something is surely wrong.”Horribly so or she’d not feel like this.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong at all, Mrs.Croft, besides the fact that you’ve gone into labor.”Emma rubbed Samantha’s back with soothing strokes.“It’s a little early perhaps, but not by much.”
Samantha pressed her hands into her thighs while hunching forward.“Would my water not have broken if that were the case?”
“I…honestly don’t know,” Emma muttered, removing all the assurance her previous statement might have provided had it been followed up by a more confident answer.
Bloody hell and damnation.This was worse than getting shot.Worse, too, than having the lead ball extracted and getting stitched up.Whatever this was, it would surely be the end of her.
Christ have mercy, it was starting again.
She gulped down a breath and braced herself while making a promise.If she survived this, she was never letting Adrian near her again.
* * *
Adrian tripped and nearly fell in his haste to halt the approaching hackney.Murry, who always matched Adrian’s pace, had fallen behind.No doubt the fear that swam through Adrian’s veins increased his speed.Apparently, it also made him blind to obstacles in his path.
“Stop,” he shouted, not caring if he looked or sounded like a madman.
All he knew was that he had to reach Samantha right now.He had to be by her side, and each passing second was one more wasted on not being there to help her through this.
