Regardless, after today's conversation, Charles and Jefferson's relationship had returned to its original harmony. In reality, there were no real conflicts between them, and since they had now decided to resume normal interactions, outsiders saw it as if nothing had ever happened between them, and they continued to maintain their original friendship.
Just as Charles was celebrating securing a highly profitable major contract from the Floridians, urgent news arrived from his hometown in Pittsburgh: miss Charlotte had given birth to a daughter, but the delivery process was extremely difficult. Both mother and daughter were in very poor condition, and Charlotte had fainted several times.
Upon hearing this news, Charles immediately became restless. Although the federal high-level officials were currently closely concerned with the situation in Florida and Europe, and the new congressional and Presidential re-election efforts were in full swing, Philadelphia truly couldn't do without Charles. However, Charles still entrusted Franklin and Morris to jointly handle party affairs, immediately put aside his own matters, and set off by boat to Pittsburgh.
After several days of continuous canal travel, Charles' boat successfully docked at the Scarlet Town's private pier.
Before Jonathan, who had been waiting at the pier, could even greet Charles, Charles immediately grabbed his hand and asked:
"Jonathan, how is Charlotte doing now? Is she in any danger? Quickly take me home!"
At that time, childbirth was very dangerous, and Charles had heard many stories of people dying during childbirth. This was why, as soon as he heard that Charlotte's delivery was not going well, he rushed over, fearing that something might have happened to his beloved mistress.
Jonathan, upon hearing Charles' question, also had a solemn expression.
"Sir, please don't be anxious. lady Charlotte is not in life-threatening danger at the moment. She is just very weak and unable to care for the young lady. Fortunately, after examination by the doctor, although the young lady's condition was not good at birth due to difficult labor, she has recovered her health after a few days of recuperation. Since lady Charlotte's body has not yet recovered, I have already found a wet nurse to care for the young lady. She truly is a lovely little princess!"
Jonathan's focus was clearly on the newborn young lady of the Godfrey Family. With the birth of the child, the address for Charlotte also changed from 'miss' to 'lady,' essentially acknowledging her status.
Hearing that the child was well and that he had a long-awaited daughter, Charles was naturally very happy. Coupled with Jonathan saying that Charlotte was not in life-threatening danger, it somewhat alleviated his worries about Charlotte's condition.
"That's good, that's good. Haha! Jonathan. You didn't explain the situation clearly before, I thought... Never mind. Let's not talk about that. Just hurry and take me home, I want to see them, mother and daughter, as soon as possible." Charles' worry lessened considerably.
"Yes, sir, the carriage has been ready for a long time!"
Jonathan immediately called the carriage over and quickly sent Charles back to the "White House."
Even during the short journey, Charles did not take a break, constantly asking Jonathan about the specific situation at home over the past few days, trying to understand the reason for Charlotte's difficult labor.
In truth, these things were very difficult to ascertain without advanced medical equipment at the time. Jonathan only knew that Charlotte had a difficult labor, the child couldn't be delivered for a long time, and although she eventually gave birth, Charlotte suffered excessive blood loss, fainted several times, and has not truly recovered her health since. He didn't even pay much attention to the doctor's words, so his relaying of information wasn't very clear. Whenever Charles pressed for details, he would just repeat his original statement, saying that Charlotte was definitely not in life-threatening danger, and crucially, the child was also very healthy, so he didn't need to worry.
In the "White House" hall, Charles unsurprisingly saw Charlotte's father, Greenspan. The old man was clearly not in very good spirits, but he still wore a smile as he watched a cradle in the living room with a few servants.
Seeing Charles and Jonathan enter together, Greenspan immediately stood up.
"You arrived so quickly, sir!"
"Yes, Greenspan." Charles just nodded. Facing his mistress' father, he truly didn't know what to say.
"Haha! sir, come and see your daughter, she truly looks like a little angel!" Greenspan stepped aside, preparing to let Charles see the child in the cradle.
"Oh!" Charles responded and immediately walked forward quickly.
In fact, a newborn child of only a few days doesn't look particularly good; the fetal hair hasn't even receded. Moreover, the little infant was tightly swaddled at this time, sleeping soundly with her eyes closed in the cradle, hardly an "angel." However, as a father, Charles couldn't help but lean on the cradle, bending down to carefully look at the baby's almost pink skin, tightly closed eyes, and wrinkled features, finding her beautiful.
"This truly is an angel!" Charles praised sincerely.
"Yes! Yes!"
Greenspan and Jonathan echoed him simultaneously.
One, as the child's maternal grandfather, naturally found the child adorable. The other, because this was Charles' child, the young lady of the Godfrey Family, also found her adorable.
However, Charles did not Godfreyer long beside the child but immediately turned and asked:
"How is Charlotte? Where is she? I should go see her first!"
Although he really wanted to dote on his first daughter, Charles thought there was a more important person waiting for him to express his concern, so he immediately turned to ask about Charlotte's condition.
"Charlotte?" Greenspan was momentarily stunned.
He hadn't expected Charles not to first admire his little daughter but instead to be eager to see Charlotte.
