Finding Bliss

by B L Bierley

  In her vision, the sound of someone crying out in obvious pain and the feeling of panic that accompanied it made perfect sense that something, whether an accident or an illness, would befall someone at Penwood estate that day. Bliss had a strong feeling that it involved her mother, who was pregnant again for the seventh time.

  And thirdly, Bliss knew without a doubt once again that her family would not believe her. Despite her father’s claims on the day five years ago when Russ nearly drowned in the lake, it was still proving difficult to get her point across.

  Adding to her difficulty was the problem that the visions sometimes didn’t offer clear pictures until the last possible moment. Often she took a chance and made a mistake with her choices in order to feel comfortable that she was doing the right thing at the right time.

  Sometimes things were perfectly clear, though. And yet even after she told them specifically and accurately from the beginning that her mother’s previous pregnancy would produce a girl, Andrea was born, and they still harbored doubt.

  It wasn’t always a horrible thing when her family doubted her. Many things she shared could easily be written off as coincidence.

  Uncle Miles, her mother’s oldest brother, loved to joke about her foresight. He claimed she was merely mature for her age and that God had blessed her with a lion’s share of intuition. But even his support wavered when she predicted that her older, confirmed bachelor uncle’s future bride would unfortunately be a Frenchwoman.

  On days like this, when one vision told her only subtle clues as to what needed to happen or what was inevitable, it was hard not to get frustrated at their continued doubt.

  Bliss stole off after breakfast to the children’s sitting room. She knew one of their nannies kept a quill and ink in the room for emergencies whenever she couldn’t leave the little ones unattended but needed to send a note.

  Opening the escritoire Bliss removed the instruments for her latest, necessary deception. Inking the quill carefully she tried to mimic an older person’s hand as she wrote.

  “Dr. Benchley—Our Bliss is suffering from a great amount of fatigue these last three days. I fear she could have an illness that needs to be discovered immediately before anything permanent can set in. Would you be so kind as to call upon her no later than noon today? It is imperative that she be seen before one p.m. Also, be so kind and bring an assistant with you today. There may be a need for an extra person. Bliss feels that this is most important and as she is oftener right than wrong about such things, it would be best to heed her wishes. Kindest regards, Etc.”

  Bliss took several moments to review what she’d written. She didn’t sign the letter or try to forge anyone else’s signature to the document. It didn’t really matter. She only wanted it to look official in case someone in the house opened it.

  Dr. Benchley was one of the people in the world Bliss could lean on. He rarely ever doubted her foresight or intuition. But having been punished recently for summoning Dr. Benchley a few too many times when her visions weren’t as clear Bliss knew she needed to be careful. So to avoid unnecessary trouble, she used the delusion of a third party request to make sure the message made it all the way to Dr. Benchley.

  After sealing the letter with wax, she paid her best friend, a stable boy named Lem, a shilling to carry the letter to town on his morning break. Lem was not fully interned in the stable yet, so he didn’t mind doing her the favor. He also didn’t mind the money to buy a new cap he desperately needed.

  Bliss, of course, knew Lem would be the best messenger. He was her closest friend on the estate. Lem was Luxie’s ladies’ maid’s youngest son, reared gently alongside the rest of the Penwood brood.

  Bliss reminded Lem of another task he needed to do when he returned from delivering the note. It involved cleaning a pair of tugs from the livery, which she’d seen him performing in the morning during her vision. Once she finished her errands, Bliss went to the girls’ schoolroom to watch her trusted friend hurrying over the hill toward town.

  Difficult didn’t even begin to classify the morning for Bliss. Aside from being only ten, and knowing what she knew already, the anticipation of the unknown details was worrisome.

  Maturity came easily to Bliss who was privileged to many subjects far beyond a girl of her years. And the excitement wasn’t really lost on her. She carried greater wisdom than her older sister Merryann and the young nursery maid named Trina who cared for her younger sisters and pined for Russ whenever he was gone off to Pangbourne Naval Academy. Bliss kept her eyes wide open to the world and all its players.

  At eleven thirty, Bliss was greeted on her way to the family dining room by Cliff, one of the footmen. He informed her that the doctor and his assistant would see her in her mother’s salon.

