The Heir and the Spared

Chapter Fourteen

Scarcely a month after the physician was summoned to the queen and encouraged her to go to Bath, he was summoned again.

It was early in the morning, even before Mary had summoned Sarah. She wanted to see no one yet, excepting the physician. Surely he would not care if she had not yet been dressed in a fine gown, or that she had not yet had her hair set in curls.

The hour was so early that the man was blinking sleepily behind his spectacles when he arrived at Whitehall. Mary was grateful that James had ridden early for a morning horseback ride. She did not know how longer she could have kept this information from him. When she told him, this time, she needed to be certain.

"It is too early to confirm for certain, Your Majesty," the physician said. "Yet everything you say appears very promising." And with that, he smiled.

Though Mary was almost afraid that if she hoped too much, her hopes would be torn asunder, she could not help but smile in return - albeit rather tremulously.

"I confess, I do not understand," she murmured. "As you well know, it has been years since I have been able to conceive a child. How could this have happened?"

"It is difficult to know, Your Majesty. The ways of the Almighty are mysteries to us."

That was true enough, but Mary wanted more. She did not remove her gaze from the physician. The man adjusted his spectacles slightly and cleared his throat.

"I have seen cases previously," he continued, "in which women who were greatly burdened with the cares of life suddenly conceived when those stressors had abated."

Mary kept her expression neutral, seeing as the man was nearly falling over himself to ensure that he did not seem accusational. He bowed again, nervously.

"However, you, Your Majesty, are a woman of grace and assurance. I cannot guess at the ways of the Lord, but perhaps I may venture to wonder..."

He trailed off, and Mary raised an eyebrow.

The man went on hurriedly. "I wonder whether in this case, it was the Lord who withheld a child from you for a time - so that now, He might reveal His miraculous power through you."

For a moment, Mary looked down, considering. To conceive a child now, after such heartbreak for so many years... It would indeed be explained only by a miracle. The physician might be right, that it was James' return to fidelity that had finally allowed them to conceive. Mary was quite sure, however, that it could only be the power of God that could prompt James to be faithful to her.

"So it was," the physician said gently, "with many women in the Bible on whom God's favor rested."

At this thought, Mary's expression softened. On whom God's favor rested. She did not think the phrase was an accident. Her eyes met the physician's again. He had, intentionally or not, utilized the very phrase which had been used to describe Mary, holy mother of Jesus.

Yes... She would not lose this child. She would be the mother of a savior, this time not the Savior of the world, but at least the savior of England. James would love her for it; the Catholics of the nation, followers of the true faith, would remember her for it.

Impulsively, she reached for the doctor's hands, making his eyes widen in amazement.

"Perhaps you are right," she murmured. Surely it had been Providence that made her pick a Catholic physician. She would make sure that no matter what the Protestants attempted, he would not lose his practice. "God bless you, sir."