A Mother's Promise by Dilly Court

Author:Dilly Court
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House

Chapter Thirteen

Hetty could never remember what her reply had been to George’s startling proposition; in fact she lost several days completely as she lay in her bed racked with fever. Jane told her afterwards that they had feared for her life, and Granny had even gone so far as to send for the doctor, paying his fee out of her own purse. The crusty old physician had made them strip the cotton sheets off the bed so that Hetty was lying between thick woollen blankets. ‘She must sweat it out. Give her some drops of laudanum in water if she becomes too restless,’ he had said, shaking his head. ‘I can do no more. The rest is in the hands of the Lord.’

Jane giggled at this point and said that Hetty would have died laughing if she had seen Granny’s face when she saw the bed piled high with blankets and rugs. Granny had swooped on the covers like an avenging angel and stripped off everything, replacing the cotton sheets and calling the doctor all manner of names. She had insisted on bathing Hetty with cool water to bring her temperature down, ignoring Jane and Nora’s protests that it would probably kill rather than cure her. Granny had condemned the doctor as a charlatan and not worth the half-crown he had charged for the visit. It was scandalous taking money from poor folks on false pretences. Jane did a pretty fair imitation of Granny in one of her sniffy moods, placing her hands on her hips and rolling her eyes. ‘Anyone knows that if you have a pot boiling over you take it off the heat, you don’t pile more coal on the fire. It’s the same with a fever, any fool can see that.’ Jane emphasised each word with a toss of her head, in just the way that Granny did when she was annoyed or offended.

Hetty couldn’t help laughing, but this made her cough and she had to sip some water from the cup that Jane held to her lips. ‘I was terrified that she was going to do you more harm than good,’ Jane continued, wiping Hetty’s mouth with a corner of the sheet. ‘But then, just like a miracle, the fever broke, and you opened your eyes and spoke to me, quite like your old self.’ Jane’s voice quavered, and, as if embarrassed by this show of emotion, she plumped up the pillows behind Hetty’s head. ‘Now all you got to do is sip this broth that Nora made for you, and get your strength back.’

Obediently, Hetty took a little of the beef broth from the spoon that Jane held to her lips. ‘How long have I been like this, and what’s happened to my stall?’

Jane chuckled, dipping the spoon into the cup and waiting until Hetty had swallowed another mouthful. ‘Trust you to put the stall first.’

Hetty attempted to sit up. ‘I must get up. I’m better . . .’ Her voice tailed off as a spell of dizziness forced her to sink back against the pillows.

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