Mail Order Promises

by Julianna Blake

  “He has mentioned you a few times, yes.”

  “I’m sure we would have met sooner, but it’s been so busy lately, and I’ve been gone most of this week, making the rounds at the mining camps. I swear, those men won’t come into town to see a doctor unless they’ve had a limb cut off, and now they’ve got quite a nasty flu making the rounds out there.” He smiled, and his faded blue eyes somehow put Lilly at ease.

  Then something in his demeanor changed, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and clasping his hands together. “Mrs. Morgan, I couldn’t help but overhear, a moment ago, that you sounded quite upset. May I ask what was the matter?”

  Lilly’s eyes flew to the doorway, then back to the older man. She took in his appearance—steel grey hair in waves that were barely tamed by hair oil, a suit of an excellent cut, though a bit out of date, which was dusty from the road. His manners were impeccable, yet he had the air of a very friendly, approachable man. And what was more, she knew that he was a dear friend of Jake’s…and that meant he could be trusted. But could she trust him not to reveal her terrible secret? At least, until she could face Jake herself?

  “I…I just received some very shocking news.”

  He nodded. “Dr. Foyle told me. Don’t be alarmed—we often both treat the same patients, because one or another of us is bound to be out of the office on house calls, or taking a day off. When we get them, that is.” He gave her a grandfatherly smile. “So it helps if we’re both familiar with our patients’ conditions.”

  “I suppose that makes sense.” That doesn’t mean I have to like it, she thought with irritation. It seemed that they should have at least asked, before discussing her private concerns.

  “And you disagree with Dr. Foyle’s diagnosis?”

  “Well…I don’t know about that. He’s a doctor, I suppose he’d know more about these things than I would. I’ve never been…in…in the family way, before.”

  “Don’t worry, my dear. Every woman feels a bit lost at first. By the time you have your second child, it will all be ‘old hat’ to you.”

  “But the thing is—I don’t understand how this happened. I mean…I’ve only been married for two weeks.”

  Dr. Archer pressed his lips and looked down for a moment. “Mrs. Morgan, forgive me for asking this—I ask only because Dr. Foyle advised me of his findings in your examination, and given those findings, and your symptoms today, I have to agree that his assessment is probably valid—but…” he cleared his throat, as if to buy himself time to find the right words “…is there anything that may have occurred three months ago which could have led to your condition?”

  Lilly’s heart dropped into her stomach at his blunt question. There wasn’t any way to avoid answering, without telling an outright lie. “I…there was…but it couldn’t be!” She was dreadfully confused, and the meager contents of her stomach threatened to come back up.

  Dr. Archer frowned, then his expression went blank again. “Jake is my friend, but you are one of our patients. You can tell me anything, and it will stay in this room.”

  Lilly raised her eyes to meet his. “It will?”

  He nodded, his expression staid. “Helena has become quite a large, bustling mining town—you’d never have guessed it would, when I first arrived, almost twenty years ago—but here in the main part of town, we all see each other a lot. We’re much like family. I dare say I can keep a secret better than some of the ministers in town. I have to. If I didn’t, sooner or later someone would rally their loved ones with pitchforks and torches in front of my door, for my indiscretion.”

  She smiled through her tears, taking a deep breath and letting it out.

  Then she told Cornelius Archer the secret she thought would never pass her lips again.

  Chapter 14

  Outside Dr. Archer’s office, Jake paced along the sidewalk. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis stayed with him, ostensibly out of concern—though Jake suspected Mrs. Curtis’ curiosity was at least partly the reason.

  She sat on the bench next to Doc’s office door, occasionally telling him all the reasons why he didn’t need to worry, that Dr. Archer was the best in town, and he’d fix everything. Leonard Curtis leaned against the wall on the other side of the door, smoking a pipe to relax and pass the time.

  Jake’s heart pounded as his mind filled with countless possible causes for Lilly’s malady. I should have seen that she was sick. How did I miss the signs? Was she sick at breakfast? Why didn’t she tell me? Did she not want me to worry? Or did she get sick after church, when I got angry at her? Oh please, don’t let that be the reason why! If anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself.

