I could tell Conan could not wait to leave me when two weeks was up. He had not looked at me once the whole time. I was confined to the bed, but I still got up and walked around the room, looking out at the world around me.
He slept in a different bedroom, and the maids made him his dinner. I was only to specifically eat toast and drink tea. I could sense him in my room at night while I slept. I wished that things were different between him and I, but they were destined to stay the same.
The day he was too leave, I did not leave my room. I simply sat there, reading a novel. There was a sharp knock, and he entered.
"You can expect me back in no less than four months." He said, and left as quickly as he came. I got up and walked to the window. He was handing the coach his luggage. Sensing me, he looked up towards the window, and quickly looked away.
My heart was shattered. I sat on the bed, surprised at the hardness of my stomach. Maybe that was normal? I hoped I was not sick.
Later in the month, I got sharp pains in my abdomen. I called for the doctor.
"Ah, we meet again." He smiled, positioning himself between my legs. "Let's have a look-see." He said, prodding. I watched his facial expressions change.
"What is it? Is it bad?" I wanted to know. He frowned and pulled out a stethescope. He placed it across my exposed belly.
"Doctor?" I prodded. He listened for a moment longer, and then put it up.
"I've made a mistake, ma'am. You haven't lost the baby at all. Twas some pre-mature bleeding." He told me, packing up his case.
"You mean to tell me that I'm still pregnant?" I sat up, pulling my dress down.
"I do indeed. Congratulations." He said, walking downstairs with me. "Call me for routine checkups." He tipped his hat and walked out the door.
"Can you believe it?" I grasped Elisabyth's hands. "I can't wait to tell-" I was hit with an immediate sadness. I couldn't tell Conan; he was leaving for war.
"Are you alright?" Elisabyth asked, worried.
I composed myself. "Yes, I'm fine. Um, go make me something to eat." I told her, walking to the fireplace.
He could die out there, and he'd never know that our fighting was a misconception. I was still with child, and the person I needed most was at war.
"Ma'am? Ma'am?" Elisabyth was shaking my shoulder.
"Yes?"
"You're dinner is on the table." She curtsied and hurried to the kitchen.
I sat down in front of a plate with pheasant with mushrooms and potatoes and bread on it. I sipped my tea carefully, as not to sting my tongue with it, and carefully chewed my pheasant. I picked up a mushroom with my fork and placed it on my tongue. I chewed and swallowed it, and felt a jerking sensation in the pit of my stomach, and bolted to the powder room, where I spat up my dinner.
"Elisabyth," I called, wiping my mouth.
"Yes, madam?" She appeared before me.
"Mushrooms are never to be served here again. They make me sick." I informed her.
She nodded and escorted my back to my plate, which was mushroom free. I thanked her and resumed eating.
I busied myself with cleaning the upstairs, and buying baby things. I cleared a room across the hall from ours, and that was to be the baby's room. I hired three women to make baby clothing, and I bought a crib, which I positioned in the corner, making it so the baby could look outside at the moon, even though it wouldn't know what it was looking at.
