"I want nothing for myself. But as a mother, I have to fight for my child."
"The heir's wife has never borne a child, so naturally she wouldn't understand a mother's heart."
I watched the tears stream down her face, but there it was, that faint glint of triumph in her eyes. How quaint. These little tricks.
"If you truly wanted nothing, why make such a spectacle of stopping my carriage in the middle of the street?"
"If you wanted a title, you could have come to the estate and discussed it properly. There are ways. So why drag this out for the whole world to see?"
"You're using that child in your belly as leverage to force me into letting you through those gates. Isn't that right?"
The woman called Celeste shook her head frantically, cradling her belly. "No, my lady, Celeste knows nothing of such things. It was the heir who looked after Celeste all along."
"Before he left the capital, the heir promised he would give Celeste a proper title when he returned. But the date has passed and he hasn't come back. My time is nearly here, and I'm terrified."
"I beg the heir's wife to be generous. Give this child a birthright."
"The baby I carry is the heir's firstborn son. He cannot be left outside the Gilbert household."
"Unless my lady, unable to bear children herself, refuses to let any other woman give the heir an heir. Do you mean to let the Gilbert line end?"
Her words set the crowd of onlookers buzzing.
"Well, it's true. The heir's been married for years and there's still no child. That wife of his, not so much as a whisper of a pregnancy."
"You can't just let the Gilbert name die out."
"I heard the heir's wife hasn't even arranged a concubine for him. Jealous type, if you ask me."
"A woman ought to know her virtues. With jealousy like that, how can she manage a noble household? Look at this poor girl, she's about ready to give birth."
Celeste dabbed at her tears, stealing a glance toward the carriage from the corner of her eye.
Nana Burke, the old nursemaid at her side, stepped forward. "Mrs. Ferris Gilbert, bearing children for your husband is a wife's most basic duty. You can't conceive yourself, haven't produced a single child in years, and now our mistress carries the heir's flesh and blood. You ought to be down on your knees in gratitude, welcoming her through those gates with full ceremony."