Chapter 52

Adam was sulking. There was no other word for it. He'd tried for a week to spend some time alone with the delectable Marietta James and had not managed so much as a moment. The woman was avoiding him, and Adam could not for the life of him determine why. All he knew was that he wasn't going to tolerate it for long. After just one night, she'd come to mean far too much to him to let her go without a fight.
He'd stopped by her home the day after the incident in his parlor, ostensibly to tell her that Monty was recovering nicely and to check on her injuries. While she appeared a little worse for wear, her housekeeper had hovered in the doorway, acting as chaperone, and after checking her hands, he'd left her in Mrs. Durnst's care with a bottle of cough syrup and instructions to fetch him should her cold turn worse. That was the last he'd seen of her for several days. He'd spotted her a time or two walking in the street, either to the school where she taught, or to the butcher's or grocer's. After that first day she walked without a limp, so he assumed she was fully recovered. When he tried to stop her to chat, however, she simply nodded politely and scurried by. No question about it, Marietta was ignoring him.
He sent his last patient on his way and set his temporary assistant Jeremy Dobbs to scrubbing down the surgery. Jeremy was a pleasant lad, off for medical school in the fall, but his lack of experience meant more work for Adam, and the week had been a long one.
The sound of a knock at the surgery door broke into his thoughts. Swiftly he crossed to the door and opened it. A young girl, maybe ten years old, stood on the stoop, her hair wild, her eyes frightened.
"Me mum's having the baby," she told him. "She says you must come quick."
"Right away, Adelaide," he told her. He reached for his coat and bag. "Come along, Jeremy."
"A-a baby?" The lad gulped? "M-m-me, sir?" His tanned complexion went chalk-white.
Adam shook his head. "Fine. You stay here in case someone else comes. If it's an emergency, you can come let me know. Otherwise, tell them to come back tomorrow. Understood?"
"Yes, Doctor."
Rolling his eyes, Adam followed the girl out of his house and down the street.
He reached the Collins' modest home just a few moments later, hustling little Adelaide into the house ahead of him. "Where's your mum, Addie? Upstairs?"
"Yes, sir," she said. "I'm to watch Freddie, Mum says."
Christ, he'd forgotten that there was a boy somewhat younger than Adelaide. He supposed she was old enough to keep her little brother quiet. Normally Mrs. Gordon and Thomas accompanied him to these things to assist, especially if no other neighbors had taken the other children home with them. He followed the girl up the stairs to where he could hear the Mrs. Collins trying to soothe her son.
As he entered the small bedroom, the frantic woman looked up from her bed with relief in her eyes while a boy of maybe five sat on the floor with a handful of wooden soldiers, complaining that he wanted to go outside.
"Thank the Lord you're here, Doctor. Addie, take your brother out to the garden for a bit, would you?" She looked back at Adam. "Doctor, where's Mrs. Gordon?"
Oh hell, he'd forgotten for a moment that Nan Collins was too modest to let the doctor examine her without a woman present. This situation was rapidly going to hell on him. When a contraction hit, causing the woman to double over and cry out, both children started to whimper.
Adam hurried to the bed and took Mrs. Collins' hand. "She's away, ma'am. You've only me, I'm afraid. How close together are the pains?"
"No," she cried, squeezing painfully on his hand. "Need...a woman...here...'tisn't...right." The spasm passed and she panted heavily.
Adam thought frantically for a solution. Nan Collins' husband was a mostly decent man but a dolt. He was a foreman at the local factory and probably wouldn't be home for several hours. He'd probably told her it wasn't right to have a doctor examine her without a woman, and he'd probably take it out on her if Adam defied him. He'd also kept her from making friends with the neighbor women, which was probably why none of them were here now, boiling water or caring for the children.
"Addie, do you know Mrs. Denslow?" he asked.
Adelaide nodded slowly.
"I want you to take your brother to her house and tell her I sent you. Then ask her to send Mrs. James here to me. Do you think you can remember that?"
Addie nodded again, but Adam saw the doubt in her eyes. He let go of the mother's hand, and drew a pad and a pencil from his bag. Hastily scribbling a note he hoped Ella Denslow could decipher, he handed it to the child. "It's just a few houses down, Addie. Take your brother now and go."
He turned to the mother. "I'm going to start some water warming in the kitchen. I'll be back up when Mrs. James arrives. Call for me if you need me before that. It's not worth risking your life or the babe's for a bit of modesty."
The woman nodded and Adam followed the children back down the stairs, watching out the window until they reached the Denslows' walk.