But he quickly reacted, nodding with relief and saying:
"Charlotte is in her room upstairs. She lost too much blood during childbirth, and her body has been unwell. She still can't get out of bed normally. The doctor said that without several years of good rest, it will probably be difficult for her to fully recover her health. Even if she does recover, she will have chronic ailments and will need to live in places with suitable temperatures, avoiding excessive fatigue, otherwise, she will still be weak."
Towards the end of his speech, Greenspan's face was filled with sorrow.
In this era, achieving suitable temperatures and avoiding excessive fatigue was still relatively difficult for ordinary families. Most families couldn't even afford to let a housewife rest for several years. Generally speaking, once a situation like Charlotte's occurred, she would typically only be able to lie in bed for a year or two before eventually dragging down the entire family and dying.
Fortunately, with Charles' financial resources, such a situation would certainly not occur. However, Charlotte's poor health and the resulting chronic ailments were already unavoidable. Thinking of the various minor illnesses and pains that could potentially claim her life in the future, Charles still felt a pang of regret.
"Alright, I'll go see her!" Charles nodded to Greenspan and Jonathan.
He then leaned down and gently kissed his little daughter's forehead before quickly turning and heading upstairs.
Charlotte's room was naturally familiar. Charles went directly to the door and knocked a few times, careful not to disturb the resting patient.
Soon, a maid came to open the door. Seeing Charles at the door, she paused slightly.
"Sir?" The maid stood stiffly at the doorway, unsure.
But Charles wasn't willing to let her block him like this. He pushed the door open wider with his hand and looked directly into the room.
On the large bed not far from the door lay a beautiful woman with a haggard expression and an excessively pale complexion. It was Charlotte, whom Charles had been worried about for so long.
At this moment, she lay on the bed like a sleeping beauty, eyes closed, either unconscious or deeply asleep.
Fortunately, the maid immediately understood and whispered:
"Miss Charlotte's spirits are not very good; she often feels dizzy and needs to sleep. She has been asleep for over an hour now. Should I wake her?"
"Shh! No need." Charles immediately shook his head.
"Then I..." The maid wanted to return to the bedside to continue looking after Charlotte.
"If there's nothing else, you can leave for now! I'll take care of things here." Charles said softly to the maid without even turning his head.
"Yes, sir!"
The maid curtsied and immediately stepped aside to let Charles in. Then she turned, closed the door, and quietly left the room.
Charles tiptoed to the bedside and slowly sat down on the thick carpet.
Looking at the haggard expression of the beauty on the bed, Charles was filled with remorse. Although there was no evidence to say that staying in Pittsburgh caused Charlotte's difficult labor, he couldn't help but think that if he had followed his original plan and taken his mistress to Philadelphia, where medical science was more advanced and safer, he might have avoided the current situation, and naturally, he was full of regret.
As he thought, he couldn't help but gently hold the delicate little hand that was exposed outside.
Perhaps this movement woke Charlotte. The sleeping beauty's eyelids fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.
At first, Charlotte couldn't distinguish Charles in front of her. She just looked at him with deep affection. After a while, she realized that the person in front of her was a real person, not a dream.
A sweet smile suddenly bloomed on her face:
"My dear, is that you? How did you come?"
She wanted to say a few more words, but then felt a bit exhausted.
"It's me! My dear Charlotte, you've truly worked hard!" Charles leaned forward and kissed Charlotte's forehead.
Charlotte, however, sweetly kissed Charles' lips.
"My dear, have you seen our daughter since you arrived? How is she?" Charlotte's questions were continuous. "I'm so sorry, I can't personally breastfeed our child. She's such a poor child..."
After only a few sentences, she began to sob, and her eyes turned red.
Charles immediately raised his hand to stop Charlotte from speaking further, smiling and comforting her:
"I have already seen our daughter; she is a very healthy child. Since you are not well, having a wet nurse raise her is just the same. You should now focus on recovering your health and preparing for our child's education as she grows up. There's no need to think about anything else."
"Haha... Who knows when our child's education will begin? It's a bit too early to think about it now!" Charlotte was amused by Charles.
Seeing a smile on his mistress' face, Charles felt much relieved.
No matter how little he understood medicine, he knew that maintaining a good mood was the most crucial thing for Charlotte in her current condition.
"My dear, do you prefer a boy or a girl? You wouldn't dislike her just because she's a girl, would you?" Charlotte had many questions.
"Of course not! I most want a daughter who is considerate of her father. There are already enough little boys in the family to drive me crazy; adorable girls are more to my liking." Charles immediately denied it.
This was both a comforting remark for Charlotte and his true feelings. Charles, like many modern men, was indifferent to having a boy or a girl, but simply preferred girls. Even in the 21st century, when one could only have one child, he still held this view. Now that he was in a place where he could have children freely, he naturally cared even less about it. To say something to humor her, it was, "As long as it's our child, I'll love them!"
Gender discrimination between boys and girls certainly existed in Europe, just not as severely as in the East. Hearing Charles say he didn't mind, Charlotte naturally believed him and immediately became much happier.
However, while Charles was coaxing his still-weak mistress, he began to worry.
In other circumstances, he might consider taking Charlotte to the seaside, or somewhere else, to a place with better conditions for a long period of recuperation. But now, her constitution was so weak that she was simply unable to travel. She could only focus on slowly recuperating at home. That meant he had to find ways to keep her in a good mood, as that would be most beneficial for her recovery. However, this task would be very troublesome.