The Tapestry by Gilbert Morris

Author:Gilbert Morris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-09-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter thirteen

The sun was going down rapidly as Julius drove the horses at a fast clip. He had mentioned that he wanted to get home before dark, and indeed, this was Leonie’s wish also.

Dr. Sheffield looked more presentable since he had changed clothes, but Leonie still was wearing the bloodstained garments. She looked down and saw that the blood had dried into a brownish color and wondered at herself for functioning as she had.

Sheffield was watching the young woman. He asked, “Have you been living with Lady Augustine long?”

“Oh no. Only a few weeks.” She struggled to find a way to explain her position and then said, “It really is complicated, Doctor.”

“Don’t tell me if you don’t want to, Miss Dousett.”

“I don’t mind. Well, you should know that I grew up in the Ursuline Convent. I just left there two years ago. Since then I’ve been working as a seamstress.”

“Do you have a family?”

“Well, that’s the complication. I was left as an infant, only a few days old, at the convent. Only recently have I learned that I may be related to the Augustine family. As a matter of fact, Lady Augustine may be my grandmother.”

“Sounds like a mystery.”

“It is rather.” She said, “What about you, Doctor? Are you from Louisiana?”

Sheffield laughed. “Can’t you tell from the way I talk I’m not a Louisiana man? No, I was born in Kentucky. Lived there all my life until recently.”

“Is your family here?”

“My family? Oh, I’m not married.”

“I meant your parents.”

“They’re gone now. As a matter of fact, I’m here because of my mother.”

“Was she from here?”

“Oh no. She was born in Kentucky. We were from the mountain country. Very poor. My father died when I was only eight. Mother had a rough time raising the four children. She had already lost three in miscarriages. It was hard living, Miss Dousett, very hard.”

Leonie turned to study the doctor’s profile. He was not a handsome man, but somehow he had a winsome quality that pleased her. “How did your mother cause you to be here?”

“She grew ill, and none of the doctors would come and look at her. I was just a boy, barefooted almost. I was only seventeen. I went to every doctor that I could find, and none of them would come without pay, so she died a slow, painful death.”

“How terrible!”

“Yes, it was. So I determined I’d do something about it.” He turned to face her, and she saw a warm light in his brown eyes. “I fought my way through school, working nights and going to school in the daytime. Finally I finished my medical training. I had a chance to go into practice in St. Louis, but I’d always said I’d try to do something for poor people if I became a doctor. So that’s what I’m doing here.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Not long. Just about six months. I know that’s a pretty poor place, where I am now. Someday it will be different. I’ll have a clinic.

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