“Maybe he’ll make an exception. I’ve got to try.” She left the room at once, and Lowell said, “There’s your chance, Zara. Go up and pamper Maria.”
“All right. I will.”
Leonie was leaving, bundled up in two coats, when Mrs. Danvers appeared. “Oh, Mrs. Danvers,” she said, “I’m going into town to get the doctor.”
“She’s worse, isn’t she?”
“I don’t think she’s any better. She wants Dr. Duvall.”
“He won’t come. I can tell you that now.”
“Well, I have to try. If he can’t come, I’ll find another one.”
Mrs. Danvers stared at the young woman. “Do you know any doctors?”
“No, but Reverend Mother at the convent will. I’ll ask her.”
Mrs. Danvers brushed her hand across her face in a futile gesture. “She has an affection for Dr. Duvall. He saved Master Ives’s life when he was just a boy.”
Although Leonie was in a hurry, she stopped. Anything about her father was fascinating to her. “What was he like as a boy— Mr. Ives?”
“A good boy and a good man.” Something seemed to change in Mrs. Danvers. The sternness of her face broke, and she touched her cheek and said, “I—I haven’t been too kind to you, Leonie, but there are some who try to take advantage of Lady Maria. I thought you might be one of those.”
“Oh, certainly not.”
“No. I can see you wouldn’t.” Mrs. Danvers looked upstairs and whispered, “She’s very lonely now. If you can bring her any cheer, I’ll say amen.”
Lowell watched her go from the window. Julius drove up in a buggy. The black man got out and handed Leonie in, then took his seat again and drove off at a fast clip. I’d give anything to know what Aunt’s will says now, but Maria won’t tell anybody. He thought for a moment about his future, which seemed particularly bleak. I’d hate to have to go to work for a living or marry an ugly, rich woman for her money. He had no illusions about himself. He was a wastrel and lived totally for his own gratification. He thought about Leonie for a moment, and smiled. I may have to court Leonie if she’s going to hold the purse strings. Shouldn’t be too hard. She couldn’t have had too many handsome fellows such as myself chasing after her. She wouldn’t be hard to handle, either.
He began to whistle and then walked out to the stables and mounted his favorite horse. A few minutes later he was riding out over the fields of Belle Fleur, wondering what it would be like to actually own all of it.
“Right there’s Dr. Duvall’s home, and his office is over there in that section built on,” Julius observed. He pulled up in front of the office section of the home and said, “Let me go find out if the doctor’s here.”
Leonie watched as the tall, black man went to the office door and knocked. Nobody came, but the door to the house opened, and a black woman came out. Leonie watched as the two spoke briefly.
Julius came back, got up in the buggy, and said, “Dr. Duvall is able to see nobody. He’s a pretty sick man himself. What’ll I do now, Miss?”
“Go to the convent, Julius.”
“I’m so glad to see you, Leonie, and you look so well.” The mother superior embraced the young woman. “You’re happy there at Belle Fleur?”
“Well, I guess I am.”
“You don’t sound quite sure.”
“I don’t suppose I’ll be sure until it’s settled.”
The older woman studied Leonie’s face. “How do you feel about it?”
“I feel as if that’s my place. All of the pictures of my father, that is, of Ives Augustine, look like me—or should I say, I look like him. I don’t know, it just feels right to me. I’ve talked to so many people there who actually knew my father, and some knew my mother too. It’s been so strange.”
“And how does Lady Augustine feel?”
“She doesn’t say much. She’s very ill right now, and that’s why I came to town.”
“Not serious, I hope.”
“I think it might be. I went to see Dr. Duvall, but he couldn’t go.”
“Oh no. He hasn’t seen any patients now for six months.”
“I thought that perhaps you could recommend someone.”
“It’s a bad time, Leonie. The scarlet fever is everywhere, it seems. It would be very difficult to get a doctor to make a call that far away.”
“Don’t you know anyone?”
The mother superior thought for a moment. “One of our girls grew very ill recently. We had to do something, so I called on a young physician who had just gone into practice in New Orleans. His name is Shef field. He came, and it’s a good thing he did. He had to operate on the young woman, and he saved her life.”
“I’ll go to him at once,” Leonie said firmly.
The older woman took a piece of paper and wrote on it, saying, “Here’s his address. Remember, I don’t know much about him except that he helped us out a great deal.”
“Thank you, Reverend Mother. I’ll go at once.”
Chapter twelve
A cold wind brushed across Leonie’s face. October had brought the coldest temperatures she could remember. She was sure that in days to come, people would talk about the winter of ’33 as one of the bitterest that they ever experienced. “There’s a blanket in the back if you need to wrap up more, Miss Leonie.”
“No, thank you, Julius.” Leonie smiled. “Actually the cold feels kind of good after the hot summer we had.”
“Yes, it does. The good Lord sends us hot summers and cold winters, so we won’t get bored.”
Leonie laughed. “You always think of something to say about the Lord, don’t you, Julius?”
“I guess I do, Miss.” Julius smiled. The sun lighted his dark face, and his hands looked huge as they held the lines guiding the horses. “The Lord is about all there is in my life. You know, I just live to praise the Lord.”
