Chapter Fifty-One

To Everything There Is A Season

"That bath was truly wonderful…" Carolyn sighed as she got into bed and lay down. "The water was heavenly. But I'm glad we're inside tonight. That storm is getting closer."

Beyond the house, a summer rain had begun to fall heavily. Out on the distant horizon, lightning flashed and thunder muttered. Inside, everything was cosy and sheltered.

"It's none of my doing," her husband replied, watching the rain falling past the un-curtained windows.

"I know…" Carolyn smiled as he undressed and turned out the lights before moving into the bed beside her to draw her close. "But you do make the perfect bathing helper. Everything I could wish for and more. I could get used to that level of comfort."

"It was my pleasure…" Her husband kissed the top of her head as he settled her into the crook of his arm. "I enjoyed washing your little toes one by one. But now you must try to get some sleep. You still look tired."

"I am. But I'll do my best..." Carolyn sighed as she settled closer against him.

It was one of the few ways Carolyn could feel comfortable enough to try and get some rest. So much within her now seemed to be pressing on more than one nerve at once, making sleep difficult and often elusive.

She stiffened as the slow ache that had settled in the base of her spine returned. Daniel's hand was there instantly, massaging gently against the pain.

"Do you want to sit up?" he asked softly. "Is there anything more I can do?"

"No, let's please just lie here. I can't be comfortable any other way."

"Then use me as your pillow," he whispered against her hair, taking her hand in his. "I'll stay awake for a while and keep watch."

"Then neither of us will sleep…" Carolyn shook her head as she closed her eyes obediently, grateful for the slow, massaging movements of his fingers against her taut back muscles.

She listened to the growing storm outside, lashing around the house. There had been times when the man beside her had been responsible for such tempests. Such tempestuous expressions of his displeasure.

Now it was just a summer storm that would soon pass and was nothing to be worried about. She moved against him, releasing a grateful sigh as the nagging pain in her back began to ease under his soothing ministrations. She drifted slowly into a deeper sleep, lulled by the pattering sound of the rain striking against the glass of the windows.

Time ticked slowly by on the bedside clock and Daniel did as he promised. He kept watch over his beloved's sleep as she managed to find a measure of rest. Soon she would wake again to change her position.

He looked down at the slow movements beneath the soft cotton of her nightdress. The small pokes and wriggles as two near-to-term babies tried to find their own space to rest in their shared quarters that had become very cramped and confining.

He smiled as he laid his hand flat against those little twists and turns and the babies seemed to sense him there. He played his fingertips against them, soothing gently. They slowly stopped their little waltz and settled down to ride out the longer reaches of the storm-tossed night.

The quiet of the room seeped slowly into his senses. It could seem as if they were the only people in the world. He shook his head at the fanciful notion as his eyelids drifted down and he too was lulled to sleep by the constant sound of the driving rain...

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The niggling twinges of pain in the small of Carolyn's back that had troubled her earlier in the night were the first sign that something momentous was about to change. They had begun to build slowly, niggle on twinge until she woke up abruptly.

She moved sharply against them in the wide softness of their bed. Daniel came awake instantly and was immediately concerned.

"What is it?" he asked, reaching a hand to her. "Are you still in pain?"

"It's nothing…" she replied cautiously. "It just feels like someone has one foot pressed against my spine. Or maybe two."

She moved again as the pain renewed. She almost cried out then but managed to hold it in. She pressed a hand to her side, wincing at the sharpness of the twinge.

Daniel sat up. "Something is wrong. Talk to me." He pushed back the covers to kneel in the middle of the bed. "I can't help you if you don't tell me. Is it the babies? Is it time?"

"It's too soon…" Carolyn murmured, sucking in a quick breath against the next sharp twinge that seemed to run the length of her spine this time. "We surely have a couple of weeks yet. Please don't worry. It will soon pass."

"How can I not worry?" her husband replied anxiously. "Can I get you anything? Do anything to help?"

"No, but thank you…" Carolyn sighed as the pain began to ease. "Look, it's almost dawn. Let's go back to sleep for a while. We're going to need all the rest we can get, soon enough."

