21: A Child is BornMary Ellen went into labour two months after they moved into the Tudor Crown. Her confinement began in the afternoon. Jack opened the tavern in the evening as usual, grateful to be occupied. He could hear the screams of his wife until the bar began to fill up. The birth was proving to be a difficult one, made worse by Mary Ellen’s apparent refusal to follow any of the instructions given by the midwife.
Jack didn’t want to think about what was happening upstairs. Leaning on the counter, he engaged the patrons in conversation and hoped that no one could hear Mary Ellen’s yelling. It struck him as theatrical, exaggerated, unnecessary. He had twice heard his own mother giving birth: he and his brother secretly creeping up to the back door to listen after his father had bani
