It's Hard To Refuse You
Chapter Ten
Felicity and Elizabeth went to see Mrs. Deare the next morning. The old woman was glad to see them. As she greeted them at the door, she said with a grin, "If it were not for your family, and the colored families in town, I would have no work at all. There are few babies being born in Williamsburg these days."
"A lot of our friends have moved on for good," Felicity said with a sigh. "Even Nan and Charles are thinking of moving to Richmond."
"Nan will not be going anywhere for a long time," said Mrs. Deare, after she had taken their cloaks, and ushered them into her parlor. She began to prepare them tea, and Felicity took comfort from the ritual of it. The scent of the tea leaves and the gurgle of hot water going into the pot were comforting sounds.
"Tell us the truth. What went wrong?" Elizabeth asked when they all had their cups.
Adding sugar to her own cup, Mrs. Deare sighed. "Nan had been sickly since she came back from the plantation. I think depression over Martha's death was at the root of it. She did not sleep well, and didn't eat well. Then the baby took a long time coming, and there was a bad tear. Nan lost a lot of blood. She had a hard time getting the cord out, too. It tore inside."
She took a sip of her tea, and grimacing, adding some cream. "If Nan has another baby, it will be the death of her. I told her that, and Charles, too. Charles is a good lad. He took it well. Nan did not. That is adding to her depression now. Plus she should not be nursing the child herself. She needs a wet nurse. The baby is taking all of her strength."
Elizabeth shuddered, but Felicity was more practical. "Do you know where we can get one?" Felicity asked.
"I did not when little Lou came, but I do now. I delivered a big, healthy black boy to Jolly, the laundress at Campbell's tavern, the night before last. I'm sure you could hire her. When times got bad in town, and travelers grew scarce, her husband was sold. He is working at the livery now. They are both taking all the odd jobs they can get, trying to earn the money to buy their freedom. Shall I send word over to Jolly, asking if she is interested?"
"Yes, do. I will speak to Charles about it as soon as he gets home from the store tonight," Felicity declared. "I am sure he will listen. Not hiring a wet nurse for an ailing woman is nonsense. He loves Nan and he loves the baby. I am sure he will do what is best for them both."
Elizabeth's teacup rattled against the saucer as she set it down on the table. "What can we do to avoid the kind of problems Nan had?" she asked anxiously.
"You both look healthy enough. I do not think you have to worry, but after Felicity and I finish our tea, I will have a look and a listen at both of you," Mrs. Deare promised. She then turned the conversation to other things, and the three women wound up reminiscing about Martha Merriman. It was quite comforting to think of Martha as she had once been…a young wife and mother in a thriving Williamsburg.
When Elizabeth and Felicity finally left Mrs. Deare's they were both feeling much better for themselves, but heartily sorry for Nan. They stopped beside the Merriman house, halfway between the house and the stable, to discuss what they would have mortified to have anyone overhear them discussing.
"Poor Nan," said Elizabeth. "I hope to have many, many children. I would be heartbroken if I could only have one."
"Poor Charles!" Felicity retorted. "The physical side of their relationship was always the most important to them. Thank goodness this child lived. The baby might be their only shared bond now, if they cannot share those intimate relations that so bond a husband and wife."
"Felicity, you can be so blunt at times!" Elizabeth exclaimed, pulling her cloak more tightly around her.
"When have you known me to be otherwise?" asked her friend with a small smile.
Ben had been delighted that morning to hear that the two women were going to consult Mrs. Deare. He had been as shocked as anyone by Nan's travail. As far as he knew, Elizabeth and Felicity were both in good health, but it would do no harm for the midwife to make sure of it. He did not want Elizabeth's baby coming early, as Nan's had done, and he certainly didn't want Felicity to spend her final months under a cloud of fear.
After breakfast, he had lingered in the dining room over several cups of coffee, while the two women had gone up to help Nan eat her breakfast, and change into a fresh nightgown. It took the two of them to change the sheets because Nan was too weak to move much, and the girls had volunteered, since the servants had so much to do with the house filled with guests.
It was quite a bit later when they came down and said goodbye. He offered to walk with them to Mrs. Deare's house, but they assured him they could manage such a short distance without his assistance.