She tried to smile but it trembled. "At least, the storm outside has passed."

"But not the one inside you." Daniel watched her with shadowed eyes. "I've read all the books Dr Morgan recommended and listened to everything he told us. It seems the truth is that nobody knows when it is time. And all this now appears to be happening too fast."

He ignored her advice, reaching to turn on the bedside light. The sudden illumination showed him the anxiety in her eyes. He returned to the middle of the bed to hold her close.

"I went to term with Candy and I was late with Jonathan," Carolyn whispered against the solid comfort of his chest. "It's only a false alarm. It is too soon…"

"But you have also not had twins before…" Daniel laid a gentle hand over the swell of her abdomen. "You're so small. Maybe there's no longer enough room in there for the pair of them. I think we need to get you into the hospital just in case."

He spread his fingers wide, feeling the movements and tiny pokes against his palm. "These two are anxious to be born. Their confinement irks them."

He felt the pain ripple through her then, the hardening of the muscles cradling his children and the sharp intake of his wife's breath as the growing discomfort moved through her once more.

"Lie down on your side…" Daniel eased her down onto the mattress to rest high against her pillows. He kissed her creased forehead quickly.

"I'll go and fetch Martha and wake up Madame Tibaldi." He eased off the bed, dragging on his dressing gown as he hurried for the bedroom door. "Just to be on the safe side."

He glanced back as he opened the door. In the soft lamplight, the long-familiar room seemed like a warm and safe haven. The right and proper place for his children to be born. Everything in the room spoke intimately of him and his life at sea.

Of all his forlorn hopes and troubled dreams. Until this one woman had come into his ghostly life and changed everything.

He rested his forehead briefly against the edge of the door. He knew the choice of where and when his children were to be born was not his to make. He shook his head as he turned away and hurried on about his mission.

※※※※※

Mrs Harriet Mitford sat on the side of her bed. She'd been sitting there most of the night, turning over and over the large diamond ring in her hands. Disbelief and anxiety nibbled away more and more of the edges of her cherished certainties with every passing hour.

"My life is complete. I am happy. I am going to be very happy for many years to come."

Her statement echoed hollowly in the large bedroom. Outside, heavy rain from a summer storm lashed past the windows. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled almost overhead. The wind howled as if seeking entry to the inside. Harriet frowned at the windows.

"And I married for love…" she murmured, returning her eyes to the ring in her hands. "I know I did. Everyone is envious of me. They all wanted to marry Owen. But he chose me."

The troubling mantra she'd kept repeating to herself for several weeks still gave her a measure of comfort. She knew her sister, Hazel was deeply jealous of her successful marriage, large house and impressive fortune. Her older twin by two minutes had always envied anything Harriet had succeeded in getting for herself.

Harriet knew it had been an inspired guess by her dear cousin Carolyn to see which one of them Owen truly loved. And she'd been proven right. Their courtship had been whirlwind and their marriage impetuous with only the Williams as their witnesses.

But it had stirred all the passionate longings in Harriet's lonely heart. Surely this was the stuff dreams were made of and she had finally found true love.

It had all been kept very quiet and completed in secret. Harriet didn't even see her new husband until the next day. Even though she'd waited all night for him to come to her. To claim his bride as she'd always dreamed of being taken.

In the cold light of the next day, there had been lots of documents to sign and she was told not to ask any questions. Harriet knew it was all for her own good. Owen had said so and she believed him. He said he needed to keep everything under wraps until the right man was sent to jail. And he had finally been.

"But now?" Harriet sighed as she looked up at the closed door of her bedroom. "Why am I still alone?"

She longed for more than Owen seemed able to give. Her husband of these past months had yet to approach her with anything like love or consideration. He only became more distant as the time passed. There were days and nights now when he didn't come home at all, leaving her to rattle around in their large house, talking to no one but their servants.

Even her sister's regular phone calls had ceased. It seemed now that everyone was displeased with her in some way. She knew she could always count on her cousin Carolyn, but she had her own worries and concerns now she was also married and expecting.

