The Schooner Bay Home for Invalid and Indigent Seamen:
Fortuna Figg Grover
Chapter 5:
After leaving the window shade down and attempting to put the scene she had just witnessed out her mind, Mrs. Muir sat down with Phyllida Cooper in her office. The door had been firmly closed the door behind her. That was a sign to everyone in the house that she was most definitely not to be disturbed.
"So, Phyllida, how far along are you?"
"I think about five months. The doctor that I saw in Trieste agreed with my estimate."
Carolyn nodded. It looked like that was an accurate guess. "And how have you been feeling? Any unusual problems?"
"No," responded Phyllida, smiling. "Once the morning sickness ended, I felt quite good. And of course, I could stop wearing my corset! No, I'd say my biggest problem was quickly ordering clothes that I could wear in public."
The older woman nodded, understanding full well that society pretended not to be aware that women became pregnant through the sex act. A young woman who was obviously with child only reminded them of the issue. Therefore, dressmakers typically made dresses that hid a woman's growing belly by creating the most fantastical and large shirtwaists and bodices that they could. By the fourth month the mother-to-be would look very well endowed. By the seventh month, she would look like a fully rigged clipper ship. By the eighth month she would stay within the confines of her home until the baby arrived so that no one outside the immediate family would be aware of her "delicate condition".
Phyllida seemed healthy and apparently her trip back across the Atlantic hadn't been the least problem for her. Carolyn took a few measurements, listened to the baby's heartbeat, and laid out her recommendations for the remaining months.
After slightly more than a half-hour, Carolyn escorted Phyllida to the door and wished her well on her trip home. She whirled around, knowing that Captain Gregg had materialized right behind her.
"My dear, allow me to explain."
She marched into the kitchen, the Captain trailing in her wake like a rowboat trailing a larger vessel. Martha and Hannibal had started on preparations for the rest of the day's meals but stopped as they saw the woman and the specter walk between them as if they weren't there. Mrs. Muir went to the washroom between the kitchen and the back door, to wash her hands with the strong laundry soap kept there. Turning quickly and shaking her hands, the water from them splashed right through the Captain, leaving small droplets on the wooden floor.
"I do not wish to speak with you, Captain Gregg." She marched back through the kitchen to the coffee pot on the stove.
"Oh Mrs. Muir, that's left over from breakfast," Martha said quickly, hoping that maybe this mundane interference might settle the couple a bit. "Let me make you a new pot. It's no trouble at all."
"That's alright Martha. No point in throwing it out." She filled a cup with the last of the coffee, placed it on a saucer, and resumed her march to her office.
The captain was flabbergasted. "All you wanted to do before was talk! You wanted to tell me about your hurt feelings, you wanted my reassurances that Fortuna is no threat to how I feel toward you, didn't you? And now, you don't want to talk?!"
They had reached the door to Carolyn's office. She went inside and slammed the door in Daniel's face. Of course, he could have walked right through it, but even he knew that would only inflame the situation more.
"I never understood females when I was alive, and I understand them still less now that I'm a spirit!" he yelled.
The sky around Gull Cottage darkened to an inky blackness, alleviated only by a large slash of lightning. It was followed less than a second later by a peal of thunder so loud and menacing that it shook the house violently, sending those on the upper floors running downstairs in terror.
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Fortuna had left the environs of Gull Cottage long before even her daughter had taken her own leave. She was glad at first, that she had walked from her mansion on the other side of town. She needed the walk back to settle things in her mind. Once she came down the hill from the Seamen's Home, she had a choice of which street to take to cross to the other side of the village. There was Front Street with the rebuilt large dock, the new Port Master's Office, the small dock, and the shipwright's shop on the shore. On the other side of the street was the Callan cousin's blacksmith and farrier's building, the fishmonger's, the greengrocers, the general store/Post Office, and where the shore took a turn westward, occupying the three sides of the end of the block, was the chandler's. Even at the early hour, a lot of people were on the street where there was still some reconstruction and repair after the summer's fire going on. Fortuna had no desire to be seen or spoken with and contemplated the other two streets that comprised the village. The farthest street, between the Schooner Bay Grammar School and Mr. Grayson's stable was too far out of her way. Behind the school ran the railroad tracks leading to the village's railroad station and a warehouse, so the area was dirty as well unnecessarily distant. On the other side of the tracks, the hill behind town began to ascend sharply. Summer cottages had been quickly built there over the years, but at this time of year many had already been closed up. However some landlords rented these small, rickety houses year-round to the poorest in the district.
That left First Street.
