The Sultan's Bride (14 page)

Their walks became an almost
daily routine and Sarah was so pleased to see her daughter smiling more every
day and even laughing occasionally.  On the days she was too tired to walk
Richard would sit with her and tell her about his day.

When he asked her to
accompany him to a dinner party his friends were having she was
reluctant.  With the baby due any day she felt tired and bloated and while
her mother was excited for her possibly finding new friends her mind was on the
baby and what was to come.

Convincing her to go was hard
but between Richard and Sarah, Catherine finally caved and when the evening
came Richard carefully helped her into the carriage that was to take them to
Matthew Davis’ house for dinner.  It was not too much of a distance from
the Stanton’s to the Davis house but too far for Catherine to walk in her
advanced state of pregnancy.

Matthew and his wife Mary
greeted the pair at the door and it became apparent to Catherine that Richard
had already told them all about her.  Being introduced to the other
couples in their little group, Clare and John Peters, Beth and Hugh Barrett,
she had a warm welcome if not a little wary.

‘Richard tells us you were
widowed not too long ago, I’m so sorry to hear that,’ said Clare while Mary
fussed about getting dinner ready to be served. 

‘Thank you,’ said Catherine,
‘It feels like a lifetime ago when it is just a few short months but it gets
easier every day.’

‘No doubt thanks to Richard,’
Clare said, looking at him with a grin. 

‘Richard has become a very
dear friend, he has been very kind to me and I do value him,’ Catherine
replied. 

He squeezed her hand. ‘As I
value Catherine, someone has to look after her.’

Catherine laughed. ‘Most of
all I feel like I can laugh again, even when my child is kicking me in the ribs
and it hurts.’ She put her hand on her swollen belly. ‘Soon this one will be
here and I will be thankful for the support I have had.’

She winced as the baby kicked
hard and Richard took her by the arm through to the living room where they sat
on a sofa.  ‘Are you well?’ he asked. 

‘Yes,’ she said with a laugh.
‘I think someone is making it known they’re no longer comfortable.’

‘How much longer?’ asked
Beth.

‘A week, maybe two,’
Catherine answered, ‘I probably should be at home resting but Richard was most
insistent that I meet all of you.’

He laughed. ‘Catherine took
much persuasion to come out but I think as her friend it is my duty to keep her
entertained until her child arrives, after all she will not have time to
socialise after the birth.’  Caressing her hand he smiled at her as the
others looked at each other, surprised at how smitten he clearly was with the
heavily pregnant woman.

Dinner was soon served and
the conversation around the table continued to focus on Catherine.  She
didn’t mind, it was nice to be around younger people, as much as she loved her
mother and father she missed the harem at the palace.  A lot of the women
there had been around the same age as her or only a few years older and they
were like family. 

Catherine realised how settled
she felt now, the baby would soon be here and she had a new best friend, one
that wouldn’t let her down the way she had been in the past.  For the
first time in a long time she felt safe.

They didn’t stay too late,
she was so easily tired and Mary, Beth and Clare all promised to call on her
soon. ‘I’m sure Richard will let you know when the baby is born, you can all
come around and cluck over him,’ she laughed.

‘Not too much clucking,’ said
John Peters, Clare was the youngest of the three and just slightly older than
Catherine. ‘We have plenty of time for that to happen.’ 

‘They’re just enjoying each
other,’ the rich Irish brogue of Mary teased and the group laughed.

Richard kissed Catherine on
the cheek, bidding her goodnight at the door.  ‘Will you be able to get up
to your room by yourself?’ he asked cheekily. 

She laughed. ‘I’m afraid even
if you helped me I’d be no fun.’  As he turned to leave she called his
name. ‘Thank you Richard.  Tonight was lovely even if I am exhausted now.’

‘Goodnight Catherine,’ he
said, giving her one last wave before disappearing into the distance to his
home.

Several hours later she woke
in pain; her baby making his presence felt.  ‘Mother!’ she cried, hoping
her mother was in earshot.  The door swung open and Sarah stood in the
doorway.

‘My darling,’ she said. 
Catherine was soaking.  ‘The waters have gone.  The babe is on the
way.’  She called out for Peter to summon the midwife and went about
trying to make Catherine as comfortable as possible.

Sarah made her get up and out
of bed so she could remove the wet linen and get the bed ready for what was to
come.  ‘Mother don’t fuss so much,’ Catherine said, gritting her teeth
when another wave of pain hit.  She grasped the end of the bed in a vice
like grip until the pain left again.

When the midwife came
Catherine had been walking around the room and the pains were more
frequent.  She got her to
lay
back on the bed and
checked her over.  ‘This will be a quick birth I think,’ she said, ‘It
will not be much longer.’ 

‘You took hours to come,’
said Sarah suddenly, ‘I was beginning to think you were never going to be
born.  When you were I cradled you in my arms and prayed that I could
always keep you safe but I didn’t Catherine.  I have not been a good
mother.’

Catherine grasped her
mother’s hand and pulled her towards her.  ‘You were a wonderful mother,
there are things we can’t control and I didn’t just go missing, someone took
me.  There was nothing you could have done to prevent it.  I never
stopped loving you because I was taken Mama, and you were always in my heart.’

Sarah wrapped her arms around
her daughter.  ‘I would give anything to go back to that day and do things
differently, I love you so much Catherine.’

 ‘I love you too
mother,’ she said, before asking the midwife, ‘Is it time? I feel like I need
to push.’

She nodded. ‘It’s time to
push now.  Just wait until the next pain and push down.’  It took
what felt like hours of pushing for Catherine’s son, he was small with a lovely
olive skin tone and lots of dark hair.

