At the time Abigail was inside the huge room, which as customary was used for the rest and growth of the royal family's babies.
It was a large and spacious room.
The curtains on the windows created a soft light.
Inside the room there was every single object necessary for the baby's good growth and well-being.
There were toys made of precious cherry wood, among them there was a little horse tied to the muzzle by a small and weak string and a rocking horse.
Then next to the room there was a large chest, where the spare clothes of the little duke had been folded and neatly stored.
On the purple red carpet there was a rocking chair, where the nurse cradled and nursed the baby and finally a cot.
It was a precious, beautiful cradle, created in the seams with precious and solid white fabrics, the colour of peace and innocence.
There rested her child, Rudolph, Duke of the Northern Irish Lands, he was small and sweet.
He had just completed his fifteen days of life and under the care of the nurse he was growing in beauty and health.
Abigail slowly and silently took a few steps towards her child's crib, he slept blissfully without emitting any noise, apart from a few faint moans that babies were customary to make.
The nurse was not there at that moment, but in the next room, she was resting, in every way taking into account every possible complaint of the little one.
The Duchess understood her, it must have been very tiring to be attentive to a child both day and night and for this reason she was happy someone else did it for her, not having to undertake this at sixteen.
She loved her son however, in every possible way and she had never regretted or complained of having brought him into the world.
On the other hand Rudolph was a calm child and as the nurse had reported, he was silent and cried less than newborns normally did.
It was a good sign, on the other hand, it meant the baby was in good health.
Abigail bent over the cradle and looked at him.
Rudolph was dressed in a fine white silk nightgown and held his little hands over the white sheets of his crib.
The mother looked at his little face, it was sweet, cute, lovely.
She looked at his dark red, auburn hair, that colour, it was the same as the child's father, as Gilbert, it brought back to the mother's mind many memories, some sweeter and some more bitter.
Abigail slowly and gently took the baby in her arms, cradled him, with one of her fingers gently caressed the baby's rosy cheeks.
He was completely adorable, she noticed how in caressing the baby's cheeks, he opened and closed his little lips, almost as if he were sucking milk.
The door opened behind the Duchess, it closed.
She did not have the courage to turn around, not since Abigail had heard the footsteps inside the room coming from fine shoes.
They were sweet, light, almost like dancing inside the room.
It was Isabelle.
Her long, wavy blond hair harmoniously danced on her back, together with her body.
The princess had her eyes closed, she was dancing as if drawn by a sweet melody.
She must have been out of her mind or at least something in her head wasn't quite right.
Isabelle opened her eyes, she turned them towards the light, she was happy, she was radiant.
She took her little hands one inside the other, she finished dancing.
-Tell me Abigail, isn't this room beautiful?- asked the lady almost enchanted by so much beauty, as her eyes were illuminated by the light.
Her belly was pretty round, she was now in her sixth month of pregnancy, but she looked beautiful and happy.
-Think, in this room my child will spend his childhood too, so he and Rudolph have good relations from the beginning, what do you say?- the young woman proposed to those words approaching the child Abigail was holding in her arms, caressing his hair.
From which pulpit the sermon was supposed to come, Abigail wondered, how both of the princess's half-brothers had somehow been annihilated, physically or spiritually.
But there was no time before the princess threw herself backwards on the soft carpet.
Isabelle had started laughing, smiling, with glee and rolling on one side and the other, dragging the huge mass of wavy golden hair behind her.
She stopped, her hair was now all ruffled, poking out from behind her, spreading over her carpet , Isabelle opened her big light blue eyes, clutching her own little hands to her chest.
-Beautiful! -she exclaimed taking her head in her hands.
Abigail was shocked by that behaviour, she was a princess on the other hand and it was not permissible for a noble of this rank to behave in such a shameless manner.
The Duchess slowly placed her baby's small body inside his cradle, slowly arranged a tuft of her straight red hair on her back, behind the magnificent green dress she was wearing.
She held out a hand to the princess still on the ground, lying on the floor, worried more than for her for the baby she was carrying.
-Is everything alright?- Abigail asked pulling her up from the ground -you seem pretty happy, majesty ... more than usual- the Duchess admitted as she had the light blue eyes of the young lady in front of her her green eyes.
Isabelle moved her head up and down quickly, causing her great mass of blonde hair to move with her.
-I spent the night with Prince Aleksei- admitted the princess throwing her arms back again and unbalancing herself further, so much so that for a comic scene the Duchess had to hold up her back so that she would not fall again -it was truly magnificent!- Isabelle admitted smiling.
-Prince Aleksei, do you mean your cousin? The prince of Russia?- asked Abigail slightly perplexed by the unknown and unexpected novelty which almost seemed too difficult to believe.
Isabelle moved her head quickly, she was happy, she was excited.
-We will get married in three months, right after the baby is born- she said shaking her little hands to Abigail's.
The princess seemed happy, no longer worried, with a completely different approach to the world.
Maybe, if their marriage relationship had really gone for the best, Isabelle would have completely changed the aggressive attitude that she had before.
Abigail seriously hoped that the Russian prince could for once change the princess and save everyone.