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“I want you to close your eyes,” he said.
She gave him a puzzled look. “Why?”
“Just trust me, please.”
“Fine,” Madalene said before she closed her eyes tightly. “I can’t see anything.”
“Allow me to escort you,” he said, placing his hand on her arm.
After Baldwin gently led her out of the coach, he stopped her in front of a brown brick building.
Baldwin turned to face her because he wanted to see her reaction to her gift. “Now, open your eyes,” he ordered.
Madalene opened her eyes, and he was gratified to hear her gasp in delight. “When did you have time to accomplish this?”
“I generally find the time when something is important to me.” He turned to face the building. “Does it please you?” he asked, as they both gazed at the sign over the main door that read, “Elizabeth Dowding Workhouse and Infirmary”.
“Immensely,” she replied, “especially since you used my mother’s name.”
Baldwin reached for her hand. “I know you are worried about your mother’s legacy, but between the workhouse and the orphanage, your mother’s name will live on for good for generations to come,” he explained. “I have hired a contractor to oversee the managing of the workhouse, but I thought it would be prudent if he reported back to you.”
Tears came to his wife’s eyes, but he knew they were happy tears. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” she murmured.
“I suppose you are right,” he joked. “You are quite lucky to have me.”
She laughed, as he hoped she would.
“But, as it turns out, I have a gift for you, as well,” Madalene said as she turned to face him.
Placing his hand on her right cheek, he replied, “Every day with you is a gift.”
“Do you truly mean that?”
“I choose you, and I will keep choosing you for as long as I live,” he promised, hoping his eyes conveyed his sincerity.
A tear slipped out of her eye and rolled down her cheek. As he went to wipe it away, she surprised him by saying, “I am with child.”
Fearing he misheard her, he asked, “I beg your pardon?”
She smiled tenderly as she repeated, “I am with child.”
Leaning back, he asked, “Are you sure?” He glanced down at her stomach. “I mean… have you spoken to the doctor—”
His words were stilled when she pressed her lips against his, earning disapproving looks from people that walked past them on the pavement.
“You talk too much, Baldwin,” she said, leaning back.
“I am just flabbergasted,” he declared, running a hand through his hair.
“Does it please you?”
He chuckled at the absurdity of that question. “Nothing could please me more than to have you be the mother of my children.”
“I am relieved to hear you say that,” she replied. “I was planning on telling you over supper tonight, but I found I couldn’t wait.”
“I have no doubt that my family will be elated when we share the good news.”
She gave him a sheepish grin. “I’m afraid I may have already confided in Jane.”
