Waiting for Louise's baby had been an arduous task and it was beginning to look as though we would be there all night. Harry, Burke and I awaited down in the drawing room making conversation whilst the screams of his wife upstairs continued in the background. Three maids ran up and down the stairs tirelessly fetching towels and water as the three of us sat in deep discussion; for the first time I had started to notice things about the room which I was in that I had never took note of before. A doll lay half beneath the armchair in which Burke was sitting and I assumed that it was one of Mary Jane Kelly's from when she was a young girl; there was a slight tear in the curtains that shielded the family from the street which had been an accident when Louise had decided to play with Mary in the drawing room. It seemed odd that I had been in this humble home countless times before and yet all of these details had never been noticed by my eyes - in all the years in which these precious memories had been buried in dust nobody had even considered uncovering them.
Before I could even catch up with the conversation after being lost in my thoughts the two men whom I accompanied had stood up to leave the room; Harry was already offering Burke and I the guest room which we took willingly when becoming aware of the late hour. The walk home was short and easy but the journey upstairs was more inviting. On reaching the guest room the two of us bid our host and dear friend goodnight before shutting the door for our nights rest; I encouraged Burke to take the bed seeing as I would most likely be awake earlier and he argued little. The excitement and drama of the fine Spring evening had taken the energy right out of my companion and I didn't blame him - new brother or sister in law and a new fiancé. What didn't that man have besides a child? My thoughts and happiness for my closest friend went with me as I closed my eyes to sleep and left our world for the dreamland that welcomed me nightly.