Raven pushed open the door and entered a small room containing a bed and not much else. It was a familiar sight: a household that would struggle to feed another mouth.

He had often heard the voices of churchmen and politicians railing against the poor for having children they could not afford to feed and clothe. Ignorance was always fertile soil for the sowing of moral indignation.

The air had a clammy feel to it, humid and oppressive. There was a small window set into the wall above the bed but throwing it open would require scrambling over the patient lying in it. A thin sheet lay over her and the still prominent mound of her belly. Raven did not like what he saw. The uterus should have contracted more than that by now.

He put his bag down. Miss Corrigan had her eyes closed but her colour was good and her breathing steady. He gently lifted her hand and felt for the pulse at the wrist. Rapid but strong. Reassured, he spoke her name and introduced himself. She opened her eyes. He explained what he was going to do. She nodded.

Raven took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and then gently laid his hands on her swollen abdomen. Aware of the old woman’s eyes upon him, he opened his bag, took out his stethoscope and listened. He felt the uterus harden and then relax. He completed his examination by assessing the maternal passages and the cervix.

There was no other sound in the room. The baby, now consoled, was quiet.

The old woman tutted loudly. ‘Have you not done this before? Do you even know what you’re looking for? It’s like a bit of auld rope. Give it a tug and the afterbirth will likely come away.’

Raven looked at her and arched his brow.

‘Probably best if I deliver the other child first,’ he said.

The second twin, another girl, proved to be a straightforward delivery, and Raven required no assistance to deliver the afterbirth. The old woman was still hovering, only briefly cowed by what she had missed and rapidly returning to her previous attitude of barely tolerating his presence.

Her surprise was as nothing compared to that of the mother, though. She seemed overcome, the shock of a second, unexpected child evidently not a welcome one. For those of narrow means, children could be a blessing or a curse. Additional mouths to feed could be offset by the ability of the youngsters to work and contribute to the family coffers should they survive early childhood. But two at once, with their mother’s ability to work hampered by having not one, but two babes to care for? Raven could not but fear for these little girls if this was their start in life.