“Jane?” Bennet enquired.
“Yes, Fanny named her Jane Esmeralda for her late mother. Before you protest, it is a nice name, and it will cost you nothing to allow her this. After all, she did make you a father and me a grandmother,” Beth advised. She placed the serenely sleeping girl into her son’s arms.
“I will not demand she change the name,” Bennet agreed as he looked at his tiny daughter. He did not miss the blonde tufts on his daughter’s head. All he could hope was that even if this babe looked like her mother, she would not be like her in character. “She does look like a Jane, does she not?” He paused as he thought of what he would have to do once his wife was healed and rested. “When I have to go to her again, I will pray that she falls with child as quickly as she did this time; and the next one will be a son.”
“That will be my prayer as well. Let us hope He hears us next time,” Beth added.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
By Sunday night, some twelve to fourteen hours after Jane was born, Fanny developed a fever. It was not too high, so it did not engender too much concern. Mrs Brown and her instruments had left a few hours after the birth.
Meryton did not have a resident medical man. The nearest was an apothecary in Hatfield and two physicians in St Albans. As long as the fever was low, something many women experienced after the travails of childbirth, there was no need to panic. When Beth visited her daughter-in-law in the morning on Monday, her concerns were aroused.
Normally fevers peaked at night and were reduced in the morning. Fanny’s temperature was far higher than the previous evening when Beth had last seen her. She supervised the two upstairs maids as they prepared a cold bath and then helped the younger Mrs Bennet into it.
Fanny was mumbling deliriously. Beth knew it was time to summon help. She went to see her son. “Thomas, we need to send for assistance. Her fever seems to keep climbing, and now she is somewhat delirious. No matter what you feel about her, we cannot allow her to suffer unaided,” she told her son.
“I would never withhold medical treatment from her or any other. I will have one groom ride for Hatfield and the other to St Albans,” Bennet related. He rang for Hill and issued his instructions.
The two grooms were on their way within minutes. His wife’s brother had left his direction in London, so Bennet wrote a note and had Hill engage an express rider to deliver it. No matter how angry the younger Gardiner had been at his younger sister,Bennet was certain he would want to know if his sister was ailing. He did not have the father’s direction in Devonshire, but he assumed that Edward Gardiner did and that he would take the responsibility of sending a letter to his family.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
By the time the apothecary arrived from Hatfield, it was the middle of the afternoon. He was shown directly to the patient’s darkened room. Beth was present in the chamber when he conducted his examination.
“I believe this woman is suffering from childbed fever. I am of a growing school of thought that believes that one of the causes of this illness could be dirty hands and instruments being used on one lady after another without cleaning them in between. Some of the newer midwives are open to change, but those who have been practicing for a longer time are more resistant to new ideas,” the apothecary reported.
“Is there any cure?” Beth asked, although she suspected she knew the answer.
“I am afraid not. I know some physicians use bleeding to attempt to expel the infected blood, but as far as I know, it helps not. There are extremely rare cases which have been reported where the mother recovers, but from what I am aware of that is one in a thousand cases, if not a higher ratio. In my opinion, all you can do now is attempt to make her as comfortable as possible,” the apothecary counselled. “I will remain if you and your son require me to stay, but I do not believe there is anything I am able to do.”
After a quick consultation with her son, Beth thanked Mr Bradford, handed over his fee, and returned to sit at Fanny’s side.
That evening Edward Gardiner arrived on horseback from London at about the same time as one of the doctors from St Albans arrived. While the physician followed Mrs Bennet to the chamber where the ailing lady lay, Edward was shown into the study.
“I did not want to be married to your sister, but I never wished this on her,” Bennet said after he had shaken the arriving man’s hand.
“And I would not think that of you. This is His will; we mere mortals cannot understand why He does what He does and when. I can only hope that Fanny is admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven and is reunited with our mother there,” Edward lamented.
“Port?” Bennet offered.
“Please,” Edward replied. “The doctor from St Albans arrived when I did, so all we can do now is wait.”
“The apothecary from Hatfield was here; he was not very hopeful,” Bennet reported. “By the way, you have a niece, and she has been named Jane Esmeralda. She was born on Sunday. As Fanny did not want to feed her, a wet nurse was employed from among my tenants.”
The younger Gardiner’s eyebrows shot up. “You do not object to her bearing my late mother’s names?”
“It was your sister’s final wish, and I will not change Jane’s names.”
The two men lapsed into silence. The only noise was the ticking of the clock on the mantle above the now cold fireplace. Both stood when the doctor and Beth Bennet entered the study.
“I wish I had better news for you, but I am afraid there is no hope,” Mr Blackwell revealed. “I could try to bleed her, butthe fever has already ravaged her body to such an extent that the bleeding may end her before she is claimed by the sickness.”
“Thank you, Mr Blackwell, you have confirmed what Mr Bradford from Hatfield opined,” Bennet related. “It will be dark before you reach St Albans; may we offer you a chamber for the night?”
“I would appreciate that, thank you, Mr Bennet,” Blackwell replied gratefully.
Bennet slipped the gratuity into the special pocket in the physician’s jacket while his mother went to instruct Mrs Hill to have two guest chambers prepared. It was not long before Beth came to collect Mr Blackwell to show him to his chamber.
