Danielle Steel - Jewels

William held him aloft in the morning sun, to look at him in all his beauty, and now he knew what his mother meant when she spoke of a miracle, for truly this was one.

He carefully cut the cord, and handed the baby to the girl, while he tenderly bathed Sarah’s face with damp cloths, and tried to stop the bleeding with towels.

But this time Emanuelle knew what to do. She gently set the baby down in a little nest of blankets on the floor and came to show William. “We must press down very hard on her stomach … like so … so she will stop bleeding. I have heard my mother say this about women who have had many children.” And with that she pressed down on Sarah’s lower abdomen even harder than she had before, and kneaded it like bread as Sarah screamed weakly and begged them to stop, but he saw that the girl was right, the bleeding slowed and eventually all but stopped, except for what seemed normal to both of them.

It was noon by then, and William couldn’t believe that it had taken twelve hours to deliver their son. Twelve hours that Sarah and the baby had barely survived. She was still deathly pale, but her lips were no longer blue, and he brought the baby to her and held the baby for her so she could see him. She smiled, but she was too weak to hold him herself, and she looked up at William gratefully, instinctively knowing that he had saved them. “Thank you,” she whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks and he kissed her. He gave the baby back to Emanuelle then, and she took him downstairs to wash him and then bring him back to his mother later on. William bathed Sarah and changed the bed, and wrapped her in clean blankets and towels. She was too weak to move herself, or even to speak to him, but she watched him gratefully, and finally lay back against the pillows and drifted off to sleep. It was the worst thing William had ever seen, and at the same time the most beautiful, and he felt overwhelmed by his own emotions, as he went downstairs to make her a cup of tea and lace it with brandy. As he made it, he couldn’t resist taking a quick swallow himself.

“He’s a beautiful boy,” Emanuelle said to him as she watched him. “And he weighs five kilos. More than ten pounds!” she announced in amazement, which explained all of Sarah’s agony.

William smiled in amazement, and tried to express his thanks to the girl. She had been very brave, and incredibly helpful and he knew that without her, he could never have saved the baby or Sarah.

“Thank you.” He looked at her gratefully. “I couldn’t have saved them without you.” She smiled, and they went back upstairs to see Sarah. She took a sip of the tea, and smiled again when she saw the baby. She was still in pain, and very weak, but she knew the brandy would help her. And even in her weakened state, she was thrilled about the baby.

William told her he weighed ten pounds, and he wanted to apologize to her for what he had put her through, but he didn’t have the chance to say anything. She fell sound asleep before she had turned her head on the pillow. And she slept that way for hours, as William sat quietly in a chair at her bedside and watched her. But when she woke again at dusk, she looked more like herself, and asked him to help her to the bathroom. He did and then brought her back to bed, and marvelled at the endurance of her sex.

“I was so worried about you,” he confessed as she lay in their bed again. “I had no idea the baby was so large. Ten pounds is enormous.”

“The doctor thought he might be,” she said, but she didn’t tell him that she hadn’t wanted a cesarean, for fear that they couldn’t have had any other children. She knew that if she had told William there was even a question of it, he would have forced her to go back to London. But she was glad she hadn’t, she was glad she had been brave, even if she had been a little foolish. There would be more babies now … and her beautiful son … They were going to name him Phillip Edward, after William’s grandfather and her father. And she had never seen anyone as beautiful, she thought, as she held her son for the first time.

Emanuelle finally left them at dusk to go back to the hotel, and when he walked her downstairs, he saw some of the men who worked for them waving at him from the distance. He waved back with a smile, thinking they were congratulating him on the arrival of the baby, but as he looked at them, he realized that they were calling something to him, something he didn’t understand at first, and then he heard a word that made his blood run cold and he began to run toward them.

“C’est la guerre, Monsieur le Duc … C’est la guerre …” It was war, they were telling him. Britain and France had declared war on Germany that afternoon…. His baby had just arrived, and his wife had almost died … and now he would have to leave them. He stood listening to them for a long moment, knowing he would have to go back to England as soon as he could. If he was able to, he’d have to send a message to England now. And what would he tell Sarah? Nothing yet. She was too weak to hear it. But she’d have to know soon enough. He couldn’t stay much longer with them.

And as he hurried back to their room, to check on her and the sleeping child, there were tears rolling down his cheeks. It was so unfair … why now? She looked at him as though she knew, as though she sensed something.

“What was all that noise outside?” she asked weakly.

“Some of the men came to congratulate you for bringing such a handsome boy into the world.”

“That’s sweet.” She smiled sleepily, and drifted back to sleep again, as he lay beside her and watched her, fearing what would happen.

Chapter 12

HE next morning dawned sunny and warm, and the baby woke them just after dawn with muffled cries for his mother. William went to bring him to her, and put him to her breast as he watched them. The hearty boy seemed to know exactly what to do, as Sarah smiled at him weakly. She could still hardly move, but she was better than she’d been the night before, and then suddenly she remembered the noise outside, and the look on William’s face, and she knew something had happened, but William still hadn’t told her what it was yet.

“What was all that last night?” she asked softly, as the baby nursed hungrily from his mother, and William wondered if it was still too soon to tell her the truth. And yet, he knew he had to. He had called the Duke of Windsor in Paris the night before, and they had both agreed, they would have to go back to England very quickly. Wallis was going with him, of course, but William knew there was no way he could move Sarah so soon. Certainly not now, and perhaps not for weeks, or even months. It all depended on how quickly she would recover, and that was impossible for anyone to predict now. And in the meantime, William knew he had to go back to London and report to the War Office. She would be safe in France, but he hated to leave her alone. And as she watched him, Sarah saw all his anguish and worries. For William, it had been an agonizing two days. “What’s wrong?” Sarah asked as she reached out to touch him.

“We’re at war,” he said sadly, no longer able to hide it from her, and praying she was strong enough to take the news, and all its implications for them. “England and France against Germany. It happened yesterday, while you were busy bringing Phillip into the world.” It had been quite a task, they both knew, and understandably they’d all been distracted. But now there was no running away from the truth.

Tears filled her eyes the moment she heard it, as she looked at William in fear. “What does that mean for you? Will you have to go soon?”