Part 2
Once the man left, Francis cautiously walked towards the basket. He was not sure who the man was, but he had saw the moonlight glisten on a tear falling from the man’s eye. With each step his curiosity grew, and with each step his caution increased. He had no idea what was in the basket, and he was not sure that he wanted to find out.
When he was about to peak into the basket, it started to cry. This made him jump back about three feet, but he quickly was upon the basket once more. He moved away the blanket that covered whatever it was from the cold, and looked inside. He was astounded by what he saw. It was an answer to his prayers.
He knew that miracles happened when you least expected them. Gently, he took the child out of the basket and cradled her in his arms. She was both beautiful and healthy. Quickly, he placed her back in the basket and took her inside. He went into his private sitting room and called for the physician. The man came immediately all though he did not like leaving his post at Marie’s bed.
“Sire, I understand that things are not easy for you, but…” he was cut off by the sound of a baby crying. For a moment the men stood in silence until the physician was able to find words again. “I must ask you where did you find her?”
Francis smiled and said, “Understandable question. I was outside grieving for what I have lost and what I might lose when a man dropped off this basket. It came with a note that asked for someone to care for the child, and I am just the person to do. The reason I called you here was to ask a favor of you. You and I are the only two people who know of my daughter’s death, and I would like to keep it that way.”
The physician was taking back by this request. He quickly found himself a chair to sit in, and stared up at the King. “Sire, I understand that you want to help your wife, but to pretend that this child is yours when she really is not would be…wrong.”
“I know that it seems that way but you must try to understand. In the letter, the man asks that I tell the child that we are her natural family until she turns seventeen and then it is up to her to do what she will with the truth. You have go to understand that I feel it is my duty to help out this man in need. Please I am asking you as a man, not a King, will you promise to keep this little secret between us?”
The man quickly tries to weighs his options. Already, he knows the he really only has one, but he wanted to at least try and keep the King on his toes. He drew in a slow breath before speaking. “Sire, I do not think what you are doing is right, but I know that I really have nothing to say in the matter. I shall not breathe a word of this to anyone.”
The King turned his attention back to the child. A minute later he looked up again. “What are you still doing here? Aren’t you suppose to be helping my wife?” The man quickly struggled to get to his feet. He was almost at the door was Francis order, “Stop. I have something to thank you for your silence.” He took out the twenty gold francs that he had just found in the basket and gave them to the man. The physician then left as told.
Francis rang for a maid, and quickly had his daughter warmed and dressed in clothes that were fit for the princess that she now was. The next step was to bring her to his wife. Some how he knew that the site of their child would help his wife.
Slowly, he crept into the room. The physician was working quickly. Francis crept nearer and nearer to the bed where a chair was waiting for him. His wife’s faces was well worn from the many hours of labor. She looked as if she would like to close her eyes and sleep for at least a week. In his most soothing voice, Francis spoke, “There is someone who would like to meet you dear.” He carefully laid the baby girl in her arms.
A tear glistened on Marie’s cheek. She talked quietly to the child who was still sleeping in her arms. Her eyes drifted up to her husband, “She is perfect.” She continued to examine the child’s face, and then looked up again. “She has your chin.”
Francis beamed at his wife. Even though he knew that the child did not really have his chin, it made him feel better to at least pretend to believe it for a little while. He knew that eventually he would have to tell Marie the truth, but not now. “What shall we name her?”
“I was thinking that the name Danielle Marie had a nice ring to it. What do you think of it?”
Francis smiled, “Isn’t Marie a rather common middle name? Are you sure you want for our daughter to be so generic?” His wife starts to laugh at his joke, but in mid-laugh her face drains of all of its color. It was then that Francis realized that they were in for a long night.
Through out the night, Francis stayed by his wife’s side. She would have both her good and bad moments. Finally, around four in the morning she was declared to be out of harms way. The physician let Marie sleep, but he pulled Francis aside.
In a very low voice, he talked to Francis. “Your wife is out of danger now, but I fear that I have some bad news to pass along to you. The labor was hard on your wife’s body and she will not be able to have anymore children.”
Francis did the best to take the news like a man, but it was impossible to prevent the tears from falling. He silently went back to the chair by his wife’s bed and watch her sleep. She was so peaceful. She didn’t have a care in the world, and he planed to keep it that way. She would never have to know of any of the horrible events that happened that night.
He could have spent the rest of his life watching her sleep, but as the sun rose he could no longer keep his eyes open. The dream world came to him as he sat guarding his wife.
*******************
When the church bell struck noon, the creaking of a door awakened him. His eyes look towards the door, but he saw no one. From behind a couch, he heard a little laugh. Immediately, he knew who his little visitor was, but decided to play along.
Francis stood up from his chair and spoke, “Who is it?” A quiet giggle was heard. “I repeat, who is it that disturbs my slumber?” Slowly he took steps towards where the giggles were coming from. He jumped out and said, “Now what do we have here?” Henry continued to giggle. “I will give you something to giggle about.” And that was exactly what he did. He began to attack Henry by tickling him. Henry laughed like he had never laughed before.
They were interrupted by the sound of Marie’s voice. “I wish you two would be a little more considerate, Danielle and I were trying to get some sleep.” The baby had been taken care of by a nanny during the night, but was now back in the care of her parents.
At the sound of the word Danielle, Henry’s eyes got big as he crept towards the crib. His father smiled at him as he stared in awe at the baby. “How would you like to hold her?” Henry gave an approving nod. “Alright then, why don’t you sit down in that chair, and I will bring her to you. Now you will have to promise me to be extremely careful with your baby sister. Promise?”
“I promise.” Francis gently lowered the child into Henry’s arms. Henry kept to his word and was very cautious. Francis took a seat on the bed next to Marie, and they both enjoyed watching the scene between brother and sister.
“Hullo there. I am your big brother. I am going to take care of you. You will see. No one will ever hurt you if I can help it. I shall be your knight.” Henry sat for a few more minutes talking to Danielle, but like any small child he was full of energy and wanted to do more. “Mom, can Danielle and I go play outside?”
Marie smiled, “She is a little too young honey, and besides it is too cold out for either of you.” She knew that he would complain, so she quickly thought another activity for him. “Why don’t you go and see what the cook is up to?” He obeyed as the happy couple admired Danielle once more.