A Maxwell Mourned Read Free Page A

hope you will be pleased with my diagnosis, Mrs Sedgeman,’ Doctor Gill was smiling broadly. ‘There’s nothing seriously wrong with your health.’
    ‘Then of course I am pleased!’ Meg smiled back and jumped up from the couch, only to grasp the side of his table as the room swam around her.
    ‘Please, do sit down. You will have to learn to take things a little easier, a little slower, until your baby is born.’
    ‘Baby …?’ Meg gaped at him.
    ‘You mean you did not know? You did not guess …?’
    ‘Well …’ Meg frowned as she made some mental calculations. ‘I suppose I have been a bit irregular. But you must have got it wrong, Doctor. I-I can’t have a baby.’
    ‘Who told you that? And for what reason?’
    ‘My mother. I had some sort of illness when I was twelve. She said I nearly died. It was mumps, but there were complications, or so I understood.’
    ‘I see. Well, you are most definitely having a baby.’
    ‘I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it!’ Meg began to cry.
    ‘You don’t want a child of your own?’ Doctor Gill asked with concern.
    ‘Want a child? O-oh … it’s what I want more than anything in the world!’ Meg stood up and hugged the astonished doctor in a most uncharacteristic display of emotion. Between laughter and tears she apologised. ‘You just don’t know how happy you have made me.’
    ‘I think it’s your husband you must thank, Mrs Sedgeman.’ Doctor Gill bit back a smile. ‘I trust he will be as delighted as you are yourself?’
    ‘Peter?’ Meg’s smile faded. She stared at the doctor in consternation. ‘No. No, Peter will not be at all happy. You see he … His first wife died, after the birth of the twins.’
    ‘I understand …’ The Doctor nodded thoughtfully. ‘There is no reason why such a thing should happen to you, even though you are not so young to be having your first child. I shall do my best to reassure your husband. If he can afford to pay, I could arrange for you to be admitted to the cottage hospital for the actual birth. They have more … er … more facilities if there are any problems. I can attend you myself, as well as the midwife. But there is plenty of time to think about that.’
    ‘I will mention it to Peter. It might reassure him.’
    Meg could scarcely contain her elation, but she was not without some trepidation at the thought of telling Peter.
    Predictably he was dismayed but Meg’s joy was so great he tried hard to hide his fear. Secretly he vowed he would do everything in his power to provide the necessary fees for the cottage hospital and the doctor’s attendance. He would spare nothing that might help his beloved Meg.
    Rachel was delighted by Meg’s news.
    ‘Conan will be one year old at the end of May. There will be a year between them. I do hope they will be the best of friends.’ Rachel’s own experiences had made her more mature than her years. Now she felt older and wiser than Meg.
    When Peter voiced his concerns Rachel promised him she would do her best to watch over Meg, see that she rested and spare her any extra work.
    ‘You are a good lass, Rachel. I often bless the day it was me who found you by the roadside. Will you – will you stay with Meg, even if you are made a better offer?’ he asked, thinking of Sam Dewar’s plans for her.
    ‘A better offer!’ Rachel scoffed with rare bitterness. ‘That’s not likely. Anyway nothing would persuade me to leave Meg until her baby is born. I give you my word.’
    Cameron Maxwell could scarcely believe Meg’s news. Gertrude had always been so certain she would never bear a child after the illness she had suffered. He was a little concerned, but Meg was radiantly happy.
    ‘Meg is positively blooming,’ Ruth told Willie. ‘I’m sure everything will go well for her and Peter.’
    ‘They deserve it,’ Willie agreed with feeling. ‘I could never understand what Mother had against Peter, except that he was not a farmer.’
    There was