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AN: A lot has happened in my life since I started writing this. I was never going to publish this story with a strict schedule, but it now has been 5 years. And now, finally, I felt like I needed to write something again. I do have an outline for this story, but I cannot promise how fast or if I am ever going to finish this fic.
There wasn't really a turning point. The fever didn't break. It ebbed and flowed. A storm with incredible steep inclines and plummeting depths, each wave threateninh death. But in time the waves came less frequent and with less intensity. Until it seem that the turbulent temperature had finally calmed for good.
But what a price Mary had paid. Her body had given everything in its fight for survival. There was nothing left to give for her recovery. And so she did not improve as everyone had hoped. Long after everyone else in the house had recovered, Mary still lay there. Her body weak and her mind numb.
She was hardly able to sit up. A few sentences. A brief inquiry after her health. Anything beyond that was too much of a strain for her.
It felt like stasis. An unnatural state where Matthew didn't know what she wished. He knew his heart. That he loved Mary beyond comparison. But he had bargained with God that he would marry Lavinia, while his fiancee had fought her own fight with death. It felt wrong to go back in his promise. He was fearful what consequences such a broken promise might bring. Who would be punished for his betrayal.
And Mary - she was still engaged to Carlisle. She hadn't given any indication that she had changed her mind and would break off her engagement. She accepted his presence in her room day after day. Letting him read his horrid newspapers to her. Falling asleep after only a few sentences.
Doctor Clarkson, Isobel and Sybil had tried everything they could think of to improve her health and had referred her to a London colleague, too. But no one knew how to help her. Time and good food where the recommendations. Yet, so far it had done very little for her. Violet was insisting that Mary should remove to some continental spa town or another, taking the waters and enjoying a milder climate. While Robert steadfastly refused to entertain the idea; afraid, that the travel would be too much for Mary and she would perish far from home.