(contd.)
The words of the brief note leapt at David.
I am pregnant! Bathsheba.
His lips parted in shock as his breath caught in his throat. A chill came on him. Pregnant? How could that be? Just once and she was pregnant? He wondered with a frown.
Not wanting the people with him to know there was a problem; he took a deep controlling breath and made his face look normal.
The girl was still there, obviously waiting for a reply.
“I have seen it. You may go.” He told her and the girl left.
When the visitors eventually left, David went into his bedchamber, got in bed and began to think.
He had thought about that evening with Bathsheba in his room several times but not once did he think she could be pregnant.
Pregnant? How could that be? It happened just once! He quickly told himself that once was enough to get a woman pregnant. Yes but … it had not occurred to him that she could get pregnant, lust had blinded his eyes that day. He had not planned for this.
He began to think of the consequences – to her. She would be accused of committing adultery and the punishment was death. But she wasn’t at fault. He forced her into it.
What about the consequences to him? Uriah, Eliam and Ahithophel would be very angry and he wasn’t very sure of what they might do.
He had to think of a solution fast, to save the situation, and Bathsheba. Should he ask her to run away, to another country perhaps? He shook his head. Where would she go and how could he ask her to do that? That would not work. He continued thinking. Bathsheba depended on him to find a solution and he must. He must save her life.
There must be a way out, he thought. The pregnancy was just about two to three weeks old, not too far along. If only her husband would come now and sleep with her, he would assume the pregnancy was his.
Her husband to sleep with her?
That is it! David told himself. That was the perfect solution to this matter.
But Uriah was far away with Israelite soldiers, and would not be back for some time. David continued thinking. But as the king, he could summon him back, couldn’t he?
Thinking further about it, he decided that was what he would do, and he must do it immediately. There was no time to waste. He smiled at his brilliancy. That would be perfect. No one would know anything.
He got up and went out of his room, calling two of his servants. “Go to Joab. Tell him to send me Uriah the Hittite right away.”
The servants left.
David returned to his room and got in bed. He would take care of the situation, everything would be fine and everyone would be happy, after all, it happened only once; he had not called Bathsheba again, even though he sometimes found himself thinking about her.
When the servants returned to the palace, Uriah was with them. His clothes and shoes were dirty.
He greeted David respectfully. “I came as soon as I got your message, my lord.”
“Thank you. I knew you would come immediately.”
As David talked with him, he studied his face, to know what he felt. Is it possible that he has heard something? There was no scowl on Uriah’s face, he only looked tired. He couldn’t have heard about it.
“How is Joab?” David asked him.
“Joab is doing a great job.” Uriah replied and went on to tell him of all the things Joab had been doing.
“How are our soldiers?”
(To be continued)
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