  He yanked the hat from his head, wiped sweat away with his forearm—for the hundredth time—and plopped the hat back onto his head. “Why aren’t I sick, if it’s the food?” he asked aloud. “I ate, but…now that the doctor pointed it out, I don’t think she did. Or if she did, it wasn’t much.”

  “People get sick from food all the time,” assured Mr. Curtis, blowing out a lazy stream of blue smoke. “Viola here has the most delicate stomach I’ve ever seen.”

  “Leonard! Hush now.”

  Jake didn’t hear them. He stopped, stared at the door. “What’s taking so long? Doc Archer went in there five minutes ago.” Jake had stopped his friend and filled him in on the situation. He was grateful that Doc had arrived, because he just didn’t trust that young dandy with his wife’s health. No more than he’d trust his own apprentice to make one of the Crowley rose-patterned panels. Some things just couldn’t be trusted to the hands of the inexperienced.

  “Everything is probably fine.” Curtis blew out a stream of smoke. “Doc Archer would’ve sent the young doc for help, or to ready a wagon to bring her to the hospital, if things were going south.”

  “You don’t think they’ll move her, do you? I just don’t trust those hospitals. Edgar’s father went into St. John’s a couple of years back, and came out sicker than when he went in. They almost lost him. The patients were stacked up like cordwood in there, it was so crowded. You don’t have to be a doctor to know cramming so many sick people together, with the nurses overworked and exhausted, is a bad idea.”

  “Oh, it’s not that bad anymore, Mr. Morgan,” Viola Curtis assured him. “Now that St. Peter’s is being run better, with that new woman running things, people are willing to give St. Peter’s Hospital a try. So they aren’t always crowding into St. John’s like they used to. And I’m sure Mrs. Morgan won’t need to be transferred. Dr. Archer is just taking his time, giving your wife the best care possible. I know what good friends the two of you are.”

  “You been up to that new cabin of his yet?” Curtis interrupted, veering the subject away to something less worrisome. “The way he tells it, the whitetail are ten feet tall up there!”

  Jake stopped pacing, momentarily distracted. “Don’t believe it. Doc has never hunted a day in his life, he’s not much of a judge of what makes a good hunting trophy. He’s not much for guns and killing. I guess having to sew up so many wounds after a gun battle will do that to a fellow.”

  Curtis lifted an eyebrow. “That so?”

  “Yeah. And don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, changing the subject. Nothing’s going to make me forget to worry about my wife,” Jake snapped. Then he clapped Curtis on the shoulder. “But I do appreciate the thought.”

  Then Jake resumed pacing across the patch of sidewalk that so many men before him had tread…right before they got either the best news of their lives…or the worst.

  ***

  Dr. Archer shook his head. “I’m so sorry you had to live through that, Mrs. Morgan. No one should. And I don’t judge you for it, not one bit. I’ve seen this far too often to not have sympathy for a woman in your shoes, and I think it shows a severe lack of Christian charity that women in your position are treated as bad—or worse—than the average unwed mother. I’ll do whatever I can to help you, and you can be sure that what you’ve said will neve
r leave this room.”

  Lilly sighed with relief. Telling her story had eased her some of her burden, and she believed that Dr. Archer would keep his word. But would his assistant?

  “What about Dr. Foyle? Will he tell anyone?”

  “Oh no, he’s a professional my dear. You can’t be a doctor if you can’t keep a secret, as I said.”

  “He didn’t seem to understand, and I felt like…like he was…”

  “Never you mind what his personal opinions of you might be. I have to say, I was surprised to see that someone like Dr. Foyle—who, by all appearances, has a very libertine and modern viewpoint—would have such an offensive reaction to your plight. I apologize for that, and I assure you that I’ll school him in the proper demeanor for such cases. Even if he knew your claims to be false—and I assure you, I don’t believe that they are—he should always listen to his patients, and at the very least, remain neutral. That will come with time and experience, I’m sure. A boy may walk out of medical school with a head full of all the latest medical knowledge, but a bedside manner is something you can only learn from a mentor, and from your patients.”