Harriet had tried to put a brave face on it and convince herself she was imagining her husband's distance and seeming distaste for her company. She had everything she'd ever wanted. A man to call her own and a very nice home in the best part of the city.

She'd done her best to smile happily at her dear cousin Carolyn when they'd dropped in on her out at her island camp. She'd also tried to hide her envy when she saw the rounded softness of her cousin's lower body. Her tall, impressive husband had obviously visited their marriage bed and consummated their union with swift alacrity.

"More than once too, by the smug look of her…" Harriet muttered enviously. "She looked like she'd had both the canary and the bowl of cream!"

The sharply jealous words echoed in the room. She clapped a hand over her mouth. Owen didn't like to be disturbed at night, he'd told her. He said he was a light sleeper, hence the need for them to sleep apart.

But sleeping was not on Harriet's mind. Far from it. But he didn't seem to understand that she wanted to be with him. That she loved and cared for him as any real wife should.

She sighed as she went back to studying the diamond ring in her hands. "It just has to be real. It just has to be…"

Her sister, Hazel had already raised her distressing doubts. She'd taken one look at the ring with her sharp eyes and declared it not to be all it was said to be. There was a certain amount of smugness in her words.

Harriet had snatched away her hand, pushing it behind her back. "Of course, it's real," she'd snapped. "My husband is a wealthy man. He likes to buy me nice things."

"Does he, indeed." Her sister's deeply sceptical look spoke volumes.

Harriet knew she was only jealous. She would soon see there was nothing to worry about. A child would take care of that. But such a wonderous event had to be soon to silence any doubts her family may have about the state of her seemingly advantageous marriage.

But when Harriet had entered her bedroom earlier in the evening - after saying a wistful goodnight to her husband at his bedroom door – there had been an envelope propped up against her expensively perfumed French silk pillows.

How it had got there was a troubling question to which she had no answers. She still didn't know. But the contents of the envelope had underscored every one of the nagging doubts she was now having about her husband and her marriage.

"If only I knew what to believe…" Slowly she put the ring aside to pick up the envelope again.

She didn't need to open it. She already knew the mysterious contents by heart. And they troubled her deeply. She knew she should just throw it away. Laugh off the words written there as of no consequence. A prank. Someone was trying again to blacken her husband's name.

She was not a woman given to much introspection. She tried to live her life free of thinking too deeply. But her doubts remained, sharply troubling.

What if I am living a lie? A complete sham of a marriage?

"It cannot be true…" Her hand crept up to her cheek in horror as she stared at the envelope.

Inside, a handwritten note detailed everything about her engagement ring and its authenticity or lack of it. The note encouraged her to have the ring expertly assessed in the morning by a reputable jeweller in the city.

A name and address for such a shop was given. After she had performed this task, she was to wait for further instructions about what to do next. She was to talk to no one about what she may discover.

"I wish I understood what's happening…" Harriet frowned at the note and its faint aroma of expensive cigars and rich wine. It's elegantly flowing script also posed the one, deeply troubling question that had kept her from her rest all night.

'If you truly believe the diamond is real, then what do you have to lose?'

※※※※※

"There, there…" Olivia Tibaldi smoothed her calming hand over Carolyn's troubled brow. "Everything in its turn and season. You will see. I am glad the time has finally arrived."

She'd quickly completed her examination and lowered the bedcovers, tucking them in comfortably. She glanced up at Daniel who was seated at his wife's side with her upper body and head resting back against him as he held her close. "It is as you've already suspicioned. These two are now more than eager to be born. And, it seems, sooner rather than later."

Martha bustled into the room. "I've already summoned Dr Ferguson. He said he'll be right out." She cast anxious eyes at the bed.

"All this fuss over a few twinges," Carolyn replied through taut lips. "They will soon pass. It is too soon."

"We all know that babies come when they're ready." Martha crossed the room to sit on the side of the bed. "But I'm afraid I've got some bad news. Dr Ferguson told me that Bangor's totally out of the question tonight. All this rain has brought on a huge washout under the highway and that's caused a pile-up of traffic. The road's been closed until at least, midday tomorrow. He doubts the twins will wait until then."

