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“Is Alexandra all right?” he asked.
“I’m afraid I don’t have that information, my lord,” Bertram said. “Mr. Graves sent me up to tell you all to come down with haste. The doctor is waiting for you in the library to discuss her condition.”
Sophie didn’t know whether to run out of the room and down the stairs or walk slowly. Her mind was such a jumble. How could she be so happy about the babies and so sad and frightened about Ally at the same time? Emotion gripped her like a vise. Fear surged through her veins, cold as ice. She turned to Evan. Ally was his wife now, and he should take the lead.
Evan handed the other baby to Millicent as well. “Very well. Thank you, Bertram.”
“We’ve got you, son,” the earl said.
Somberly, they all marched down the stairs into the library.
Dr. Michael Blake stood next to a bookcase, his clothing soiled with Ally’s blood. Sophie’s heart sank.
“My lord,” Dr. Blake said to Evan, “perhaps we should speak alone.”
“No,” Evan said. “I would like my parents and my sister-in-law with me. They love Alexandra as much as I do.”
Thank God. Sophie wasn’t sure she what she would have done if she had been ushered from the room.
“Very well,” the doctor said. “Lady Alexandra has lost a lot of blood.”
Evan shot his eyebrows up. “She’s all right, then?”
The doctor nodded.
Sophie let out a sigh of relief. “May we see her, Doctor?” she asked.
Dr. Blake shook his head. “Only Lord Evan at this time,” he said. “The next few days will be critical. She has lost a lot of blood, but she is a young and healthy woman.”
“Whatever you need, Doctor. Whatever you must do, do it,” Evan said. “I need my wife, and these babies need their mother.”
And I need Ally. But Sophie didn’t voice the words. Now was not the time for her to be selfish.
“There is every reason to believe she will recover,” the doctor said. “As I said, she is young and strong, and she has a will of steel.”
Oh, the doctor had no idea. Sophie couldn’t help a small smile.
“However,” Blake said, “there is something else.”
Evan visibly flinched. “What is it?”
The doctor cleared his throat. “She had lost so much blood by the time I got here, I had to stop it as quickly as I could, and there was only one way to do that.”
Sophie’s heart pounded against her sternum as if a herd of antelope were trampling inside her.
“Lord, what did you do to her?” Evan massaged his temples.
“I’m afraid I had to take her womb.”
* * *
Sophie sat in the nursery, rocking baby Maureen. Maureen had just finished a bottle and was dozing. Baby no-name had been fed earlier and was sleeping in her bassinet. Such good babies, not fussy at all. Of course, they were both still exhausted from the birth. Fussiness would come later.
They were both so perfect, and they were the only children Ally would ever have. But at least Ally was alive, although still unconscious. Dr. Blake, Evan, and the earl had managed to move her up to her suite of rooms, where she could rest comfortably in her own bed. The expensive Oriental rug in the parlor had been ruined, but no one cared. All thoughts were on Ally.
A knock on the door startled Sophie. She did not want visitors right now, but it might be news of Ally. “Yes, do come in, please.”
Bertram stood in the doorway. “You have a visitor, Lady Sophie. Mr. Zachary Newland has come to call.”