After the girls had been gone awhile, he decided to write a long letter to Brandon and Louisa. He missed his brother, the guardian of his childhood years, and his brother's wife and children, and wished they could be closer. Ben then decided, when that was done, to go out to the stables. The stable hands also had an extra workload, and he decided to see if perhaps he could be of use there. When he walked into the stable, he was startled not to see Penny in her stall. Felicity had insisted on bringing the aging horse along to Williamsburg, since Penny needed more attention in her old age than Felicity wanted to leave to Saul, who had so many other horses to care for.
Walking closer to the stall, he was sick at heart to see the horse lying motionless on her side in the hay. She was obviously dead. Felicity's fears had been well-founded. As he stepped closer, though, he was puzzled to see an empty feed sack and a length of narrow rope lying on the ground in front of the horse trough, and what looked like a large stick inside it. When he bent closer, the stick moved, and Ben saw a bright white mouth, rimmed by enormous fangs, coming toward him. He jerked back so fast that he fell onto his back, swearing loudly.
Rolling as fast as he could until he hit the wall, he heard a splash come from the horse trough. Breathing hard, he propped himself up against the wall. There was a shovel hanging from a peg above him, and as he rose slowly he pulled it down. Walking carefully over to the trough, he slammed the blade down into the water, which churned for a moment, and then grew dark, but still.
Trembling, he backed away. Outside, Felicity and Elizabeth had heard his outburst and been surprised. Ben very seldom swore.
"Ben? Ben! Are you there? What is wrong?" When he heard his wife's voice coming from the stable door, he threw down the shovel, and hurried to block her way.
"Felicity, get back! Do not come in here! Elizabeth, stay away!"
"But what is the matter?" Felicity tried to push past him, but he held her tightly. He could feel his child moving vigorously within her as he pressed his arm into her belly. Elizabeth, knowing at once from Ben's face that something was seriously wrong, helped in spite of her bulk by quickly catching hold of Felicity's arm.
Once Felicity was standing still just outside the door, Ben raised a gentle hand to his wife's cheek. "Dearest love…it is Penny. She…she has died."
Felicity swayed, and then buried her face in her husband's shirtfront. "Oh, my poor Penny! My poor girl! Her gallant heart gave out at last!"
Ben held Felicity tightly. "It is worse than that, my love. Someone put a water moccasin into the horse trough. I suspect it bit Penny, and it nearly bit me. I think I killed it, but I do not want you going in there just yet. Those snakes have jaws than can flex and bite for an hour after they are dead."
Elizabeth shook her head. "Ben, that is ridiculous. Those snakes are not active when it is this cold out!"
Ben nodded grimly. "That is why it had to have been put there." He remembered the empty feed sack. "Someone must have taken the lethargic snake from its den, and carried it here in a sack. The sack is on the floor next to the horse trough. I am guessing it warmed when it got into the stable, woke up when they dumped it into the water, and woke up in a very foul temper."
"Someone is persecuting me!" Felicity wailed, tears streaming down her face. "How could anyone kill my beloved Penny?"
"Aye," said Bryce, after Elizabeth and Felicity had fetched him and Mr. Merriman from the house. Bryce had left his wife trying to comfort her sorrowing friend, while he came to help his brother assess the situation. "There is a special place in hell for anyone who would do this to a defenseless animal."
The horse had definitely stuck her nose into the water and been bitten. The puncture marks on her face from the huge snake's fangs were deep and clear. The end must have come quickly once the poison had entered her body.
"I fear that the horse was not the real target," Ben said, looking at this brother. "I think whoever did this expected one of us to lean over that trough, and expected the snake to strike before we could get away. I only just managed it. It was a very close thing."
"But who do you think the target was? It could have been any of us!" exclaimed Edward Merriman.
"No," said Ben. "It could not have been you, Mr. Merriman, or Charles, or Nan, or any of your servants. I think someone has a grudge against Felicity or against me. These attacks only occur when Felicity and I are here. No one bothers the family when we are gone."
"Do you think it still has to do with the British protecting this house during the war?" Bryce asked. He had heard that story from his brother several times over the past year.
