Gossip was what sustained Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Bennett, and Mrs. Withers. As after all, the three lived in an obscure village on an island in the Caribbean. The name was important for nobody. Not even the Royal Navy, sent to guard it from attacks, really cared about the island. And nothing spectacular occurred there. No attacks by a band of pirates had occurred on the port in over twenty-two years and each of the few women there were quickly wooed, wed, and bed by their husbands.
Mr. Withers was the village merchant, a boring job consisting of trading goods for money. Mr. Bennett was the village's blacksmith and Mr. Smith was the pub keeper. (He was also the town drunk and the majority of the liquor he kept on hand went straight into his gut.)
So, the ladies had to find some other form of entertainment.
And when a heavily pregnant woman showed up without a ring and without a man, their tongues started waging.
Of course, they where all nice to her face. Mrs. Withers greeted her with a polite smile when she came to her husband's store and Mrs. Bennett was kind enough to force Mr. Bennett to help the women fix the latch on her front door, but over steaming cups of tea, the three women made it perfectly clear that they did not think that 'Mrs. Elizabeth Turner' was actually 'Mrs. Turner'.
Each woman had their own theory.
Mrs. Smith thought that "Mrs. Turner" had hid out in the closet of her parent's house with a servant and found herself in quite the predicament, her parent's non too keen about their daughter having a servant's baby.
Mrs. Bennett thought perhaps that "Mrs. Turner" was actually a rich man's mistress that he had stashed away in the Caribbean before his wife found out. It certainly seemed that Mrs. Turner had an ample amount of money stashed away in the iron chest her husband seen on a shelf in the woman's house.
Unfortunately, her theory was proven wrong when Mrs. Turner ran out of money seven years after arriving in their small village.
And Mrs. Withers said that she knew for a fact, for she had quit a few connections back in England, that the girl had found herself in trouble after she fancied herself in love with a sailor, who, by the way, already had a wife and two children.
Neither of the other two women believed her.
But the trio would always offer polite nodes and smiles when they saw Mrs. Turner.
And of course, they would smile at her polite little boy. (Mrs. Withers often would offer the child a piece of candy while his mother was not looking.) Even if he did boast a little too loudly that he was named 'William' for his father, who was named for his father. (Mrs. Bennett thought that the Turners should begin to reconsider naming each boy William. After all, there were only so many nicknames.)
For the most part "Mrs. Turner" kept to herself. She rarely left her place on the outskirts of town and the three women's children would sometimes see her starring out at the ocean when they would play in the field between her home and the village.
The majority of the town took pity on this delusional woman, including Mr. Withers who allowed Mrs. Turner to purchase on-credit after she had parted with her last coin and return the money when her husband arrived. He had never expected her to be able to pay him back and although it was a finical burden on his business, he was happy to do it. Mrs. Withers could not concur with his feelings.
But when a ship arrived at the port exactly nine years and five months after Mrs. Turner had, Mrs. Withers and her friends finally held their tongues.
The trio watched in amazement as a man they had never seen before play in front of Mrs. Turner's house with young William Turner. They watched him kiss Mrs. Turner directly on the lips with no sense of propriety in the door jam of her house. And they watched in amazement as he sauntered in to Mr. Withers' shop with a large bag of money, young William in tow.
The three nosey women watched as the man introduced himself as Mr. William Turner. Jaws dropped, they eagerly listened as he explained himself to Mr. Withers, young William staring up at him eager eyes and a wide grin.
"I wanted to thank you for taking care of my son and Elizabeth, sir. We had parted with only so much money for Elizabeth to live on before I left to attend to my busy, and life seemed to change under my nose."
"It was no problem, sir. I was only doing so in neighborly compassion," the bashful Mr. Withers had replied.
"Thank you, again, sir. This should be enough to last my family until I am able to return again and cover our preceding debt." Mr. Withers had just nodded and accepted the bag from the man, while Mrs. Withers, Mrs. Bennett, and Mrs. Smith had to fan themselves from all the excitement. Neither of the trio could contain themselves as Mr. Turner and his son left the establishment.
But, curiously they did not see him the next day or the day after that or the day after that.
But it was duly noted the Mrs. Turner now sported a gold wedding band and in a matter of months, was already high in the belly with a second child.