Eva and the Irishman

by Janne E Toivonen

  “Is she all right, Victor?” Mamma Mattson said.

  “It’s all right, Aiti. We will be back in a few minutes.”

  Victor supported Eva as he led her to his room and laid her on his bed.

  “Eva, sweetheart, what happened? Why are you so upset?” He looked confused. “I don’t understand. Everyone is fine with us.”

  “What don’t you understand, Victor?” Eva was cross and still weeping. “We just told our parents we have been behaving recklessly and wantonly, and I see you at the end of the table beaming and having a grand time talking to your father. I feel ashamed!” She was hiccupping in between words, trying vehemently to loosen herself from his hold. “Fine for you, isn’t it? You’re not the one who’s actually with child now, are you?” She was puffing and writhing around. “I want to hit you!”

  “You need to stop, Eva. How are we to talk if you are ready to hit me?”

  As he struggled with her, he started to laugh. “Stop!” he finally yelled.

  She calmed down and looked directly at him. “Don’t yell at me, and what exactly is so funny?”

  “You and your tantrum. Look at you. You have been trying to punch me this whole time. All I want to do is help.” He relaxed his hold on her.

  “Well, you can’t help now, can you? You can’t take this baby back. You can’t.” She was still angry, but much calmer.

  “I don’t want to take the baby back, and I forbid you to feel ashamed. You are showing me your love in a grown-up way. Never feel ashamed,” he said softly and gently wiped the tears from her face with his thumb. “Your whole world has changed, hasn’t it? Four months ago, you were a very young woman. And today you found out that you're a woman. Maybe you weren’t quite ready for that. And that is my fault. I’m sorry Eva.”

  Eva responded by shedding more tears, this time silently. She blinked away her tears to see the soft brown love in his eyes that showed so much tenderness towards her. He was so natural at it, transfixing and calming her.

  “I made a promise to your mother and father earlier today,” Victor said, “and I want to make that promise to you, right now.” Tears welled in his eyes. He leaned over her, still holding her arms down. “I love you. And I promise I will take care of you. You are not by yourself. We are having this baby. Not just you. Do you understand me, Eva?”

  Taking a deep and shaky breath, she pulled one of her arms loose and put her hand on his cheek. “Yes.” She put an arm around his neck. Both breathed a sigh as their hug lingered for a few moments more.

  “What happens from now on, we will take care of it together,” he said and smiled faintly into her eyes. Then he took his kerchief out of his pocket and wiped her tears and made her blow her nose.

  “Let’s go back to our family,” she said, feeling much better.

  Chapter 13

  With fresh and stinging wounds seared on his heart for having left Dolly behind, Liam arrived in Edinburgh to register at the Royal School for Surgeons. He had already gone to his pre-designated boarding house that morning from the train station. A sweet, elderly widow by the name of Mrs. Ferguson was the landlady. Her grown and wifeless son lived with her to help manage the six rooms of students. Liam would be sharing a room in a corner of the attic with a fellow medical student he hadn’t met yet.

  In small groups, the newly matriculated students got a tour of Playfair Hall, the building that had taken the place of the Old Surgeon’s Hall. Playfair Hall had been built one hundred years ago. There was a library, a meeting hall, lecture room, laboratories, and a museum with a large collection of surgical and anatomical specimens. The school itself was founded in the 1500’s. For the first time, Liam saw real parts of the human anatomy other than drawings in books. He was fascinated and eager to get on with his studies.

  In spite of that eagerness, Liam found himself uncomfortable with being in the midst of so many people. He had been a loner growing up. He realized immediately that he would have to get used to this sudden change in his life. That morning, he didn’t feel like conversing with anyone if he didn’t have to. But he decided he would be cordial with anyone who approached him.