  Suddenly Bliss received a jolting flash of the nearest future. It involved her mother as expected. But it really wasn’t what she could hope for since her mother wasn’t near to her time to deliver just yet.

  At least the doctor and the requested attendant were already in the house, which was more important now that Bliss knew the reason. The midwife was out of town visiting relations due to the fact that Luxie shouldn’t have needed the woman’s help for four more weeks at least. Bliss walked behind Cliff toward the salon to meet the scene head-on.

  Before Cliff could escape, Bliss pulled him aside and gave him a message to deliver to Lem. He was to tell Lem to bring the tugs to the house immediately.

  Lem did everything Bliss asked because Bliss always gave Lem the best advice for advancement with as little stress or work possible. He worshipped Bliss’s gifts and didn’t doubt her at all since she’d never steered him wrong.

  “Bliss, there you are. Dr. Benchley is here to see you, darling. You didn’t inform me that you were feeling poorly? One of the nannies summoned him, he says. I don’t like you always calling him, you know. We’re not his only patients in Cardiff. It’s rude to be so demanding. Now, tell me what’s the matter? Is something truly bothering you?” Luxie scolded quietly under her breath as she greeted Bliss in the doorway.

  “I’ve been having a few lung complaints, Mama. It’s just a precaution, I suppose,” Bliss told her mother without meeting her eyes. Luxie turned to greet the doctor.

  “Hello, Dr. Benchley, and I see you’ve brought an assistant!” Luxie said graciously. Bliss was about to ask for an introduction when the assistant turned to face her. It was Eric!

  No, that couldn’t be! Eric wasn’t a barber-surgeon or anything yet! He was only fifteen and still at school! Even though he was her future husband, and she’d expected him to be there too, there should have been an additional attendant according to her foresight.

  Dr. Benchley’s explanation cut into her thoughts.

  “Yes, your grace, Eric is home for a visit, and I thought he could assist me with this quite easily. It’s only a routine exam, I take it? Nothing broken or bleeding, eh?” Dr. Benchley gave Bliss a very knowing look. Bliss leaned in closer to the doctor so she could whisper.

  “That remains to be seen, Doctor. I had hoped you might have brought a professional along. It’s Mama’s time today.” Bliss imparted this knowingly.

  “Really? I was fairly sure in my calculations. No worry, I’ll just do my exam on you until then, how’s that?” Dr. Benchley whispered in reply.

  He looked amused. Bliss sighed and sat down on the foot of the bed and began to loosen the buttons on the back of her neck to give Dr. Benchley room to feel her ribs and check her heart.

  “I’ll just do a quick exam, Lady Penwood. My son Eric will be entering the college at St. Thomas’s very soon! I hope you’ll allow him to assist me with this exam today. I’m planning to give him the advantage of experience, you see?” Dr. Benchley explained to Bliss’s mother.

  “Oh, naturally you should! Bliss is an excellent candidate for study, as well. She’s forever coming down with mysterious maladies!” Luxie quipped dryly amused.

  “Mama, you will probably want to sit down. This won�
�t take long,” Bliss told her mother simply.

  Luxie nodded absently and took her place in a rocking chair nearby. Being in her period of confinement, Luxie spent a great deal of her time in the salon most days. She was already past forty, and it was a surprising and difficult pregnancy to say the least. Having four daughters and two sons already, she was hopeful for another boy.

  Luxie rocked and hummed absently as Dr. Benchley and Eric performed the unnecessary evaluation on Bliss. She didn’t even listen to their hushed conversation while she knitted little blue stocking booties.

  “Dr. Benchley, it’s important to do everything before the time arrives, isn’t it? It’s not going to go as things normally do, you should know. That’s why an assistant will be necessary,” Bliss informed him impatiently. Her agitation over Eric assisting instead of a professional made it difficult to stay still.

  “Eric is as good an assistant as I could ever ask for. Now, Eric, check her breathing with your ear to her back. Lady Bliss, could we trouble you to move your frock a bit lower on the shoulder so we can get a good listen to your lungs? There, that’s it.”