"I know that…" Madame Tibaldi murmured. "My spirits have already told me. The barrier that way is impassable."

"Then do they have a solution?" Carolyn demanded worriedly, even as her breath hissed between her clenched teeth as she rode out another rolling pain. "We'll just have to find a way around…"

The sudden shaft of pain rose up her spine, tearing the breath from her lungs. Her back arched and she couldn't prevent her sobbing cry of pain.

"I'm afraid you're in no condition to go anywhere right now, my dear," Madame Tibaldi replied gently. "You are further along than you've been aware of."

"Hospital?" Carolyn groaned. "I must get to the hospital. I can make it…"

Madame Tibaldi shook her head. "Dr Ferguson said the little emergency room he runs at the back of his clinic is closed at night. They've always relied on getting people by ambulance through to Bangor. Now that's out of the question and Boston is just too far."

"Then I'd better go on downstairs to boil the water and fetch the towels." Martha nodded briskly. "Then I'll get the children up and keep them occupied with making their breakfast and doing some chores." She hurried from the room.

"I see…" Carolyn sighed as she lifted her head to look up at her husband. "It seems as if you may get your wish, after all. Your children are likely to be born in your house."

"Our home…" Daniel replied gently as he kissed her forehead. "My only wish is that you are loved and cared for. And our children are delivered safely."

He looked up at their watching midwife, frowning at her gentle smile of confidence. "Everything I have ever wished or hoped for in my life has come down to these few hours. Please do not fail us now."

Madame Tibaldi waved a hand. "You may have captained your fair share of ships, my dear man. But you have not delivered the number of babies that I have over the years. Before my spirits found me and set me to their work, I'd brought many a fair child safely into this world."

Her smile widened. "I could do it with my eyes closed. But, of course, I won't."

Once again, the medium tapped the side of her nose with one forefinger. "My spirits have told me that all will be well and in good time. I can't say fairer than that."

"You're being very mysterious again," Carolyn complained, taking Daniel's hand as the pain rose within her again.

Her husband grasped her fingers, feeling them close tightly around his. "It's her stock in trade, my dear. She can't help it."

At that moment the electric lighting began to flicker as the storm rumbled closer. Daniel shook his head in bemusement. Of all times for it to fail.

He closed his eyes, willing the storm to dissipate and leave them be. But in his bodily form, his spirit powers were limited and he knew he couldn't risk transforming right then.

The lights went out, plunging the room into darkness. "Blast…" Daniel said raggedly, knowing he was powerless to help.

But, somehow, the intimate darkness seemed fitting. It was as if they had been transported back over one hundred years to another place and time.

"Candles," Madame Tibaldi said quickly, moving away from the bed. "Don't worry. I'll call down to Martha to light all the candles and bring some up here. It will be all right."

"Yes…" Carolyn breathed through her rolling pain.

"I'm here…" Daniel smoothed her hair back from her forehead.

"We'll need to work together now," the medium replied comfortably, returning from her mission of asking for the candles. "These next few hours are going to be busy enough. And Dr Ferguson has arrived."

Downstairs, the doorbell rang and Martha hurried to answer it. There was a smattering of conversation then the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs.

"Good morning…" Dr Ferguson entered the room, seemingly confident of his skills in the fraught matter at hand.

He carried a branch of lighted candles in his free hand. "I've been on the phone with Dr Morgan and he assures me that everything has been progressing as it should. He's not surprised your babies are early. He stands by his telephone, ready to help if we need him."

He set the candles and his bag down on the desk as he nodded to his erstwhile midwife. "I'll just go along the hall and wash my hands. Then we shall see how things are coming along."

Martha appeared in the open doorway, carrying more lighted candles and a box of matches. She set about lighting all the other candles in the room. It took on a cheery glow, making it again seem like a warm and safe haven against the rising storm outside.

"See…" Madame Tibaldi leaned closer to Carolyn as she smoothed her furrowed brow with one soft hand. "I told you all will be well. All you have to do is believe…"

Her soft brown eyes became serious and piercing as she repeated, "All you truly have to do is believe…"

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