Curious about that statement, Leonie sat quietly for a while. “How do you praise the Lord, Julius?”
“Why, Miss, you know how to do that. You’re a Christian.”
“I know, but when I hear you talk about praising the Lord, I feel as if there’s something I’m not doing.”
“Well, you read the Psalms.”
“Of course I have many times, but that doesn’t seem to help much.”
“Well, let me ask you this. Do you remember the time when David brought the ark back to Jerusalem after it had been in the camp of the enemy for a long time?”
“Yes. I remember that.”
“Do you remember what David did?”
Leonie thought. “I can’t really remember. It’s been a long time.”
“The Bible says that David danced before the Lord with all his might. Ain’t that somethin’ now? Dancing with all his might! I sure would like to have seen old David do that!”
“We don’t having anything like that in our services, I’m afraid. If anyone did it, he or she probably would be considered crazy.”
“Well, I don’t think they’d be crazy. If David did it, it must be all right. He was the man after God’s own heart. But just think about the Psalms, Miss. Can’t you just hear David when he shouted, ‘The King shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!’ Can’t you just hear him shoutin’ like that? That’s in Psalm 21. Psalm 33 says, ‘Praise the LORD with harp. Sing unto him with a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.’ Ain’t that f ine, Miss? With a loud noise. That’s the way I like to praise the Lord.”
“But what do you say?”
“Why, I say what the Bible says: ‘Praise the Lord. Glory to God in the highest. Blessed be the Lord, O my soul.’ I just tell God how good He is and how much I love Him.”
Leonie sat quietly listening to Julius, whose face shone with excitement. She felt a desire growing in her to be as close to God as he was.
“You’ll have to come to our church sometime, Miss.”
“Do white people ever c
ome?”
“Not very often, but you’d sure be welcome.”
“I’d like to do that, Julius.”
“You come to my church, and then someday I’ll get to come to yours.”
Leonie could not help thinking, He wouldn’t get much in the way of dancing and loud shouting and singing at Mass.
“There it is, Miss. That’s the address written down on the paper. Sure is sorry, ain’t it?”
Indeed, the section of town that Julius had brought her to was pathetic. The houses were leaning on each other so they almost appeared to be holding each other up. The yards were filled with trash and litter. Here and there a group of children tried to play but seemed almost too feeble to do it.
“This is awful!”
“It’s pretty bad, but that’s where the doctor’s office is. Right there.”
Stopping the horses, Julius got down and walked around. He reached up, and her small hand was lost in his. “Reckon I’d better go in with you?”
“No, I don’t think I’ll be long, Julius. All I need to do is ask the doctor if he’ll come to Belle Fleur.”
“He must not be a very successful doctor if this is his office,” Julius muttered.
Leonie felt somewhat the same, but he was a doctor after all. She looked at the paper again. “Dr. Ransom Sheffield,” she whispered aloud, then she went up to the door and hesitated. Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside. The warm air struck her, for a stove was burning at the far end of the room. Chairs lined the walls, and she saw at a glance half a dozen patients waiting—all poor people. She waited for a nurse or a receptionist, but finally an old man looked up at her and nodded. “You have to take your turn, Miss. The doctor will see you then.”
“Thank you.” Leonie stepped outside to invite Julius to come in from the wind. Then she took her seat and wondered how long she would have to wait. The room itself was bare except for a worn carpet, and there were several pictures on the wall. One of them was of two children about to fall through a dangerous hole in a bridge, but a bright angel above was reaching down to save them. Leonie smiled briefly and thought how much the angel looked like her earliest concepts of angels, bright and strong and powerful-looking.
After about twenty minutes, an older woman came out of the inner office, and a man got up stiffly and walked in to take her place without being told.
The door let in the icy breeze when the patient left, and a woman with three small children shook her head. “It’s so cold out there,” she whispered.
“Yes, it is,” Leonie said. She looked at the woman more closely and saw the pinch of hunger on her face. She was a thin woman, not old, but worn by work and sickness apparently. One of the children was able to walk, but the other two were infants. The woman was trying to hold both of them, and Leonie said, “Let me help you.” She got up, went over, and said, “I can hold this fellow right here.”
“He’s not very clean.”
“That’s all right.” Leonie smiled. She took the baby and stood for a while, rocking him in her arms. The baby started to cry, but when she whispered to him, he opened his eyes and stared at her owlishly. She walked around the floor singing under her breath, and finally she went over to the mother and said, “He’s a beautiful baby.”
“Thank you.”
“Is he sick?”
“No. That’s Timmy. George here is sick.” She nodded toward the infant she held in her arms. “And Leah there, she’s getting whatever he has.”
“I’m sure the doctor will be able to help.”
“I hope so.”
“Have you seen Dr. Sheffield before?”
“No, I haven’t. Have you?”
“No. I’ve never met him.”
The woman was staring at her. “You don’t look like you belong here.”
Leonie looked up from the infant and said, “What do you mean?”
“I mean nobody but poor people come here. I came because my neighbor told me that Dr. Sheffield would treat people that didn’t have any money. I hope it’s true.”
