Page 65 of The Quiet Wife
“I expect you’ve heard terrible things about scarlet fever, and you are worried you might have it.”
The girls exchanged glances, then nodded.
“I thought so. Well, I’ve dealt with a lot of scarlet fever in my time, and it is very dangerous… for babies and very young children.”
“How young?” Fannie asked.
“Oh, about two years old.”
She paused and let her words sink in, allowing them to realise they were not in immediate danger.
“Adults get it, and it makes them feel dreadfully poorly, but they very rarely die from it.”
“Oh,” Elinor said. Florence hesitated.
“Is that true?” Fannie asked Frances.
“It is my love,” Frances promised them, hoping it would stop their worrying which would only weaken them.
“Little Timmy Galsworthy was only three, wasn’t he?” Florence recalled.
“So, I don’t want you getting any silly ideas in your heads. I need you to concentrate on getting better. In the meantime, I will help your mother to look after you,” Anna assured them.
She paused and gave them a meaningful look. “And… I haveAmericanremedies.”
“Really?” Florence said. “What are they? Will we have to have our hair cut off?”
Anna appeared horrified. “Perish the thought.”
The girls exchanged relieved glances.
“Where’s Jemie?” Elinor asked. “He was going to sketch me.”
“He’s outside, darling. Waiting to hear how you are.”
After a series of vocal protests at him being excluded, Frances opened the door to find him still leaning on the wall in the corridor.
“The girls would love to see you,” she whispered.
He seemed surprised, but came forward cautiously, and put his head around the door.
“Hello, you lot.”
“Anna is going to treat us withAmericanremedies,” Florence said although she, like her sisters, looked exhausted.
Jemie widened his eyes and put his hand on his heart. “Then you have the very, very best,” he nodded sagely.
“And adults don’t die from this and we are nearly adults,” Elinor added.
“You most certainly are. And as soon as you are feeling up to snuff, I’ll sketch the lot of you.”
They all giggled at the thought, before Florence started coughing.
Anna left with Jemie, and Frances waited patiently whilst Doctor Emslie who’d arrived examined them all. He was a good, kind man, and she hoped he would reassure them just as Anna had.
When he’d finished, he packed up his bag and looked at them all, shaking his head.
“Well, this is a sorry state of affairs.”