  Dr. Benchley helped Eric tug the fabric off of Bliss’s left shoulder, exposing her unusual birthmark. It was very light, as if someone spilled a bit of tea with cream on her shoulder and left a stain behind. Eric recoiled from the sight at first.

  “That’s only her birthmark, son. Bliss and I have discussed how it looks surprisingly like the continent of South America mapped out,” Dr. Benchley chuckled.

  Eric gave his father a curious look and shook his head. He leaned close to her back and pressed his cheek to the skin between her shoulder blades.

  “I hear no sounds of wheeze or rail, Papa. Maybe you should listen, just to be sure,” Eric said doubtfully a minute later.

  “No, no, I’m sure it’s perfect. Lady Bliss believes our job here has nothing to do with her, you see. I recognized the writing, by the bye. Now, how much longer must we wait, my dear? I’m afraid I have a gouty vicar who will need an administration of his tonic by evening. I am the deliverer, you see.” Dr. Benchley told Bliss in earnest.

  “Well, I didn’t have a clock in this vision. But if the picture is clear, it shouldn’t be long now. I’d go ahead and call for some oil cloth if I were you. It’s going to go rather swiftly, sir,” Bliss gave him a forward nod toward her mother.

  Luxie wore a worried look on her face, even though her attention was diverted to personal attentions. Her demeanor was clearly altered from what it had been a few minutes earlier. Her hand was on her abdomen as if checking for movement rather than just idly lying there.

  “Bliss? Are you absolutely certain it will be swift?” Dr. Benchley grew more alert. Seeing Lady Penwood’s drastic mood change could not be ignored.

  “I only knew that you needed to be here and that an assistant was absolutely necessary. The midwife is gone, you know!” Bliss pointed out.

  Dr. Benchley seemed to nod absently. Eric wasn’t paying much attention to their rambling discussion. He was rummaging in his father’s kit for the treatment manual.

  Eric was forever hunting a reason to perform any minor procedure or medical practice. Moments later the cry made his search futile.

  “OH! Oh, no!” Luxie cried out in surprised alarm as a swift pain doubled her over. Bliss moved from the bed in an instant and grabbed the bell pull. First footman Perry came in a few seconds later having already heard the mistress crying out.

  “Perry, good, will you summon Mrs. Pressley and Mandy for us? Mama is about to have her baby, and the midwife is out of town. We’ll need some assistance,” Bliss spoke calmly to the now ashen-faced footman.

  “A baby? The baby’s coming today?” Perry caught up. The staggered reaction caused Bliss to chuckle in spite of the imminent difficulties.

  “Yes, there should be a clean set of tugs in the stable. Lem was supposed to have done it. And if I’m not mistaken, he will be available to ride Ludwig into town and fetch Papa. If he hurries he can catch him before he tours the newest ship.”

  Bliss spoke quickly and used her small hands to turn the too-shocked-to-be-resistant footman and point him out the door. Perry was nodding and mumbling the instructions back almost as if he was trying to decipher them through a cave wall.

  “Do hurry, won’t you? Mama will be so much happier if Papa makes it back in time,” Bliss said in a more forceful voice.

  That was all it took for Perry to be lit with the fire of purpose. He became aware of the urgency and hurried away shouting at others he passed with additional instructions. A few moments later, Mandy joined them accompanied by Bridget.

  “Lady Penwood? Mrs. Pressley says to tell you she’s dreadfully sorry she can’t attend you just now. She’s made a mess of her hand with a piece of broken china. She says it’s not too deep, but it’s terribly painful. She doesn’t want her pain to rub off on you during your difficulty,” Mandy said quietly, trailing off in her fear.

  Both Bridget and Mandy were lady’s maids for the Duchess of Penwood. And though Bridget could boast a few more years of service seniority, she wasn’t skilled at handling birth issues not being a mother herself. Mandy was a soft-spoken mother of two boys, one being young Lem, but the stout woman surprisingly didn’t have the stomach for such things as midwifery, barely having handled her own childbed experiences.

  Bliss looked at the frightened women with a frown. She was very afraid they would try to make her leave, but Bliss was certain she could avoid their interference.