  “That may be true, but…I’m not comfortable with him. You’re friends with my husband, and I feel much more at ease with you.”

  The older man nodded. “I understand. I do hope you’ll give him another chance in the future—especially as he’ll be replacing me in a few years, when I’m ready to retire—but in the meantime, for the duration of your confinement, I’d be happy to attend to you.”

  “Thank you.” Lilly felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “Can Jake come in now?”

  “Not just yet. There’s one more thing.” He scratched his head, thinking. “I…Mrs. Morgan, I know I said I’d keep your secret—and I will,” he added when he saw the panic rise in her, “but Jake is one of my closest friends. It’s going to be very hard on me. I’m in a difficult position, you see.”

  Lilly nodded, her eyes downcast.

  “I think it would be for the best—not just for me, but for you, and Jake, and for the good of your marriage—if you would tell him the truth. And soon.” He nodded down at her belly. “Your full skirts may hide it for now, but a woman can’t stay dressed around her husband all the time. He’s bound to notice fairly soon.”

  She blushed, and nodded again. “You’re right. I know you’re right. But…I still don’t understand how this happened. I waited…I mean…I didn’t say yes to Jake’s letter of proposal until I had gotten…my…uh…‘monthly visitor.’ I would never have tried to trap Jake into marriage. I’ve had my monthly time three times now. I thought if it doesn’t stop…that was how you know you’re not expecting.”

  “Well…it is. Usually. But some women will still get what we call ‘spotting’, which means you don’t get your usual full…eh…‘visit’, as you say. It might be just a little less, or barely noticeable at all. A woman might have that happen one month, or two, and once in a while you’ll see a woman who has it happen every month of her pregnancy. It can be alarming, because the woman thinks she’s losing her baby. But in this case, she wouldn’t be. It can also make a woman think she isn’t with child, when she actually is.”

  “How strange…I’ve never heard of such a thing. But you’re right…I did notice it was different, but I didn’t think that meant anything, as long as it kept coming. I swear to you, if I’d had any idea it was possible, I would not have married Jake. I would never subject him to such embarrassment. I’d have stayed in Boston and gone to a home for unwed mothers. My mother would have tried to force me to marry the….the man. She did, in fact. But…” Lilly looked away.

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about that. You have Jake Morgan, now. You couldn’t be in better hands.”

  “But you’ll give me a chance to tell him on my own? You won’t say anything until I tell you that he knows…right?”

  “Of course. And before he comes in here, let me just remind you that you’re eating for two now. That means eat when you’re hungry, and if it’s been a while since you last ate, try to make yourself eat, even if you’re not hungry. Be sure to eat something as soon as you get up, or your morning sickness will be worse than it needs to be. Crackers or dry biscuits sometimes go down well in the mornings, if you’re queasy. And above all, rest as much as you can. Before you know it, you’ll have many children, and naps will be but a fond, distant memory.”

  Lilly managed a weak smile.

  Dr. Archer rose, with some effort. “I’ll go get Jake. And I’ll just tell him you fainted from not having enough to eat—which is the truth. At least, part of it. But he’s going to ask questions. I’ll tell him to let you nap at home for the rest of the day, without pestering you, but after that, you’ll have to figure out what you want to tell him.”

  As he went to fetch Jake, Lilly shivered. Would her marriage be over as soon as she told him? She could only imagine the humiliation he’d have to face, once word got around.

  ***

  Jake fought the urge to punch his fist into the front door as he paced. He felt helpless, and was desperate to know how Lilly was doing. Worse, he could feel the impatience of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis, having to wait so long. He had urged them to go, but they insisted on staying.

  The door opened, and Dr. Foyle brushed past Jake without so much as a word, turning left and striding away.

  “Is she alright? Dr. Foyle!” Jake called, but the man didn’t pause. Jake turned to Mr. Curtis. “What was that about? Why didn’t he answer me?”

