Because of Rebecca - By Leanne Tyler Page 0,64
drew Ancil’s attention back to the stove. He turned and removed the frying pan from the stovetop and transferred the bacon to plates. “You’ve carried this burden so long, what has changed to make you reveal it now?”
She smiled and tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “Lucas. I avoided touching him from the time he was born, but with Rebecca gone these last few days, I’ve been taking care of him. He calls me Mama.”
Tears began to flow from her eyes. “Mama. The sweetest word ever spoken. I know he doesn’t realize what he’s saying. He’s only learning to talk, but hearing him say it... it... it worked its magic on me. It made me feel things I never allowed myself to feel when I gave birth to Mariah. I was scared and too worried about society’s convention back then, but I loved her father so. We would have been married if he hadn’t taken ill and died. I know Charles would have loved her and been proud of her.”
She brushed away the tears, but new ones fell. “I was grateful to my brother and his wife for loving me enough to save my reputation, but I wasn’t as kind to Mariah. She was not even seventeen, Ancil. She was so young and naïve.”
He dipped a portion of the grease from the pan and placed it back on the stovetop to heat. “We all were at that age.”
Josephine nodded and took a sip of her coffee. “I blamed her for her naiveté, but maybe if I hadn’t taken her to New Orleans that winter this wouldn’t have happened. I blamed her for believing that gambler married her during the party she’d slipped off to attend with him. I was livid when I found her on that riverboat in his bed the next morning. Of course, he wasn’t there. He’d left moments before I arrived to get them breakfast.”
He poured the eggs in the pan and stirred them. “I’m listening. Go on.”
Josephine swallowed and remembered the pleased look on Mariah’s face that morning. “She proudly showed me the piece of paper proclaiming her Mrs. Stuart Delaney, but I had my doubts. I hadn’t trusted the man from the moment we met. I forbade her to see him again, but she had a will of her own, and she’d slipped away in the middle of the night to be with him. In my anger, I forced her to get dressed and I dragged her from the boat despite her protests. When we got back to the hotel, I had our things packed quickly and we left on the next train.”
She sobbed, covering her face with her hands. He placed the eggs on their plates and carried them over to the table. When he set them down, she looked at him again and he handed her his handkerchief. She dried her eyes and took another jagged breath.
“Mariah cried for days. It didn’t matter what I said, nothing consoled her. She wrote letter after letter to New Orleans in search of her supposed husband but they were all returned to her unopened. In an attempt to put our minds at ease, I even made inquiry through a friend into the priest who signed the marriage certificate. As I had feared, he did not exist. There was, however, a man by that name known as a gambler and a close friend of Stuart Delaney’s. Mariah took the news badly. She stayed in her room for days. I hadn’t wanted to tell her, but I couldn’t allow her to spend the rest of her life searching for a man who never loved her.” Josephine sighed and shook her head. “Everything had finally settled down when we discovered she was with child. Thankfully Rebecca had finished her schooling and was home at that point.”
He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips, brushing a kiss across her knuckles. “I’m sorry you had to carry this burden for so long, but you cannot blame yourself for Mariah’s death. There are many dangerous complications in childbirth. How did the doctor say she died?”
“She hemorrhaged. The doctor was unable to stop the bleeding.”
He nodded. “Yes. I’ve had deliveries end that way. They are never pleasant, but we do the best we can.”
Josephine pulled her hand away and picked up her fork. She moved the eggs around on her plate, but her stomach rebelled. “I suppose I’ll have to tell Rebecca now.”
“Not unless you absolutely want.