  “Mama, I’ll stay with you. I am sure I’ll be of some help. Have Bridget and Mandy fetch the extra baby blanket you knitted. They can get more water warming to bathe the new baby. But you need to get in the bed right now. I’m pretty sure you’re going to want that,” Bliss informed her mother in soft, soothing tones.

  Luxie clenched her teeth as a pain rocked through her abdomen once again. She nodded her agreement with Bliss and began to climb out of the rocker and head for the bed.

  “Oh. That was unexpected. Dr. Benchley, what’s wrong? I should have more time for this one,” Luxie whispered through her panting breath.

  “Babies never give us fair warnings, your grace. You know as I do that they come when they’re good and ready to come whether it’s their right time or not. Let us help you to the mattress. You need to be comfortable,” Dr. Benchley nodded at Eric, who reached for Lady Penwood’s right arm while his father took the left.

  Bliss ran ahead of them and stripped the bedding. She searched frantically in the drawers for the dark brown oil cloth she knew to be close by.

  “It’s in the bottom wardrobe drawer, Bliss. Hurry! Oh, OW!” Luxie’s exclamation of pain was accompanied by a grunting pant and a few more yelps of pain.

  The minute Bliss got the oil cloth in place Luxie sat down and turned her legs to the end of the bed. Bliss piled pillows behind her mother’s head and began tugging up the fabric of skirts and petticoats to free the path for her unborn sibling. Luxie was in too much shock and pain to protest the exposure.

  Perry returned with the tugs and nearly dropped them on the floor at the sight of Lady Penwood in the birthing position. Eric grabbed the leather straps and shoved the green-tinged footman out directly. He helped his father fix the straps on the foot of the bed so that Luxie could get the leverage she would need.

  Bliss unfastened her mother’s gown and removed it from her along with her petticoats. Since she was pregnant there was no corset to unlace, so it took no time at all to have Luxie in her chemise preparing to give in to the pushing. But the moment Dr. Benchley examined the scene, he turned pale white.

  “What’s the matter?” Luxie gasped as another pain wrenched her, back arching to withstand the brunt.

  “I am afraid Bliss wasn’t lying when she said I’d need help. This is a serious situation, I’m afraid. Your grace, the baby is issuing feet first,” Dr. Benchley said quietly.

  “Wait, Papa, that’s not as bad as you make it sound! She’s had other children ..
. six or so, right? So this baby won’t be forcing a fresh path. I’ve read that this situation is less dangerous if the baby isn’t a first. She’ll just have to push extra hard and hurry the baby out faster in case of life cord issues,” Eric said spouting his rote knowledge impressively.

  “Smart, my boy! Very smart! Your grace, you’ll have to do as my boy says. We’re gonna need a lot of hard pushes! Remember how it was with Mac? He was a hefty baby, remember? I was called because you were nearly exhausted, but you did it in the end.”

  “That’s because ...” pant, pant, “you were ...” pant, pant “threatening to cut me open with the butcher blade!” Luxie gasped and struggled.

  “Breathe easy, now, your grace ma’am. You need to focus your attention just like that then. Push the baby out like it’s that or a knife! It’ll motivate you,” Eric told her quickly.

  “No! No knives!” Ollie’s voice boomed from the doorway. He saw Bliss and shrugged.

  “Ollie? How come you’re here? Mr. Dalton said you’d be in the shipyard all afternoon!” Luxie gasped.

  “Bliss mentioned something to Lem this morning. Lem informed me of his tasks in case he might get called out for leaving the estate without permission. I put stock in Bliss’s being sometimes spot on and decided to cut the tour short. I was met by Lem as I came over the rise. Smart boy! Now, darling, what can I do to help?” Ollie asked all business once more.

  “Oh! No! Oh, OW, something else’s wrong!” Luxie howled her pain out loudly.

  “It’s nothing serious, Mama, if you do as they say,” Bliss assured.

  “Your grace, focus all your energy to pushing the baby, please! He or she could be without air soon if we don’t release him or her to the world!” Dr. Benchley commanded in his most serious doctor voice. Bliss was up on the corner of the bed hugging her mother’s shoulder and whispering to her softly.

  “Pretend that it’s tennis, Mama. Pretend the pushing is a ball you’re trying to swat at Uncle Miles,” Bliss offered helpfully.