The Midwife's Tale(2)
“Sairy, is there a fire in the kitchen?” I asked.
“We’ve no wood.” The girl looked as if she would cry.
We would need food after the birth, but it was more important we have fire to heat water, so I gave Sairy a few pennies to purchase wood from a neighbor. She returned and built a small fire in the kitchen hearth. She then produced a smoky tallow candle, which, combined with my lantern, lit the room tolerably well. With any luck the child would wait until morning to be born so I could have a bit more light, but women like Mercy weren’t lucky very often.
The Minster bells marked the hours of the horrid contest that followed. When the labor pains struck, Sairy’s eyes begged me to tell her what to do. I hardened my heart and avoided her gaze as resolutely as Mercy avoided mine. I longed to assist the poor girl and could not help wondering how she had come to this point. Where were her parents? Was Sairy the only family that she had? At eleven o’clock, Mercy’s waters broke. With shaking hands, Sairy tried to soak up the mess using just a soiled rag from the kitchen. Poor girl. Around two o’clock, Mercy’s final travail started.
“Mercy, I’ll ask one more time. Who is the father?” She clenched her teeth and stared at me, her eyes blazing. She had bitten through her bottom lip, and in the flickering candlelight the blood ran black down her chin. Her chest heaved as she breathed, but still she said nothing. I turned to Sairy. “You can try to find another midwife if you like, but few will venture out on a night like this, especially for a woman such as your sister. And even if you find someone, she will ask the same questions.” Her eyes widened with fear, and I continued. “The neighbors might help, but they’ve no love for a fatherless bastard. The two of you will be on your own tonight.” I picked up my valise and lantern and opened the door. “Be careful when you cut the navel string,” I added. “If you do it badly, the baby will die, and so might your sister.” I walked out, closing the door behind me.
* * *
Once outside, I stepped into a neighbor’s doorway to hide, only to find it occupied by one of the pigs that roamed York’s streets. I gave the animal a swift kick in the side, and it raced off with an indignant squeal. I slipped into the shadows to wait. As I expected, Mercy’s door burst open, and Sairy raced pell-mell past me, holding up her skirts as high as she could. I called out, startling her, and she nearly skidded into the urine-filled gutter. She hurried over and grasped my arm to pull me back to her house. Once again I fought the urge to put my arms around the girl and help her in any way I could. It was not in my nature to withhold aid, but in this situation I had no choice. I pulled my arm free and she fell to her knees, sobbing.
“Why won’t you help her?” she cried out. “She’ll die without you! The baby will die, too. You said so.”
At the sound of her pitiful cries, my heart melted and I reached down to help her to her feet. I felt for the poor girl—it was Mercy who had sinned, after all. “If she doesn’t name the father, the city will have to support the child for years to come,” I explained as gently as I could. “The law forbids me to help her so long as she refuses. It is also for the good of the child. If I tell the Justices who the father is, they will order him to support the baby. You all will benefit from that.”
“What should I do?”
“Tell her to name the father,” I said, cupping her face in my hands. “If she promises to do so, I will come back and all will be well, both tonight and in the future.”
Sairy nodded and disappeared into the house. Moments later, she emerged. “Mercy said she will tell you who the father is. Now will you help?” I nodded and followed her back into the room.
I crossed the room and squatted between Mercy’s legs. I paused before touching her. “Mercy, you must name the father of your child, or I will leave again. Your life is in peril—do not make the last words you speak a lie, for you will answer for it on Judgment Day.”
“Peter Clark,” she said between breaths. “The father is Peter Clark.”
“I know no Peter Clark,” I replied. “And it is a common name. Which Peter Clark is the father of your child?”
“He’s apprentice to William Dolben. He is a butcher in the Shambles. He is the father, I swear. We were betrothed when he got me with child, and to be married in the spring. His master would not give him leave to marry until the end of the summer.”
I would have to ask her again, of course, but Peter Clark was a good place to start and I could begin my work. “Thank you, Mercy,” I said. “You did the right thing, both for you and for the child.”