“It’s true enough,” said a tall, skinny man who was leaning back with his head against the wall, his eyes shut. He had a deep bass voice that didn’t seem to go with his emaciated body. “He ain’t a society doctor.”
“Why, I never heard of a doctor like that,” Leonie said.
“Neither did I, but I hope it’s true. I hate it when my children are sick.”
Leonie held the baby until finally the room cleared out. The women and her three children were the last ones. As the tall, skinny man left with a bottle of medicine clasped in his hand, he said, “You can go in now.”
The young woman struggled to her feet. “I’ll take Timmy now.”
“Oh, let me go in with you. I can hold him.”
“That would be kind.”
“My name is Helen Finch.”
“I’m Leonie Dousett.”
The two women entered the inner office, which was brightly lit with kerosene lamps. A tall man in a white jacket had his back to them, arranging a series of bottles on the shelf. He turned and smiled. “Well, ladies, what do we have here? I’m Dr. Sheffield.”
“I’m Helen Finch, Doctor. My children. They’re sick.”
“Well, let’s see what we can do about that. All of them?”
“Not this one but the other two are.”
As the doctor came over and plucked the infant from Helen’s arms, Leonie took a good look at him. He was tall and lanky with coarse, black hair that needed trimming. He had blue eyes widely spaced, and he was rather a homely man, not at all handsome. Still, there was a strength in his face, and his broad lips turned up at the corners in a smile. “Well, let’s see what’s going on here, young fellow.”
For the next twenty minutes Dr. Sheffield examined all three of the children and finally turned to the mother. “Mrs. Finch, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. There’s a mild flu bug going around, but it doesn’t seem to be serious.”
“I thought—I thought it might be scarlet fever.”
“No. I can tell you it’s not that. I’m going to give you some medicine, and I want you to be sure that they get plenty to eat and stay warm. Keep them in for a few days.”
Leonie saw the woman’s face change when the doctor said to feed the children well. When Dr. Sheffield turned to fill a bottle with brown fluid, she reached into her reticule and pulled out a couple of coins. “Here,” she whispered, “buy something good for the children to eat.”
Helen Finch’s eyes misted over. “I would like to be proud, but I’ll take it for the children’s sake. God bless you.”
Dr. Sheffield overheard the exchange. He turned and handed the bottle to Helen Finch, saying, “There. A teaspoonful of this three times a day for all of them. Come back and see me if they don’t get better.”
“I don’t have any money, Doctor.”
“Well, in that case you’ll have to pay me in something besides money.”
Confusion swept across the woman’s face. “What do you mean?”
“Why don’t you just pray for me? I need it.”
“I’ll do that, Doctor. God knows I will, and thank you.” The woman left bearing two children, with the third hanging onto her skirts.
Dr. Sheffield looked at Leonie with surprise. “Aren’t you going with her?”
“No. I don’t really know her.”
“Why, I thought you two were together.”
“No. My name is Leonie Dousett, Doctor. I live at Belle Fleur. That’s a plantation about two hours’ drive from here. Lady Maria Augustine is very ill, and she needs to see a doctor.”
“Doesn’t she have a physician?”
“Well, Dr. Duvall was her doctor, but he’s not making calls anymore.”
“No, I understand he’s retired. Well, I’m sorry to tell you that I don’t have any way to get there.”
“Oh, I have a carriage outside. We will take you and bring you back if you’ll just come.”
Ransom
Sheff ield studied the young woman. “Are you related to Lady Augustine?”
Leonie could not speak for a moment. “It’s—it’s a little bit complicated, Doctor.”
“It is? I think it’d be simple enough. But we can talk about it on the way. Let me put a notice on the door and then get my coat and my gear and my bag, and we’ll be on our way.”
Leonie waited as the doctor began to stock his bag, but even as he did, she heard a door slam.
“Another patient. You’ll have to wait, I’m afraid,” Dr. Sheffield said.
“That’s all right, doctor.”
Dr. Sheffield stepped to the door and opened it and exclaimed, “Man, what happened to you?”
Leonie stood back as a man came through the door. He had blood all over the shirt he wore and was holding his neck and his side. “I got cut up in a fight.”
“Here. Lie down here, man. You’re losing blood fast. When did this happen?”
“About—half hour,” the man said and then collapsed.
Ransom Sheff ield turned quickly. “Miss Dousett, is it?”
“Yes.”
“I need your help. Can you hold this cloth right here on his neck? He’s bleeding from the artery there. He’ll die if it’s not stopped.”
Instantly Leonie moved forward and held her hand firmly on the wound. It was spurting so that it got on the front of her dress and the outer lapels of her coat, but that did not seem to matter. She watched as Dr. Sheffield cut the man’s shirt open with scissors and gasped when she saw the terrible cut.
“This is going to be tricky. Can you hold on there?”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“You won’t be sick and faint?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Good girl.”
Later, Leonie did not remember too much about the rest of her visit with Dr. Sheffield. She had never seen a doctor in action in such a case, but she watched as he sewed up wounds, and by the time he was through, both of them were covered with blood.
“There. I think he’ll live, but he’s lost a lot of blood.”
“What will you do with him?”
“We’ll have to take him to the hospital. That is, unless I stay with him.”
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