  With registration and orientation complete, Liam walked back to the boarding house. The house was just off Nicolson Street, the street on which Playfair Hall was built. It would be a five-minute walk to and from the hall. Being so engrossed with his first day at school, he finally noticed that the day was cool and overcast even though it was late summer. It had just started to drizzle. He had heard a small group of new students saying that it rained a lot in Edinburgh. He took out the pocket watch that Annie had given him the night before he left and realized it was dinnertime. He was suddenly famished. He thought of Dolly and Annie and hoped they were well. He missed them terribly and sighed heavily.

  Upon entering the front door of his boarding house, Liam was greeted by the warmth of the house and the homey fragrance of cooking and baking. As he removed his overcoat and hung it up on the massive coat tree, he could hear the amiable buzz of conversation coming from the dining room. He entered, heading for an empty chair at the table, trying to be unobtrusive, but a young gentleman his age looked up and smiled warmly. He spoke English with a heavy German accent.

  “You must be my roommate," he said. "Everyone else at the table is accounted for. I’m Kurt Meyer.” He stood up as introduced himself. The two shook hands.

  “Liam Dady.” Liam gave a closed faint smile. He saw a friendly person in this quietly outgoing classmate. As Liam sat, he nodded courteously to the others as they quickly introduced themselves and put his white linen napkin on his lap. Mrs. Ferguson came into the dining room with a serving plate full of warm oat bread. The cook followed behind her with a large porcelain tureen filled with piping hot lamb stew and set it in the front of Mrs. Ferguson’s spot.

  “Good afternoon, gentlemen.” Mrs. Ferguson greeted her boarders with kindness. She was a bit flushed from being in the warm kitchen. Her gray hair, wrapped in a bun at the base of her neck, was neat except for a few strands sticking to her damp temples and neck. She took a deep breath and paused a moment after sitting. “I trust yer morning went weel.” Her Scottish brogue was thick.

  “Oh, aye, Mum,” one of the Scottish boarders said.

  The food was delicious, a lot like Annie’s; homey, not fancy. The conversation was light. Mrs. Ferguson asked each of the twelve boarders, eating industriously around the massive dining table, where they were from. Kurt Meyer was from Munich, his father a lesser member of the aristocracy. He was the eldest of eight brothers and sisters. Besides Liam and Kurt, two were from Scotland and the rest were from England. They all seemed to be impressed that Liam’s father was a vice-president at Harland and Wolff, one of the largest shipbuilding firms in the world.

  “Don’t let that fool ye,” Liam said, his belly full. He was slowly growing more comfortable in his new surroundings. “He has money, but he’s quite stingy with it.”

  They all chortled, giving Liam the impression they knew what he meant.

  The students had the afternoon to unpack and settle in. Classes would start at eight o’clock the next morning. After dinner concluded, Liam headed up to his third-floor room. Kurt caught him in the large foyer.

  “I’ll join you in a while, Liam. I’d like to smoke a pipe in the parlor.”

