World Without End Page 0,201

contract. That's why she's bleeding."

Wulfric, who seemed close to tears, said: "Can you do anything for her?"

"I don't know." Mattie began to massage, her fingers apparently pressing Gwenda's womb through the skin and flesh of her belly. "Sometimes this provokes the womb to shrink," she said.

Everyone watched in silence. Caris was almost afraid to breathe.

Mair came back with the water-and-wine mixture. "Give her some, please," Mattie said without pausing in her massage. Mair held a cup to Gwenda's lips and she drank thirstily. "Not too much," Mattie warned. Mair took the cup away.

Mattie continued to massage, glancing from time to time at Gwenda's pelvis. Julie's lips moved in silent prayer. The blood flowed without let-up.

Looking worried, Mattie changed her position. She put her left hand on Gwenda's belly just below the navel, then her right hand over the left. She pressed down, slowly putting on more pressure. Caris was afraid it must hurt the patient, but Gwenda seemed only half conscious. Mattie leaned farther over Gwenda until she seemed to be putting all her weight on to her hands.

Julie said: "She's stopped bleeding!"

Mattie did not change her position. "Can anyone here count to five hundred?"

"Yes," Caris said.

"Slowly, please."

Caris began to count aloud. Julie wiped the blood off Gwenda again, and this time the streaks did not reappear. She began to pray aloud. "Holy Mary, Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ..."

Everyone was still, like a group of statuary, the mother and baby on the bed, the wise woman pressing down on the mother's belly; the husband, the praying nun and Caris counting: "A hundred and eleven, a hundred and twelve..."

As well as her own voice and Julie's, Caris could hear the sound of the fair outside, the roar of hundreds of people all speaking at once. The strain of pressing down began to show on Mattie's face, but she did not move. Wulfric was crying silently, tears streaming down his sunburned cheeks.

When Caris reached five hundred, Mattie slowly eased her weight off Gwenda's abdomen. Everyone looked at her vagina, dreading the gush of blood.

It did not come.

Mattie breathed a long sigh of relief. Wulfric smiled. Julie said: "Praise God!"

Mattie said: "Give her another drink, please."

Once again, Mair put a full cup to Gwenda's lips. Gwenda opened her eyes and drank it all.

"You're going to be all right now," Mattie said.

Gwenda whispered: "Thank you." Then she closed her eyes.

Mattie looked at Mair. "Perhaps you should go and see about that soup," she said. "The woman must rebuild her strength, otherwise her milk will dry up."

Mair nodded and left.

The baby cried. Gwenda seemed to revive. She moved the baby to her other breast and helped him find the nipple. Then she looked up at Wulfric and smiled.

Julie said: "What a beautiful little boy."

Caris looked at the baby again. For the first time, she saw him as an individual. What would he be like - strong and true like Wulfric, or weak and dishonest like his grandfather Joby? He did not resemble either, she thought. "Who does he look like?" she said.

Julie said: "He has his mother's colouring."

That was right, Caris thought. The baby had dark hair and beige skin, where Wulfric had fair skin and a mane of dark-blond hair. The baby's face reminded her of someone, and after a moment she realized it was Merthin. A foolish thought crossed her mind, and she dismissed it immediately. All the same, the resemblance was there. "You know who he reminds me of?" she said.

Suddenly she caught a look from Gwenda. Her eyes widened, an expression of panic crossed her face, and she gave a barely perceptible shake of her head. It was gone in an instant, but the message was unmistakable: Shut up! Caris clamped her teeth together.

"Who?" said Julie innocently.

Caris hesitated, desperately thinking of something to say. At last she was inspired. "Philemon, Gwenda's brother," she said.

"Of course," said Julie. "Someone should tell him to come and see his new nephew."

Caris was bewildered. So the baby was not Wulfric's? Then whose? It could not be Merthin's. He might have lain with Gwenda - he was certainly vulnerable to temptation - but he could never have kept it secret from Caris afterwards. If not Merthin...

Caris was struck by a dreadful thought. What had gone on that day when Gwenda went to plead with Ralph for Wulfric's inheritance? Could the baby be Ralph's? It was too grim to contemplate.

She looked at Gwenda, then at the baby, then at Wulfric.