The Most Unsuitable Wife

by Caroline Clemmons

  Pearl threw the corset aside and joined her sister. Blood soaked the tops of Lily's stockings and streaked down her calves. Pearl almost gagged at the putrid odor. "Ugh. Something serious is wrong here.”

  Together they slipped the sodden hose from Lily's legs and dropped them into a basin from the dresser. They worked off layers of petticoats, some streaked with blood. "You'd better get some clean bedding, Sarah. We're going to have to pad the bed to protect the mattress.”

  At the light rap on the door, Sarah slid out and Belle slipped into the room.

  "Grandpa wanted me to stay at the party, but I have to tell you about Lily. She wouldn't let Dr. Percival examine her properly."

  "Why?” Pearl asked, but she suspected she knew.

  "I don't know. She told him about being so tired, but I don't know what else she told him. Of course, the problem today has been the heavy bleeding."

  "Yes, the bleeding. I wonder how long it's gone on?” Pearl remembered the pale skin, dull hair. Changes like that took more than a few days.

  "I don't know, but at least a couple of weeks. It seems to me it's not like her monthlies, lots more."

  "Has she had pain?"

  "Yes, at first. That was before the bleeding started, though. Or maybe when it first started. She had terrible cramping. So bad she could hardly stand up."

  Lily's eyes fluttered and her gaze met Pearl's. At once anger sparked. "What are you doing?” She looked at her unclothed body and gasped, "What's going on here?"

  Belle stepped forward. "You fainted at the party. Drake brought you upstairs."

  Lily glared at Pearl before she spoke to Belle. "I won't have her poking at me or pouring any of her evil concoctions into me."

  "We've sent for Dr. Percival," Pearl assured her, averting an argument.

  "You get back to your party guests, Belle. I'm fine now.” Lily tried to rise, only to fall back on the pillows. "Maybe I'll just rest here awhile."

  Sarah returned, arms laden with bedding. Pearl nodded at Belle, motioning her to leave. Drake stood his post in the hallway, awaiting the doctor's arrival.

  She couldn't bear seeing anyone suffer, so Pearl brought a cool, damp cloth to Lily. "Let me make you as comfortable as possible while we wait for Dr. Percival.” She reached to wipe Lily's brow, but the woman rolled into a ball.

  Drake's knock on the door alerted them to the doctor's arrival. Pearl gave Lily's shoulder what she hoped was a comforting pat. "Here's the doctor now to examine you.”

  Lily's eyes, when she met Pearl's glance, were glazed with fear. "No! I don't want to see him. I don't want to see anyone.”

  Lily's protests came too late. The doctor strode across the room and set his bag on the bed.

  "Well, well. How's the patient?” He rummaged in the black leather satchel and extracted his stethescope. "What brought on this spell?"

  "I told you I've been extremely tired lately. I think I did a bit too much getting ready for tonight's party."

  He nodded. "It was a grand affair. I was barely home when your father's man came for me. Now, let's see what's going on here."

  The doctor's examination took only a few minutes. When he asked Lily about her monthlies and requested he be allowed to examine her, her face became a mask. "No, I'll not have you poking into me.” She clutched the sheet to her and struggled to sit. "I tell you I just got too tired, but I'll be fine by tomorrow.”

  Dr. Percival pursed his lips, obviously reluctant to leave a patient in such distress. "Mrs. Kincaid, may I speak with you privately?"

  After a glance at Sarah, Pearl followed him into the hallway.

  "Mrs. Stephens refuses to cooperate with me for treatment. She's keeping secrets from me, so I've not been able to help her. Maybe she'll confide in another woman."

  "Perhaps, but I doubt it will be me.” Pearl shook her head. She couldn't imagine Lily confiding in her. If Lily sought anyone's confidence it would be Belle's. "You may already know she resents me, and she has a very low opinion of my healing."

  "I've seen some good results from your efforts right here in Kincaid Springs. Bear with me and I'll see if I can convince Mrs. Stephens to become your patient. Lord knows I'm weary to death of uncooperative patients who won't follow my advice and then blame me when they don't get well."

  Pleased with his endorsement, Pearl assured him, "I'll do whatever I can, whatever she'll let me do, but I don't think she'll even want me in the same room."