  “Take yer time. I’m only going to unpack. We’ll talk more.”

  ~~~

  Upon climbing two flights of stairs, the second much narrower than the first, he entered the small room with a steep pitch in the roof. Liam saw that Kurt had put a few of his belongs on the bed to the right. It made no difference to Liam, so he took the left. There was a small coal-burning stove for their heat. Each boarder got a bed, a chair, a desk, a basin and ewer, a chest of drawers, and an electric lamp to study by. Suits and trousers were hung on hangers on wall hooks. Linens were changed weekly, baths were taken once a week, and Mrs. Ferguson provided laundry services. The boarders were able to use the front parlor, in which
they could study, read, play cards, or lounge by the substantial marble fireplace. Guests were welcome, but no women were allowed past the first floor.

  After a short while, there were a few pieces of clothing left in Liam’s trunk. He saw that Dolly had done a superb job of packing the things he would need. He reached into the trunk, glad to be nearly finished unpacking, and found an envelope under the last of the socks. On the front was written, almost in a child’s hand, LIAM. It was a poignant find, since at the time Dolly packed his trunk at his mother’s orders she’d been devastated at having to do it. He sat on the edge of his bed, holding the envelope as if it were alive. He put it to his chest. He looked up to find Kurt looking at him in empathy.

  “Is it from your girl?” Kurt asked quietly. “I can see it is still a deep wound.”

  Liam gave him a gentle nod.

  “I found one too, in my carpetbag, from my Elise. We are engaged and we will wed in two years.”

  “So are we,” Liam said. He stopped, not quite ready for full disclosure.

  “I tell you what. Since I am finished, why don’t I leave you to your letter? I will go down to the parlor again and smoke my pipe.”

  “Thank you, Kurt.”

  When Kurt closed the door behind him, Liam put the letter to his nose and breathed in deeply. He wanted to get Dolly’s fragrance from the letter once again. She always smelled like clean linens, mixed with clean perspiration and Annie’s cooking. He swore he could sense her as he opened the envelope with shaking hands. It was written with a pencil, probably at the kitchen table. It read:

  My dear Liam, I am very prod of you. I will mis yu and even tho, I do not want yu to be sad. I pramis I will work hard and kep bisy, for yu I say a prar holding yor hart in my hand. Annie neds to help me with my werds. I wil praktis. I Lov yu. Dolly.

  Liam buried his face in his pillow and sobbed until he felt the relief that crying brought. And I vow to you, Dee, I will make you proud. I love you. I’ll start my letters to you tonight.

  Several hours later, he heard the supper bell ring. He realized he had fallen asleep after finishing his unpacking. He put Dolly’s letter under his pillow, straightened out his blankets, and splashed a bit of water from his ewer on his face. He took a deep breath and headed down for supper and girded himself to face the next three months.

  ~~~

  With a daily and weekly routine evolving, Liam immersed himself into studies in Edinburgh. He and Kurt were becoming good friends, having missed loved ones in common. The two had lectures and laboratories together. They could study in their dormitory room until they both fell asleep. Liam found time every night just after supper to jot down a few words in letters to both Dolly and Annie. He would post them on Fridays at the college mail room. Liam would not write anything too personal to Dolly so that Annie could help Dolly with her reading. As Dolly became more skilled, he would write more personal love letters. Liam wrote to Annie about this plan. She wrote back, telling Liam that Dolly was a quick study and was proving to be an excellent student in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Dolly wrote that Annie was teaching her the household accounting. Liam wrote that he was very proud of Dolly and that it was grand that both he and she were learning new things. As the weeks went by, he could see a grand improvement in her writing. He kept her first letter in his breast pocket as his valentine from her. It was his most prized possession.

  Even though the mail arrived at the boarding house daily, except for Sunday, Liam and Kurt’s mail from home would always arrive on Friday. When they returned from classes at the end of the afternoon, each found a corner somewhere in the house to read their letters privately. Feeling rejuvenated from words of love and their delicious meal at the boarding house, Kurt and Liam would then head out for a couple of pints if they could afford it. Because Kurt often had more money than Liam, Kurt would buy at least one pint for Liam. Liam was loathe to accept, but Kurt always insisted.

  ~~~

  One Friday evening at the crowded music-filled pub, both men were feeling particularly in lack of funds. Liam began to home in on an unusual conversation among their fellow students at the next table. He nudged Kurt’s elbow and pointed his chin towards the group.

  “I hear the professors are mumbling about not enough cadavers for anatomy. There used to be students who were willing to go out a night a week and search for new graves to access fresh bodies. But none of the new students are willing to risk it. I hear there’s quite a bit of money involved.”

  “Do ye mind if my friend and I join ye?” Liam asked quietly, startling them.

  He and Kurt moved their chairs into the group. As the students continued to talk, Liam caught the name of that particular professor.

  Just a few days later, Kurt, Liam, and a student from the original conversation group were in league, ready to bring forth much-needed cadavers from the surrounding cemeteries and hospital morgues. There was plenty of money to be had by all, but, no doubt, a very risky business legally and religiously. This endeavor had been going on for a couple of centuries at least.

  Liam looked at it as a way of continuing his savings for him and Dolly. Maximum reward for minimal work. He would not write home about this.

