Beyond Reason Read Free Page A

tossing on the hard sofa, his thoughts on Mary. He dressed and went into the other room.
    ‘Nothing yet,’ Mrs Cummins greeted him wearily. ‘Mary is resting a bit now. I’ve made ye some porridge. Will ye take wee Andrew to see his grandfather?’
    ‘But Mr McWhan will be teaching in the schoolroom….’
    ‘Aye, but his housekeeper will likely be there. She would make ye both a bite o’ dinner. It would get Andrew out o’ the way, ye understand. He’s playing next door but I fear it will be nightfall again before I’ve any news.’ Billy’s face paled at her words. She was experienced enough to attend the women in the big houses dotted around the area. He had faith in her judgement.
    ‘So long?’ he whispered fearfully, trying to read the expression in her eyes.
    ‘Long enough, I’d say.’
    ‘Then I must let Mr Cole know I’ll not be in to work. I’ve no appointments for suit fittings today. I think he’ll understand.’
    ‘I’m sure he will. He’s a good man. But I know how it is, laddie: no work, no pay and we all need a wee pickle silver.’
    Billy nodded and glanced longingly towards the alcove and the bed he and Mary had shared since they were married.
    The day seemed to go on forever. Billy paced the dominie’s house and garden and tried to keep his young son occupied. Mary’s father had insisted he would walk back with them after school was over. He promised to give Andrew a ride home on his horse. Billy knew Mr McWhan loved his daughter dearly. Mary was all he had left. They were drawn together in their anxiety for her.
    When they reached the little cottage, Lucy Hughes met them at the door, her face unusually pale. She ushered them firmly away.
    ‘Mistress Cummins says not to come back for at least another hour or two.’
    Billy opened his mouth to protest but the dominie said quickly, ‘We’ll call in on Mr Cole.’ He had seen the anxious look on Lucy’s face. ‘Send any news to his house.’
    ‘Can’t I see Mary?’ Billy pleaded. He had suffered several bouts of violent coughing during the day and he felt wretched and exhausted. Worry about his beloved wife was draining what little energy he had left.
    ‘Better not.’ Lucy shook her head. The dominie took his arm and turned him from his own cottage door.
    Mrs Cole, the tailor’s wife, was a motherly soul and she knew the dominie well. She washed Andrew and improvized a nightshirt for him. Before she had finished telling him a story he was sound asleep.
    ‘He can stay here tonight,’ she said. Her husband agreed and Billy accepted his employer’s offer gratefully.
    Mary’s baby was born late that evening, a sturdy wee girl with a lusty cry. Mistress Cummins’s concern was for Mary.
    ‘If ye dinna mind, Dominie, I would feel easier if ye would call on Doctor Carr on your way back to the schoolhouse. Tell him,’ she looked uncertainly at Billy’s white face, ‘I’ll stay with hertonight. Ask him to come first thing.’ Her eyes met those of the dominie. He nodded silently, his own face drawn with worry. He knew Mistress Cummins would never ask for the doctor unless she had a serious concern.
    The following evening, Lucy Hughes was trying to persuade Andrew to snuggle down in his crib, but the little boy sensed there was something wrong. There were so many people in his house. His mother was tossing wildly in the alcove bed, never speaking to him. She was not cuddling the new baby either. It kept crying and crying until Andrew felt like crying too. He wanted to cuddle it in his crib but Mistress Cummins said it was too small. Grandfather McWhan had come again, but he had no stories tonight. His face looked stern and white. Andrew trembled with fear.
    Doctor Carr was talking to Mistress Cummins. He shared her fears of the birthing fever. It claimed the lives of many a healthy young mother, but rarely one who had been attended by Agnes Cummins. Billy was huddled beside the fire, shivering and coughing, paying the price for