  "Ask the Judge to come up and wait here by the door, then you come back into her room."

  With Grandpa at his post in the hallway, Pearl slipped back into Lily's room. Lily and the doctor argued while Sarah stood nearby and twisted a handkerchief in her hands.

  Dr. Percival reached into his bag and removed a large jar. Pearl recognized the leaches at once and suppressed a shudder.

  Lily yelled and waved her hands, "Get those away from me. Get away, do you hear?"

  "Very well. Calm yourself. I must speak to your father, but you're in no state to be left alone. Mrs. Kincaid, will you stay with Mrs. Stephens while I speak to the Judge?” He snapped his bag closed with finality and took it with him.

  Pearl nodded and the doctor stepped into the hall and closed the door behind him. They heard Grandpa ask about Lily. The doctor's answer came as a shock.

  "Is there any history of insanity in your family?"

  Pearl heard Grandpa laugh. "There's some might eccentric folks in the Kincaid clan, but no outright madness."

  "I believe Mrs. Stephens is suffering from nervous lunacy. She needs rest and close supervision. She'll have to be sedated for some time until her nerves can recover. I don't believe she needs to be institutionalized, but certainly she needs extreme quiet. No visitors, of course, and no excitement of any kind.”

  Lily's eyes widened and she let loose a scream. "Crazy? Crazy, am I? Get him out of this house. Out, I say, and right now."

  The doctor opened the door long enough to say, "I'll bid you good night and leave you in Mrs. Kincaid's care."

  With a muffled moan, Lily began weeping. She mumbled something unintelligible between sobs.

  Pearl pulled a chair beside the bed and sat down. "I can't understand you. Stop crying and talk to me."

  Lily stopped sobbing long enough to wipe at her tears. When their gazes met, Pearl was shocked at the despair she saw in Lily's eyes. Pearl leaned forward and took Lily's hand.

  "What can I do to help?"

  "Oh, Pearl, I've done such a terrible and foolish thing. I didn't want anyone to know, but I'm so frightened I might die."

  "Tell me what's wrong."

  Lily glanced at Sarah and back to Pearl.

  Taking her cue from her sister's nod, Sarah said, "I'll go down and make you some tea, Lily."

  When they were alone, Lily said, "Don't let me die. I'm so frightened. Please, Pearl, don't let me die."

  "I can't help you unless you tell me what's happening to you."

  "Something's gone terribly wrong inside me. It's a punishment, I know, but I don't want to die."

  "Lily, you're not making sense. Start at the first and tell me everything."

  "No, no, it's too terrible.” When Pearl insisted, Lily covered her face with her hands.

  Pearl moved to sit on the edge of the bed and took Lily's hands in hers. A terrible suspicion had formed in her mind. "All right, let me guess, then. It involves a man."

  Lily's eyes widened with surprise. "How did you know?” With a heaving sigh, she confessed, "Yes. I was foolish—in so many ways. I let myself be seduced by that smooth talking Frank Worthington. I thought he really cared for me."

  "And you found yourself expecting his child?"

  Lily tugged loose from Pearl's grasp and covered her face with her hands once again. "Yes. Oh, dear Lord, how could I have been so stupid?"

  "Did you tell the him? About the baby?"

  She lowered her hands, anger sprinkling color on her pallid cheeks. "He... he said he thought a widow would have known what to
do to prevent a child. You see, it wasn't me he wanted, it was a widow's experience."

  "That's despicable."

  "And a mistake. I hadn't all that much experience. Wes and I were only together two months before he went to war and got himself killed, and that was over fifteen years ago. Anyway, when I spoke of marriage, Frank laughed at me. He said when he married it would be to a younger woman, someone like Pamela Morris."

  "Oh, how mean of him. What did you do?"

  "The next part is even worse.” She refused to meet Pearl's eyes. "He arranged for me to get... something from the wife of one of his workers. She's some sort of voodoo woman from New Orleans and knows all kinds of potions and spells. Frank said it would take care of our little problem.” She opened the drawer of her bedstand and handed the remains of an herbal mixture to Pearl.