  ~~~

  Before Liam and his crew went out on their first cadaver retrieval, Professor Smythe, the anatomy instructor, gave them important pointers.

  “Look in the obituaries in the area newspapers. The Dean Cemetery is easy. In the old days of retrieval, the robbers would leave the grave wide open. You’ll have to fill it back in. It will take some time, so leave enough darkness to finish that part of the retrieval.”

  Smythe put Liam in touch with two different hospital-morgue attendants with whom he had business in the past.

  Liam and the other two went late that night, with a wagon and some canvas body bags, picked up the deceased, an old woman, and a vagrant male. They took them to a special door in the back at Playfair where the school’s morgue was.

  “Good work, Dady," Professor Smythe said. "Here’s your first night’s wage to be split with your assistants.”

  Liam opened the envelope and found quite a bit of money. He looked at Smythe and gave him a raised eyebrow.

  “Yes, Dady. It’s worth that much to have the teaching ‘implements’ we need to train our students. We have excellent doctors and surgeons leave here to go forth and treat humanity’s ills.”

  “We’ll wait a week and go out again. Is that how we do this?” Liam asked.

  “Keep your eyes on the obituaries in the newspapers for funerals and be ready at a moment’s notice. Have some shovels and make sure you leave the grave as it looked, so no one suspects the next day. And for heaven’s sake, go canny.”

  Smythe’s career was at stake, Liam realized. The school was probably paying for, and sanctioning the activity, but would sacrifice Smythe and the three of them at the drop of a hat. If this became public, the school would want to save face and avoid legal trouble. They would undoubtedly claim that the group was acting on its own. Liam nodded and left with his “assistants,” as Smythe put it, to split the booty and to return the horse and wagon to the school’s stable.

  The three took the wagon and horse back and then stood in a tight circle at the barn door preparing to leave. Liam pulled the envelope out of his breast pocket to split the booty.

  “Do ye realize if this goes wrong, we’re done for?” Liam said to Kurt and Robbie. He saw their eyes grow wide at the money. “Both of ye, look at me,” Liam said with a gruff voice. He wanted them to feel his unease. “This cannot be discussed outside the three of us, do ye hear?”

  Both men gave Liam their solemn word to stay mum.

  It was breaking dawn when Liam changed his clothes and washed and shaved for breakfast. There was no sleep to be had before classes began that morning, but he did enjoy breakfast and drank copious amounts of coffee. He would find out in the coming weeks if the money was worth the risk and the sacrifice of sleep.

  Chapter 14

&nbs
p; Neither the Mattsons nor the Makis wanted to have Pastor Salmi officiate at Eva and Victor’s wedding. A second choice, a Pastor Alve was contacted in Turku. Pastor Alve agreed to come to the farm, with the promise he could have meals and a room for an overnight stay. Yuri and his father had sailed from Rauma to Turku, taking Pappa Mattson with them to make the arrangements. Pastor Alve would be there in two weeks’ time. He was of the Lutheran Church but not a tyrant like Salmi. The best part about it was Salmi need not find out anything until it was too late for him to try anything to ruin the wedding. There was a modicum of guilt lying over everyone for a short while, but not so heavy that the thought of Salmi there, on the wedding day, didn’t still make everyone involved feel ill.

  Every day, Eva would awaken to morning sickness. An enamel basin had been placed by her bedside so she wouldn’t have to run to the privy. After using the basin, Eva would have to sleep another hour or two. Her whole daily rhythm was suddenly changed, but everyone accepted the temporary situation with love and support.

  “Mamma,” Eva said one morning soon after the pregnancy had been discovered. “May I wear your wedding dress on my wedding day? I’ve always loved it.”

  “I would be honored if you did, my child. We will get it out of the storage chest later this morning.”

  ~~~

  Hannes started to accompany Liisa and Aili on their chores at the Makis to make up for Eva’s temporary absence, and Olli helped where he could. In a rare case, Victor’s mother would come to the Maki’s to help keep the end-of-summer schedule smooth.