"I wish I knew," Ben said.
Felicity was distracted from her sorrow a little bit over the next few days, by Charles, who agreed to hire the wet nurse, so Nan could get her strength back. Felicity kept busy by taking care of her sister, and being invigorated by their quarrels, which were just like old times.
Nan had been furious when her baby was first taken to the wet nurse, and Felicity was only too happy to play the villain to protect Charles from having to be in that role. He did his part by taking turns with Miriam carrying little Louisa back and forth down the street to Jolly's cabin every four hours. The maid would have been happy to do it, and indeed had expected her mistress to order her to, but Charles insisted on doing all he could for his daughter himself.
He was comforted by the wet nurse, a large-boned light-skinned black woman, who was very grateful to have the chance to nurse the Prentis baby along with her own.
"Bless you, Master Charles," Jolly had said the first time he had come. "I needs to make some money, and I have no other way to do it, laid up like I am. All I got left is what it takes to feed a hungry child. When my man and I are free, we will remember you and your Missus always. I be saying my prayers for her to get well for you."
For Charles, the woman's gratitude almost made up for his wife's anger, which she expressed to her sister more often than to him. "How dare you!" said Nan with more force than she had said anything in a week the first time Felicity handed the baby out the bedchamber door to Charles. "How dare you take my baby away from me!"
"You would be no good to your daughter dead," Felicity said calmly, "and you are not getting well as you should. You need your strength if you are ever going to be able to mother her as she deserves. You do not usually have this hard of a time thinking of yourself, Sister dear. Why this sudden nobility now?"
"You are evil, Felicity! How dare you insult me when I am so beset with troubles?"
"You have a beautiful baby, and a husband who adores you and your child. You have every chance of recovering your health if you rest and eat properly. What trouble do you refer to?" Felicity said calmly, arranging the medicine bottles on Nan's nightstand.
"I am no longer a woman! I cannot even feed my own child, and if I am to avoid having another child, I will never again be able to embrace my husband with the fullness of my love! How long will he adore me when I cannot see to his needs as a man?" Nan wailed.
"I think he will remain more of a man than you expect," Felicity answered. "Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be the kind of father Charles seems determined to be. You underestimate him, I think. Now, I am going to fetch your tray, and you are going to eat it, if you ever want to mother your babe in any way. I will feed it to you myself, every bite, if I have to."
"I will hate you forever," Nan vowed.
"Oh, not forever," Felicity answered. "Probably not that long."
Nan was well enough at Christmas, to come down to Christmas dinner. Ben and Charles hooked their hands together to make a seat to carry her down the stairs. She was also able to sit up in an armchair by the fire in the parlor, and chat with Louisa and Brandon, who had come to visit. They adored the baby, and consoled Nan about having to use a wet nurse.
"In Richmond most of the more well-to-do women hire a wet nurse," Louisa confided in Nan, "rather than take care of the feeding business themselves."
Nan looked down at little Lou in her arms, and sighed. "It was taking a lot out of me. I admit that now, but I feel so inadequate sometimes!"
"You have to do what has to be done, for your sake, and for your child's sake," Louisa reassured her.
Brandon and Louisa had brought their godchild a silver cup with the name Louisa and the year 1783 engraved on it. Everyone exclaimed over how beautiful the workmanship was, and looked forward to the New Year, when Elizabeth and Felicity would be adding to the family. Louisa wished she and Brandon could stay in Williamsburg to see the new arrivals, but they had to be back in Yorktown by the beginning of January. Brandon could not leave his business longer than that.
Mr. Merriman wished they could stay longer as well. He was hurting during this first Christmas season without his wife, and having so much company distracted him. He was proud of Felicity for making sure all of his favorite foods, the ones Martha used to make him every Christmas, were on the table, and that the house was decorated as always.
When Edward got too depressed, he liked to play with little Matthew or Louisa's boys, or hold little Lou for awhile. He was looking anxiously toward the birth of Elizabeth's baby, and of his new grandchild. It was comforting to see life going on, despite his loss.