  “Maybe there was an emergency he needed to attend to,” suggested Mrs. Curtis.

  “Then why didn’t he say anything?” he could feel his voice rising to a strident pitch. “Is he going to arrange transportation? Are they taking her to the hospital? I need to get in there.” Jake headed for the door, but Mr. Curtis held him back.

  “Now, now, you don’t want to go barging in there. Let the doc do his job.”

  “I’m sure Dr. Foyle would have looked more worried, if there was trouble,” Mrs. Curtis pointed out. “Instead, he just looked rather annoyed.”

  “Hmph.” Her husband nodded in agreement. “That man always looks annoyed, if you ask me. That’s what Doc gets for hiring an uppity dandy from back East.”

  “I still think I—” Jake tried to push past Mr. Curtis.

  “If she is in trouble, the last thing Doc needs is you distracting him, right? Tell you what, Morgan, if Doc Archer ain’t out here in the next five minutes, I’ll send my wife in to check. How does that sound?”

  Jake’s shoulders slumped. “Fine.” He walked over and sat on the opposite end of the bench from where Viola Curtis sat, then braced his elbows on his knees, and buried his hands in his hair.

  A very long, torturous minute later, he heard the door open again. He stood, quick as lightning, as Doc stepped out.

  “Is she—?”

  “She’s fine, she’s fine. No reason to fuss. She just forgot to eat, and that’s a recipe for disaster on a hot day. She had an apple, and I’ll give her a muffin to take with her, before she goes. Myrtle Corkish brought me a tin full of them on Friday, and they’re mighty fine. You just make sure she gets some rest today. Don’t pester her about why she didn’t eat, or ask any other questions. Just keep her as quiet as you can, and let her rest. I think she’s very tired.”

  “It’s my fault. I let her work too hard. She’s been trying to get the vegetable garden in, and get the rest of the courtyard garden under control, and then she’s had to scrub up after me—you know how much soot and dirt I drag home—and she—”

  “No one’s at fault Jake, get that out of your mind. These things happen. Just let her rest today, make sure she eats regular meals and some snacks, and tell her to stick to gardening in the morning and early evening, and stay out of the midday sun. She’s never kept a house before, and it’s easy for a newlywed woman to overdo things, wanting it all to be perfect. Not to mention, it’s only been two weeks since that long, long journey co
ming west. After she rests today, she’ll be able to tell you a little more about how she feels.”

  Jake nodded, sighing with relief. “Anything you say. Thanks, Doc.” He turned to Leonard and Viola Curtis. “Thank you both, for staying with me, and keeping my head on straight.”

  Leonard Curtis laughed. “Don’t have to thank me. I know men aren’t good for much when their womenfolk are sick, or injured, or such. You should have seen me the night our first son was born. I ran outside to saddle up the horse, to go ask our to neighbor fetch the midwife for me, and I was cussin’ up a storm trying to figure out why I couldn’t get the saddle on right…until I finally realized I was tryin’ to saddle up poor old Tellulah, our milk cow. And she was none too pleased with it.”

  Everyone laughed, and Jake forced a smile—but his thoughts were elsewhere. “Well, thanks just the same.” He nodded and slipped into the doctor’s office, rushing into the examination room to find Lilly polishing off the last of the apple.

  “I’m so sorry I worried you,” Lilly exclaimed with a squeak as Jake crushed her to him.

  “I thought I was going to lose you.” He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

  She hugged him back. “You’re not going to lose me. I’m not going anywhere…unless you wanted me to.”

  He pulled back, searching her face. “What a strange thing to say. I’d never want you to go anywhere. I want you here, by my side, ’til death do we part.” He tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “Remember?”

  “Of course.” She smiled, and hugged him, dipping her head down against his chest again. “How could I forget?”

  Chapter 15

  After Jake tucked her into bed and brought her two of the biscuits that she had left behind that morning, Lilly settled in for a nap while he put together a soup from leftovers, then left it to simmer while he went to do all the chores.