As he was placed in her arms
she cried, cried for joy that he was with her, alive and safe.  She cried
for his father, the distant
Arif
who had sent her
away.  This child would have her alone to take care of him.  She
rocked with him for a while before her mother helped her put the baby to her
breast.  He suckled happily and she sighed as she remembered the nights in
the palace with
Arif
, the love between them that this
tiny child was the result of and her heart ached. 

When the afternoon rolled
around, Richard knocked on the Stanton’s door for his daily walk with
Catherine.  Peter answered the door with a grin on his face. 
‘Richard!’ he exclaimed, ‘Welcome, please come in’

‘Mr Stanton,’ he said,
nodding his welcome and stepping into the entranceway.

‘Is Catherine ready for our
walk?’ he asked. 

Peter put his hand on
Richard’s shoulder.  ‘Catherine will not be walking with you today, I’m
sorry son.’ 

Richard raised an eyebrow.
‘Is she under the weather?’ 

Peter laughed. ‘Far from it,
go upstairs and see her.  She’s in her room, first door on the right.’

Richard made his way up the
stairs.  Catherine must surely be resting but what an unusual reception
from her father he thought.  At the top of the stairs he paused, her
bedroom door was open and when he turned the corner he could see why Peter was
smiling so much.

Catherine was
lying
in bed, her baby in the crook of her arm.  Her
hair was loose, all over her back and shoulders, he realised for the first time
he had never seen it this way.  She looked so tired and yet so
beautiful.  Stroking baby’s face with her finger she kept kissing his
cheek and nuzzling him with her nose, completely oblivious to the man standing
in the doorway.

‘I assume our walk is
cancelled for today,’ he said softly, moving slowly towards the bed.  She
looked up and smiled at him.

‘I would say it will be
cancelled for a few days at the least.  The midwife did say however our
walks helped his birth along.’  She laughed.  ‘Richard, meet James.’

He bent over; the big blue
eyes of the little boy cuddled up with his mother looked up at the new face
that was looking back at him.  ‘He’s beautiful,’ he said, taking James’
little hand in his own.
‘So tiny and precious.’
 

Catherine beamed. ‘I am so
very proud of him.  He will be a strong boy, so handsome, so like his
father.’

The words escaped before she
thought about them and Richard saw her close her eyes, thinking of her time in
the palace.  ‘But he has me now and my parents to guide him.  He will
grow up to be a fine young man, I am sure of it.’

Richard let go of James and
took her hand in his.  ‘You have me too Catherine, I’m not going to
disappear anytime soon.  Both of you are very dear to me now.’

She squeezed his hand. ‘I’m
so glad I have you as my friend Richard, you are very dear to me too.’

As the days went on and she
recovered from childbirth Catherine had more visitors.  Mary, Beth and
Clare all arrived laden with gifts for the baby and fussed over her and little
James.  Peter, feeling more than a bit overwhelmed by all the women in his
house started taking his own afternoon walks but didn’t begrudge her.

It was nice he
thought,
that she had found friends.  He’d seen how
terribly lonely she had been since she’d returned remembering how busy the
palace had been in what seemed like the distant past and realising that as part
of the harem she would have been surrounded by others all the time.  He’d
fretted about how his daughter would cope with their quiet life.

Richard was particularly
attentive, determined now to win the young mother’s heart.  Every day like
clockwork he would be there, showering attention on her and James which she
took graciously.  Her heart had felt like a hole had been torn through it
with the loss of her husband, the harem and of
Arif
but slowly between James and Richard she felt like she was healing.

Two weeks after the birth she
was eager to resume their daily walks.  She fashioned a sling as she’d
seen used in the palace by the servant girls who sometimes carried around their
babies while completing their daily chores and the weather was especially nice,
being the height of summer so thinking James would benefit greatly from fresh
air and sunshine she talked Richard into escorting her to the park.

They took the walk slowly,
she was tired from late nights with James and still feeling tender but feeling
the sun on her face made her feel energised and Richard was pleased to see the
colour in her cheeks, and her smile.  He promised to take her walking every
day as they had before.

Richard was as good as his
word and faithfully he arrived at the house every afternoon at the same time to
take them to and from the park, and although things hadn’t taken a romantic
turn he was still completely and hopelessly in love with her.  Catherine
was warm and polite but kept her distance and began to enjoy the daily visits
so much that when one day he didn’t arrive she enquired with her father if he
had heard anything.

‘I’m sorry my darling,’ he
said, ‘I’m sure there is a good reason why he has not come, I know how much he
enjoys these walks with you.’  Catherine went by herself, missing the
small talk they made when they got to the park.  The sun was nice and warm
and she enjoyed cuddling James and talking to him.  Without Richard around
she told him all about his father and how much she’d loved him, told him about
the life they’d have together now just the two of them.

She stopped along the way to
look at the house Richard had indicated was his, there was no sign of anyone
being there and she wondered again where he was.

When she arrived home,
Richard was in the front parlour with her parents.  James had fallen
asleep on the way home and her mother took him from her with a big smile. 
‘Let me settle this one into his crib and leave you and Richard to talk.’ 
Looking over her shoulder she shot a look at Peter that Catherine couldn’t
decipher but her father left the room after her, a big smile on his face.

‘I missed you on our walk
today Richard,’ she said, ‘I’ve gotten used to your company.’  A smile
crossed his face and he moved closer to her. 

‘Catherine, I need to talk to
you, please, take a seat.’  He guided her to the sofa where they sat.

Taking one of her hands in
his he took a deep breath.  ‘I leave soon to travel to
Ajara
to discuss compensation for your family for your abduction.  I’m also
going to speak to the Sultan about something for you too.  In Mr Simpson’s
and my opinion you’re entitled to something as well for what was done to your
life.’  She nodded, it was nothing she didn’t already know and she
wondered why he was talking to her like this about it.