The day after Christmas, Ben and Bryce made a quick trip back to the plantation to see how things were going there. They stayed a week, but were afraid to stay longer, in case Elizabeth's baby came early. They need not have feared. The baby had been due at the end of the month, and indeed arrived on the last day of January. The labor went well, indeed so well that Elizabeth, who was in the parlor when she went into labor, barely had time to get upstairs and get settled in before her daughter was born.
Mrs. Deare was scandalized. "That was just like one of the darkies!" she said, as she cleaned up the baby, to hand her Elizabeth. "Of course, this one is a bit small, for all that she came when she was expected."
"I hope I'm like one of the darkies this time," Felicity said, peering over the blanket at the little one. "Oh, Elizabeth! She's lovely. Little Lou will have a playmate!"
"Not if Nan and Charles move to Richmond," a tired but happy Elizabeth reminded her friend gently. "We won't see them as often, if they are further away."
"I forgot about that," Felicity admitted. "But Nan is still not well enough to travel, so let's enjoy the girls while we can." She rose from her friend's beside, and went to fetch the new father.
Bryce and Elizabeth decided to name the baby "Ann Elizabeth" after her mother, and in a small way after the aunt the baby would probably never see. Elizabeth refused to name the baby Annabelle, but she knew it would comfort her mother and father, so far across the sea, if she at least used part of her sister's name.
Elizabeth had no trouble feeding her daughter, and offered to take care of little Lou as well, so they did not have to keep walking the baby back and forth to the tavern. Charles gave Jolly a generous bonus, though, for all she had done.
"Without you I would have probably lost either my wife, or my child," he told her, the last time he went to her cabin behind the tavern. "How can I ever thank you?"
"The Lord is good," Jolly said simply, cuddling her own child. Then she hesitated a moment, and asked, "When are Master Benjamin and Miss Felicity goin' back to the plantation?"
"Not until after Felicity has her baby in March, and is well enough again to travel," Charles told her. "Why do you ask?"
"They need to get back as quick as they can. There's devilment awork in this town," Jolly said. "The colored folks hears things that other folks don't. I know Master Benjamin ain't said nothing to no one in town about that old snake he found in his barn, but it didn't get there by itself."
"Do you know who put it there?" Charles asked, looking at her keenly.
"I has some suspicions, but I can't say. You know how it is, Master Charles."
"No, I do not know. If someone is trying to harm my brother-in-law or my sister-in-law, I would like to know who it is."
Jolly looked frightened. "I talk too much."
She would say nothing more. Frustrated, Charles repeated the conversation to Ben when he got home. Ben shrugged.
"I would not expect her to get involved. She is a good darkie, but she is probably afraid. If she and her husband are trying to earn their freedom, they have to be careful. Anger the right person, and she could probably get sold right out of town. Campbell's hard up for cash right now, or he wouldn't have sold her husband. He was wonderful with the horses when guests came to the tavern." Ben thought for a moment. "At least we know now that someone is specifically targeting either me or Lissie. That is what I thought, but at least now I know for sure, and I can keep an eye out."
"You were doing that anyway," Charles pointed out.
"Yes, but not having to worry about the rest of you helps a bit." Ben decided not to tell Felicity what the other woman had said. It wouldn't help and it might hurt. He didn't want Felicity getting too upset now that it was almost her time. But he tried to keep her in the house as much as possible, and when he went back to the plantation the first week of February, he did not stay as long as he would have under other circumstances. He made sure the field hands knew what was expected of them as far as the spring planting went. He checked with Saul to see how the mares that were with foal were doing, and then headed back to Williamsburg by the end of the week. Once the planting actually started, he and Bryce were going to take turns staying in town.
Elizabeth was determined to stay in town through March, so she could be there when Felicity's baby was born, but she was hoping to be well enough by then to return to the plantation with Bryce and Anne soon after.
With Nan on the mend, and Elizabeth's baby well born, there was less to worry about in the Williamsburg house. Everyone in the family was anxious for the newest Davidson to arrive. Felicity tried to keep busy sewing new clothes for Matthew to wear in the spring, but as she neared her time, it got harder for her to sew. She couldn't sit still long enough to get much done, and she didn't have enough lap left to spread out any fabric. She was so longing for it to be over.