It was the "best" street in Schooner Bay's business district. Like Front Street on its eastern side, it followed the contour of the shoreline. On the east side of the street was the cloak maker, a haberdasher, a dressmaker and tailor's establishment and Pierce & Long's Ladies Emporium. Pierce & Long sold fabrics, notions, hats, perfumes, and powders. Toward the back, behind a doorway draped in dark pink velvet was the corset section. Mrs. Pierce laughingly called it "The Corseterium" and herself, "The Corsetiere". Mrs. Pierce was a very strong woman and could reliably lace the average lady's waste to 18 inches. She always laced Fortuna's down to 17 inches, but at home, Fortuna would let it out an inch or so. Thinking of this made her aware of the corset she was wearing under her second-best visiting outfit. She had been desperately trying not to think about it because the metal stays were starting to rub the tops of her hips and gouge into her ribs.
The west side of First Street housed her husband's bank. Grover's Bank of Schooner Bay took up more than half of the block, and while it was early, especially for a banking establishment, Fortuna hurried by. Beyond Thaddeus's domain was a professional building with offices for several lawyers, cargo jobbers and one lone dentist, "Painless Dr. Farless". Next to that was Cooper's Construction and then the Village Hall. An odd-shaped alley came next due to the turn in the street across from the three-sided chandler's shop. At the other side of the alley was the Schooner Bay Inn. At this time of year, there were few visitors, but the restaurant and tap room were reliably busy all year round.
This left a wide-open plaza of sorts with the Church, the Parsonage, and the cemetery on the other side. Between the shoreline and the church property was the road that led to the large homes of the Figg, Grover and Cooper families.
By the time Fortuna climbed the stairs to her boudoir, she was exhausted, dirty, somewhat disheveled and in some significant pain from her damned corset. Mamie, the upstairs maid who also took care of her clothes and helped dress her from time to time, saw her enter her bedroom and came running.
"Missus, where have you been that you look like that? Here, give me you gown, and I'll brush it out good as new and I'll go get you a basin of water with the rose scent you like so you can wash up."
Fortuna remembered to thank the young woman and began to remove her clothing. Once she got down to the tightly laced corset, Mamie returned with the basin and began to help release the lacings. Once they got down to the chemise, the younger woman gasped; the metal stays had made holes in the cotton and rubbed the skin raw in several different places. Fortuna almost began to yell and vent her anger on the servant, but with a deep sigh, just waved her away.
After a well-deserved nap and a light lunch, Fortuna sat down at her desk and wrote out a carefully worded note to her daughter and son-in-law apologizing for her previous behavior. It was a difficult undertaking because it was so unlike her, but she did her best. The hoped-for reconciliation did not come overnight, but by the time the baby arrived, they at least were on speaking terms.
At dinner, Thaddeus was surprised to find that his wife was actually paying attention to him as he told her about his day. Fortuna said nothing about her own activities, which was unusual as well, but he could tell that she was making an effort to be more sociable for whatever reason. Regardless of the cause, it was the most relaxed meal they had shared since Phyllida's wedding and that made him happy
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The sky over Gull Cottage remained dark and menacing until after lunch. By the time most of the men woke from their post-meal naps, the afternoon had turned beautifully sunny with not a cloud in the sky.
Carolyn had been sitting with Amy in her office after lunch to discuss Phyllida Cooper's pregnancy. Since her marriage to Red, the younger woman had become a sort of assistant to the matron when she went to deliver a baby. Amy was more than willing to run up and down stairs bringing up linens and basins of water. She would warm the towels to lay the newborn in, prepare the cradle, hold the laboring woman's hand, and wipe her brow. It was usually into Amy's waiting arms covered in warm towels and blankets that Carolyn would place the newborn, and while she worked to deliver the afterbirth, Amy would clean the baby before handing it to its mother. As a recognition of her service, Carolyn would allow Amy to announce the successful births and reveal the baby's gender. However, if the baby was stillborn, unable to live or handicapped, the young woman was the soul of discretion. In those cases, she would never reveal to anyone, even Red or her brother Reverend Whitman, what she had seen during the delivery. She would just quietly go about her duties and make the poor baby look as sweet as possible.
She took special note of the handicapped infants. There weren't many at the time in Schooner Bay. The town had good fresh air and water, and even the poorest could afford decent, wholesome food. But every year a baby or two would be born with a handicap. Some were physical and some were intellectual. After Red passed away, Amy opened a small school where she could teach these children their A,B,Cs, to count to 10 and they could learn their colors and shapes. She encouraged them to speak and walk and gave them uncompromising love. Even today, she is remembered in the village and there is a small garden by Wren Cottage dedicated to her memory and the vegetable plot she and her students started nearby has become a Community Garden.
Amy was always happy to hear that a baby was due, and she left Carolyn's office in high spirits. She stepped out onto the front porch where old Nate Douglas and Sam Tudor were enjoying their pipes but ran back into the house and grabbed the nurse and dragged her outside.
There, in the middle of a perfectly clear blue sky was a large and deeply colored rainbow. The women and the seamen stood at the edge of the porch, overcome by the sight. It was quite obvious that this was no natural-made rainbow, just as the storm that morning hadn't been a normal meteorological phenomenon. Carolyn shook her head. Some men would give a woman flowers, candy or even jewelry. The man she loved gave her rainbows.