Delaney awoke the next morning after a long, tearful night of tossing and turning. Bad dreams had haunted her of poison, witches, and her angry husband. Her heart was already aching before she\'d even gotten out of bed.

When Ms. Bird came in to dress her she was shocked when she saw her mistress\'s red-rimmed eyes and the dark shadows that came from a lack of sleep. She immediately asked what was wrong and brought Delaney a steaming cup of tea.

Delaney took one sip before giving in and telling her maid everything. From getting the potion from the Queen\'s witch to finding out from the witch of Edgewood that it was actually a poison to make sure she didn\'t become pregnant. Then she admitted she hadn\'t told Vincent but Miles had ridden out to find him in the dead of night and the man would be telling his brother everything.

Ms. Bird stood looking at her in shock, fumbling with her words. For once, the old woman didn\'t have any words of encouragement coming easily to mind or something to say to assure her mistress that everything would be alright. Knowing that that couldn\'t be a good sign, Delaney hung her head and felt as if she might cry again but there were no tears left.

"Lord Adair... Lord Adair will return and he will know what to do," Ms. Bird said quietly at last, "He will know how to fix this."

"He will be so angry with me he may not want to fix it at all."

"No," the old woman shook her head, "Your husband loves you, my Lady. He would do anything for you."

Delaney swallowed hard, "He loves me but I\'ve been keeping a terrible secret from him. He will be upset about that. He never keeps secrets from me."

"He will understand you kept it a secret because you were just trying to do something good for you both. Besides if the Queen herself told you not to tell him, then you really didn\'t have a choice."

The maid began helping her dress and Delaney didn\'t say anything else. Ms. Bird wasn\'t a noble so she thought everyone simply had to follow every single thing a royal said. The truth was though, Delaney could have told Vincent everything. She chose not to because she knew he wouldn\'t like it and he wouldn\'t let her take it. She wanted to take it to make sure she had every chance to have a baby.

"I haven\'t had a chance to talk to little William yet," Ms. Bird said once they were almost finished.

Delaney had completely forgotten about the child\'s outburst but now that she was reminded, worried about him again.

"Last night he didn\'t eat much dinner and went to bed very early. This morning he was already up and gone when I went to look for him. I will try to catch him sometime today though and see if he\'s alright."

"Thank you," Delaney forced a small smile for the woman, "I want to know as soon as you\'ve talked to him. I want to make sure he\'s alright."

"Yes, my Lady. I will tell you as soon as I can."

-

Delaney, Violet, and Cora were all much too anxious to eat much. Delaney wasn\'t surprised to see the telltale red eyes of Cora to give away that she had been crying. What she was surprised to see however was the same red-rimmed eyes on Violet.

She couldn\'t imagine her strong, proud, mother-in-law crying but it was obvious that she had been. Delaney felt guilty. Violet wouldn\'t be crying over Miles leaving like Cora was. Violet had to be crying about the poison. Because of Delaney\'s foolishness, Vincent might not ever have his own children. Violet would never be able to see her oldest son give her grandchildren.

Vincent would dissolve their marriage and his wife would have cost him his chance at ever seeing his own children. Edgewood wouldn\'t have an heir. It would pass on to Miles and Cora and eventually, on to their children. Delaney felt a little stab of jealousy again. Cora and Miles truly would end up with the perfect life that had been snatched away from she and Vincent.

The women barely talked during breakfast and after, they all went together to the sitting room where they sat in silence as they sewed. Delaney worked away on finishing up the clothes for William while Cora and Violet began sewing little squares together that would turn into a quilt for the coming baby.

With every sound that came from outside, they would all stop what they were doing and wait anxiously for the butler to come and tell them the men had returned. Each time though, no one came.

After their midday meal, Violet suggested they all go and try to rest in their rooms. She said they could all do with a bit more sleep after their late night the night before. Cora and Delaney didn\'t argue and soon everyone was in their own rooms alone.

Delaney collapsed onto her bed and pulled Vincent\'s pillow to her chest, hugging it and wishing it was him. She could only hope that when her husband returned he would ever want to hug her like that again. She dreaded his anger and even more so, his disappointment.

Exhaustion overwhelmed her and soon she was fast asleep again. This time she was too tired for dreams.

-

The three women were all tired from their long night so they all slept late into the afternoon. When Delaney finally woke up, she called for Ms. Bird to help her dress for dinner. She splashed cool water on her face to help her wake up and was relieved to see she looked much better after catching up on her sleep.

"I would swear that boy has been hiding from me today," Ms. Bird shook her head when Delaney asked if she had been able to talk to William yet, "He\'s worked twice as hard on his chores and even helped the others once he was done."

Delaney frowned, "Do you think he\'s still upset?"

"I\'m not sure but I would think so. He never works this hard. People tend to work extra hard when they\'re trying to distract themselves from thinking about something."

"Well then perhaps he should try spending his day sleeping as I did," Delaney sighed, "That was my only way of escaping my thoughts."

Ms. Bird looked at her sadly and shook her head, "I will try to talk to him again tonight after dinner."

-

Delaney found Violet in the sitting room looking as refreshed from her nap as Delaney had felt after her own. Violet told her a maid had said Cora was still fast asleep. Their mother-in-law had smiled fondly and said that pregnancy makes a woman especially tired. Delaney forced herself to smile too but she felt a pang of sadness in her heart. There was something else she might never experience now.

With only one last thing to finish stitching before all William\'s clothes were altered properly, Delaney sat down and began sewing again while Violet picked up her own sewing from the other couch. They were just finishing when they heard the bell announcing dinner.

Delaney tied off her last bit and folded the shirt up with the others in a little pile. She left the room with Violet but took the clothes with her and handed them to the butler, letting him know they were new clothes for the boy William. The butler nodded and said he would take them straight to him.

The butler had just left when both women looked up and saw the beautiful, golden-haired Cora headed down the stairs to join them. Violet commented on Cora looking better after her nap which made the younger girl blush and thank her.

Once they\'d finished yet another silent meal, they all returned to the sitting room but instead of picking up their work, the three women went to the windows and looked out at the darkening sky.

"It\'s getting much too late and cold," Violet sighed, "They should have been here by now if they were going to come tonight. I\'m sure they will come tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Cora asked desperately, "Couldn\'t they still get here tonight?"

Outside, big flakes of snow had started to fall as if answering Cora\'s question. The clouds had nearly blocked out the moon, leaving it so dark they could barely see more than a bit beyond the windows. They all felt their hopes of the men returning tonight being dashed.

"Maybe we should just go to bed," Cora suggested, "All this waiting is wearing my nerves thin."

The other two women agreed and turned away from the windows, feeling sad as they moved to leave. They were almost to the door when Delaney thought she heard something. She paused and turned back, squinting as she struggled to see outside.

"Delaney?" Violet called back to her, "What is it?"

Leaning closer to the window until her nose was only a breath away from the cold glass, she strained her eyes as she watched. She could hear the noise getting louder as well.

Finally, down on the gravel drive, men began to pour into sight.