Prince Edward Island

"What were you and Mrs. Rinehart talking about all evening?" said Anne after she and Gilbert parted from the Fords at the train station after the dinner party.

"Oh, just general stuff about medicine," said Gilbert.

"Indeed?" said Anne. "Mrs. Rinehart was the guest of honor at an event full of literary types. I'm surprised that you took so much of her time to talk about medicine."

Gilbert said, "Yeah, well, she's the wife of a physician and a trained nurse. We had a lot to talk about."

Anne said, "Oh, I see. Since she's a trained nurse. And I'm not a trained nurse."

Gilbert said, "Now, Anne. You're making this into something that it's not. You don't even like to talk about medical matters."

Anne said, "It's a shame that you didn't marry a trained nurse, Gil."

Gilbert said, "I'm done discussing this, Anne."

The couple walked the rest of the way to Ingleside in silence.

They went to bed barely speaking.

At about 3 in the morning, the phone rang. Medical emergency for Dr. Blythe to handle. Gilbert jumped out of bed and into his clothes to handle whatever it was that he needed to handle. Anne muttered something, then rolled over and fell back asleep.

As Gilbert hurried to his call, he remembered something that Mrs. Rinehart had said about the "bad hours before dawn" in the hospital. He had understood in the way that only someone else who stood kept vigil in the "bad hours before dawn" would understand. Maybe he should have married a trained nurse, after all. Someone who would understand.

Gilbert shook himself. This was not fair to Anne. She, too, had suffered. For Pete's sake, she spent the first part of her life in and out of Hopetown asylum!

Gilbert pulled up to the house with the late-night medical call, the house with the fully lit rooms. Time to get to work.

Later that morning

"Leslie, we need to talk," said Owen the morning after the dinner party at the Barrett Fowler residence.

Leslie put down her mending. "I'm all ears."

"Leslie, the boys at the Charlottetown Guardian have an assignment for me. If it goes as planned, we can get the story to go national. Maybe international. I can use the press to promote my new book."

"Oh, my. International. This must be a big story," said Leslie, getting nervous.

Owen paused. "Love, the boys want me to go undercover. At the Prince Edward Island Hospital for the Insane."

"Owen? The Prince Edward Island Hospital for the Insane? What in the world, Owen?"

Owen said, "The boys at the Guardian have connections that can get me into the facility. As a patient. Under a different name, of course. Owen Ford won't be on the patient rolls. And these connections can get me out after a few days. Then I will write up a big expose. There have been a lot of rumors about abuse there, love. I can be the one who blows the whistle on everything that goes on there."

Leslie said, "But what if something goes wrong? What if they don't let you out?"

Owen said, "They'll let me out, love. Nellie Bly – you know, the journalist for the World – did a similar feat in New York a few years ago. It put her in the spotlight. It was good for her career. And, of course, she highlighted the abuses at the psychiatric hospital in New York City. Her article spurred a lot of changes there."

"This is about money, isn't it?" said Leslie. "The book isn't going to be published as quickly as we had hoped. Owen, it's okay. We're okay right now. Anne lent me some money – "

"Anne lent you money?" said Owen.

"Well, not a lot of money. It was so that I could go to the market – "

Owen said, "Are you serious, Leslie? You borrowed money from the Blythes? Then it's settled. I'm going to do this."

Meanwhile, at Ingleside

Gilbert arrived back at Ingleside and his own bed.

"She lived," he said to Anne. "She should recover."

Anne said, "Gilbert, darling, I'm so sorry. About last night. I'm sorry that I was such a harpy. It's just – Mrs. Barrett Fowler wouldn't shut up about Christine Stuart – Christine Dawson. It seems that Mrs. Barrett Fowler is a close friend of the elegant Mrs. Dawson's. Really close. And it turns out that when Mrs. Dawson was in Charlottetown, she just would not stop talking about how Dr. Blythe was the best beau that she ever had, and she regrets not taking him when she had the chance. I just could not take it any longer. And then I got upset when I realized that you and the famous Mrs. Rinehart were so deep in conversation that even Dr. Rinehart couldn't pull her away. I'm sorry, Gil."

"It is of no consequence, Anne-girl," said Gilbert. "All's forgiven. I'm going to bed now. Man, I'm tired."