  "That's all it was to him—a little problem. My reputation would have been ruined, my life a shambles. And think what it would have done to Papa. Oh, I would never have been able to hold my head up in this town again."

  Pearl smelled the concoction and an even greater sadness fell on her. Lily must have been so desperate, must have felt so alone. "But it created other problems as well?”

  "I... I've been bleeding for several weeks. Yesterday, I thought I was dying.” Her sobs started anew.

  "And you might have. This works by poisoning the baby. It sometimes kills the mother as well. The bleeding is because your body knows the baby is dead and is trying to get rid of it.”

  "Oh, Pearl, you must hate me. I've been so horrible to you, and now this."

  "No. I'm a healer, not a judge."

  "What... what am I going to do? What will you do?"

  "I'll help your body finish what it's started, then I'll have to pack you inside to stop the bleeding. After that we'll build and purify your blood with herbs and a special diet.”

  She opened the drawer and replaced the packet before stepping to the door to ask Drake, "Would you bring up my medical bag?"

  Drake handed the worn black leather satchel through the narrow slit of open doorway. "Got it right here, honey. Storm brought it up earlier. We thought I should have it handy in case you needed it."

  "Thank you.” She forced a smile to reward his thoughtfulness. From the floor below music drifted up. The hum of voices was less now. Though it sounded as if the party continued, a few more partiers must have left for their homes.

  Drake cupped her face with one hand. "Lily all right?"

  "Yes, she's going to be fine, just fine.” She patted his hand and stepped back. "You go on back to the party. Enjoy yourself with Belle and Lex and let them know Lily's all right. Sarah will be back to help in a few minutes."

  After she had closed the door, she set the bag of medical supplies on the bedside chair. No use soiling her favorite dress. She unfastened the garment and stepped out of it, then discarded her petticoats as well. Wearing only her underthings, she set about her work. "The sooner we get started, the sooner you can rest.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Pearl crept into the room she and Drake had shared on their first night in Kincaid Springs. Her husband lay with eyes closed, only a sheet over the lower half of his body. A soft breeze drifted through the balcony door and toyed with the bedside lamp flame.

  The smell of death and decay had stayed with her after she left Lily's room. She dropped her clothing on a chair and stepped to the balcony. With her hands in the pockets of a wrapper borrowed from Lily, Pearl inhaled fresh air deep into her lungs. Floral scents floated on the night air but failed to erase death's stench from her memory.

  She loved healing, most of it. Nothing ever prepared her for the death of a child—wanted or unwanted. As if the loss of a baby were not tragic enough on its own, the event resurrected old pain from her own life. How fortunate she, Sarah, and Storm were that their mothers had not used Lily's solution.

  She heard the pad of bare feet on the floor behind her. Strong arms pulled her against her husband's chest.

  "Too tired to sleep?"

  She turned into his strong chest and the shelter of his arms. How wonderful it felt to place her cheek against his bare skin, to hear the strong beat of his heart beneath his muscled chest. "No, I think I could sleep for a week."

  "Lily going to be all right?"

  "Yes, I think so. She'll need a few days' rest."

  "She sleeping?"

  "Yes. Sarah's with her for now. I'll go back in a few hours."

  He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed. "Want to tell me what's really wrong with her?"

  She raised her head to meet his gaze. "You know I can't discuss something private about a patient, even if she is your own aunt."

  He kissed the tip of her nose and stood her beside the bed. His gentle hands unknotted the wrapper's tie. He slid the garment from her before he lifted her onto the bed. After tucking her in as if she were a small child, he turned out the lamp and slid in beside her.

  "I finally get to sleep with you and there's only a couple of hours left until daybreak. I've missed you, honey.” He spooned himself to her and rested his head near her ear.

  Pearl’s eyes welled with tears. She'd missed Drake but hadn't known how to remedy the mess they'd made of their personal life. Afraid she'd burst into tears if she confessed, she patted his arm where it crossed over her rib cage.

  "I think I figured out what happened to my aunt. Was it Frank Worthington?"

  Surprised, she turned to face him. "You know I can't say anything. Please don't ask me to break Lily's confidence.” She raised on one elbow.

