The moment the girl described so eloquently was one Temperance had been witness to more times than she could count and there wasn’t a single one of those miraculous moments that had lead Temperance to regret her life choices. The first thing she had learnt about birth was that it was a messy affair but the joy afterwards was charming to behold – no, the thing that put her off was the indelible knots children tied around one’s life.

Above all things one needed to love the Lord and if one loved a child she could not reconcile sharing that love. It helped, of course, that no one had ever wanted her to be the mother of their children…apart from her brother, but that sounded terrible even in her head.

“The one guarantee the Lord gives us is that we will live and then die, I consider myself privileged to be there at both events.”

Often on the same day but even she was not cruel enough to tell that to an expectant mother.

“To bring a child into such a loving family is a blessing though,” she added kindly. “Your midwife will be most fortunate.”

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Wonderful set by Lady <3