Paddy woke up from his faint and looked very sad. He shared his vision with his wife Pola and like him, she was invaded by sorrow.
Time flew by and a month later, while the couple was sitting at the dining table, the long wait took its last bend.
Pola had concocted her husband's favorite meal: basmati rice with minced lamb and flavored curry sauce.
They were savoring the delicacy when suddenly Pola felt unease. Paddy was focused on his dish, so he wasn't paying attention to her.
Pola held her breath, placed her left hand on her breast, then rose abruptly and ran upstairs to their bedroom's restroom. She spewed in the water closet all of the repast she had just swallowed.
Paddy was surprised by his wife's unexpected behavior. He interrupted his dinner and rushed to where she was. He found her in a position of weakness and yelled for assistance.
Their housekeeper, Maria, a middle-aged woman and mother of four kids in their adolescence, came up to their private apartments.
She noticed Mrs. Pola was displaying symptoms that she knew very well. She touched her Mistress' forehead with the palm of her right hand and asked her if she had missed her period recently.
Overwhelmed by fatigue, Mrs. Pola simply nodded. The head housemaid glared at her Master Mr. Paddy with a sparkling smile and congratulated him as he was going to be a father.
She asserted that Mrs. Pola was a few weeks pregnant and she now needed a lot of rest.
Paddy howled in excitement as his dream was on the verge of becoming true. He advanced toward his spouse and kissed her tenderly on her cheek.
He ordered Maria to organize a grandiose feast the next day by noon and invite all of the employees of the manor.
The news was broadcast across Paddy's domains and above. The sun had not risen yet the whole Mankayane had grasped the information.
Maria, the housekeeper, was supervising the culinary operations in the kitchen when a maid brutally opened the door from outside.
She was gassed out after a long sprint and couldn't speak. Maria scolded her for her lack of manners but ultimately the maid retrieved her calm, excused herself, and told her superior to have a glimpse of the main yard.
Maria's curiosity was aroused, so she did as she was told by her subaltern. Great was her shock when she perceived through the window a colony of people she had no idea who they were and who seemingly had come to take part in her Master's banquet.
Without any further due, she climbed to Mr. Paddy's flat. He was sitting behind his desk and was checking the cornfield's accounts while the Mistress was profoundly slumbering.
With a shy tone of voice, Maria requested her Master's attention. Mr. Paddy got a little bit angry since he never appreciated being bothered while he was screening his bookkeeper's reports.
He had been duped countless times by previous collaborators and he thus became more vigilant.
Nonetheless, the Master knew that his housekeeper Maria, who had been working for him for the past ten years and who was well aware of his habits, would never visit his private apartments if she had not been expressly invited.
So she must have had a good reason to show up unexpectedly.
His irritation over, Mr. Paddy was now all ears. He asked the head housemaid what was the purpose that prompted her to step into his lodging.
Maria disclosed to him the mess that was happening on the main court and he was stunned.
He let the feather in his left-hand slide and drop on the desk, then got off his chair and hurried to peep outside through the bedroom's balcony.