  "You don't have to say anything. If he weren't involved, you would have been quick to deny it."

  "How much did you hear from out in the hallway?"

  "Not much. Still, I can put one and one together. Damn, but I'd like to get my hands on him."

  "Oh, Drake, you mustn't. Promise me you won't do anything to call attention to this whole thing. Lily would be even more devastated if anyone else suspected."

  "I know you're right, but the urge is still there.” He pulled her back beside him. "Go to sleep now before you're the one fainting from fatigue."

  She sighed. "Drake?"

  "What?"

  "Thank you. For being there tonight, for waiting for me here."

  * * *

  Pearl awoke to sunshine and an empty room. She rushed to the balcony doors. The sun was a quarter up the sky. "It must be almost ten o'clock," she said to no one as she hurried to the dressing room. Someone had delivered one of her calico dresses from the ranch along with comfortable shoes and clean underwear. How could she have slept so long and so soundly?

  She flew down the hall to check on her patient. Rosilee sat beside her sister's bed and smiled when Pearl entered the room.

  "We all stayed over last night. I hated to leave until I knew Lily was really all right."

  The terrible smell of last night had dissipated from the room. Fresh air whirled in through open windows and carried the scent of honeysuckle and roses from the garden. When Pearl's gaze met Lily's, her patient's eyes sent a silent pleading message.

  "I've told everyone I just got too tired."

  All signs of the previous night's ordeal had been removed by Pearl and Sarah. She surveyed the room now to be certain they'd overlooked nothing, but everything looked in place. "It's true she needs rest and quiet."

  Rosilee looked guilty. "Oh, Lily. I should have helped you more with the party. You always seem to enjoy planning things and you do parties so well. I left all the details up to you."

  Pleased to be the center of attention in a positive way, Lily actually brightened. "Nonsense. It's my own fault for letting myself get too tired. I can't imagine what I was thinking to skip meals, but I wanted everything to be perfect. In a couple of days I'll feel as good as new."

  "Well," Rosilee hesitated. "If you're sure, then Sam and I will go on home."

  Pearl stepped forward and took the breakfast tray from her. "You go ahead. I'll stay to
day. Sarah wants to stay a few days to help Lily, and Belle will be here when she can tear herself away from Lex. Where are Belle and Sarah now?"

  "I sent Sarah to bed when I came in at eight. The Zimmerman's new house by the river is complete and they want to sell their house in town. Belle and Lex have gone to look at it. They'll probably buy it instead of living here or over the law office."

  When Rosilee had gone, Pearl checked her patient. "Your skin color is already better. How do you feel?"

  "The cramping has almost stopped and I'm not quite as tired as before. Even though I still have no energy, at least the breakfast tray didn't make me heave this morning."

  "Good, that's good. If there's nothing I can do for you now, I'll go down and talk to Polly about your food. The changes in your eating will help your body heal and build your blood, so please eat even if the choices are not your favorites.”

  She paused and went over the treatment in her mind. "There will be some teas, and one of my tonics you'll hate. If you'll follow my plan, though, you should be back shopping within a week, and a few weeks to a month should have you feeling as good as ever."

  Lily twisted the sheet in her hands. "Pearl, I'm not good at this."

  Misunderstanding, she agreed. "Of course not. No one should be good at being ill. The days of rest may be boring for you and the teas and tonic tiresome, but they'll restore your energy and health."

  "No. I mean, I'm not good at apologizing. I've not done much of it."

  "Oh," was all Pearl could say.

  "I want to apologize to you, though. If you want me to do it in front of the family, I will."

  "Heavens, it's not necessary, not at all."

  "Yes, it is. I was disappointed Drake didn't marry Pamela Morris.”

  Pearl saw Lily grimace at the memory.

  "Isn't that a good one on me?” Lily shrugged and waved a hand in dismissal. "Oh, well, you know how I love arranging things. It annoyed me when Drake ignored my advice entirely and chose you. I see now he was right. You are the best one for him. And I see you're a healer, in every sense of the word."

  "Thank you for telling me that. I know it was hard to have a whole family thrust on you from nowhere. Even though we want to live different types of lives, I want to be your friend. Please, let's put this behind us.”