Mae

Mae was looking through her basket, arranging the herbs and mushrooms she had found and thinking about what needed to be dried out and where she was going to put them. She wasn't aware of the company as she walked in the front door and called out, 'Hi Daddy!" as she walked through to the kitchen to get out a pan to soak a few of the mushrooms.

"Mae, this is Lord Hallingford," her father told her quickly.

Mae finally looked up from what she was doing and looked up at the older man in the suit who was standing with her father.

The man was looking Mae over, a little wide eyed and he managed a tight lipped smile. "Mr James, I was not informed you had a daughter?" Mr Hallingford noted, still staring at Mae who had given him a quick smile, then gone back to what she was doing.

"Ahh, no sir. Your letter specifically asked about children who would be helping on the farm. Johnny helped me right up until he got married and moved off to start his own farm."

"Yes... well, perhaps I worded it wrong. So... Mae does not help?"

"At the time of the letter? No, she wasn't. Even now, she can't help much, mostly what she does is forage in the woods and tend her little herb garden. Estella Burks was teaching her the making of medicines and teas before she left this world and Mae has picked it up, ordering books on it and becoming proficient in it. Is it a problem, sir?"

"No, no, not at all! I just... wasn't aware. Ahh... yes. As I said, the reason I am coming by. I am visiting my estate out here and Josiah Meaks informed me that after your son left, you are no longer using your acreage to the north. As it has gone fallow, I will be taking it over now."

"I see, of course. How many sheep do you plan on running up there?"

"All of them for now. Pardon. Is she not old enough to have her own husband and be gone?" Lord Hallingford asked, still glancing at Mae and blushing.

Mr James looked over at his daughter who was oblivious to the older man's attention. "She lost her man to an accident. He was building their house, getting things ready for them to get married. He was felling a tree, didn't know it was rotten up top and the heavy blows... they caused half the tree to topple onto him. He was found pinned to the earth, still breathin', but when they pulled it out, he bled to death quick," Mr James told the older man quietly. "Mae ain't been keen on findin' a new man since."

"How long ago?"

"Almost two years now? Is it a problem she's here? When I signed the agreement, it didn't say anything about how many kids I could have or..."

"No! No, it's fine. I simply wondered. Ahhh... Mae?"

Mae blinked and looked over at the older man in the fine suit, wondering what he wanted and why he was there. "Yes? You need me for somethin?"

"Ahh... I was wondering if I might call on you? Perhaps this evening?"

"Sure! What is it you're needin? I have a tea that eases gout? A cream that eases arthritis, or..."

"No. No, Miss James... I meant, may I call on you? Come and see you?"

Mae looked up at him in confusion. "You mean like... to court me?" she asked incredulously, then half laughed. "Sir, you're old enough to be my grandfather! Even if I were remotely interested, I'd still say no! I have a want for children some day, so you'd be wasting your time!"

Lord Hallingford turned red to his ears as he looked down at the hat in his hands. "I am not so old as that! I am still very capable of fathering children! I'm sorry to have troubled you, Miss James," he half whispered as Mae shook her head and left out the back door to go hang herbs. She'd already forgotten the older man after briefly wondering what the fascination was with older men. Levi Wooster had tried to get her to step out with him and him in his 60's! Old James asked her to marry him straight out, said he'd provide for her and leave her everything if she was a wife to him for the last years of his life. John Waddell and John Singer had both asked her to step out and them both in their 50's with kids older than her! Everyone considered her a widow for some reason, even though her and Alric had never married. It was frustrating!

Younger men had asked after her too, but she wasn't really interested in them much. She had decided after what happened with Alric that she wasn't going to settle again. She was going to wait for the right man no matter how long it took! She wanted grand love and epic romance like she had read about and dreamed about.

When she came back in, she kissed her father on the head as she passed. "Mae?" he called before she went to her room. "Don't bother with dinner. We've been asked up to the manor house to eat with Lord Hallingford."

"Do I have to go?" Mae asked, a little scared her father was going to try and foist the rich old man off on her.

"Yes, this once. He is having everyone working his land up, all four of us and our families."

"Oh. Well it'll be nice to not have to cook!" she called, going upstairs to change. Maybe Lord Hallingford had a handsome and fun son or nephew? Or grandson?

Mae was on her fathers arm, looking around the huge manor wide eyed as a servant showed them into a huge room full of people sitting on fine couches and chairs. She knew most of them, all of the other farmers who farmed Lord Hallingfords land.

"Mr James and his daughter, Miss James," the servant announced. Mae stared at him wide eyed. A servant! Out here! She'd read about them and heard that they were at the grand estates closer to the city, but not clear out here!

"Come in," Lord Hallingford called with a gracious smile. "Sit down! We were just discussing the saturated market for barley this year."

Mae felt out of place as Lord Hallingford led her to a couch where two finer ladies that she didn't know were sitting.

"Hello Miss James!" the younger one, a woman her own age, called brightly.

"I'm Lilli," the other woman told her, a bit older and her belly swollen with child.

"And I'm Ruth! Lilli and I are sisters! We had hoped there might be someone close to our age out here!"

"Mae, it's lovely to meet you," Mae blushed, looking the girls over with their shining, done up hair and fine silk dresses. She felt out of place in her cotton dress and her curls hanging loose down her back. "Are you Lord Hallingfords daughters?"

Ruth giggled. "No, he's our uncle. "We came out to see the countryside and lift Lilli's spirits."

"Oh?"

"Her husband was lost in the war," Ruth confided softly.

"I'm so sorry! How far along are you? Seven months?"

"Yes, near as the doctors can tell. I came to it late, not realizing for a long time."

"Lilli stayed in bed for a few months after her Todd had been killed. It was Hannah, one of the maids, that noticed her state finally and we got a doctor in. It was his idea for us to come out here and get some fresh air and a change of scenery as he called it. Meet new people and stay in a place where she wasn't constantly reminded of him. Uncle Isaiah agreed immediately!"

"That's kind of him. Does he not have kids of his own?"

"Oh no," Lilli whispered. "Uncle Isaiah has never married. He finds women... grasping and full of what he calls made up trouble. Gossip and whispers and petty meanness, all of that. Heartache they bring on themselves by stirring up trouble just for attention. No, Uncle Isaiah will never marry, I think. He's too... persnickety."

Ruth giggled again. "He's nice as can be, don't get us wrong! We adore him! But he finds women frustrating and usually false."

"And what are you lovely young ladies talking about?" Mason Jennings asked as Ruth smiled shyly up at him. "Mae, won't you introduce me?"

Mae rolled her eyes. "Lilli, Ruth, this is Mason Jennings. His pa is over there, Paul Jennings and he works the southwest quarter. Mason is only eighteen," she told them quickly.

"I've told you, little Mae, age means little. It's lovely to meet you both! Miss Ruth, maybe I can give you a tour of the farms later?"

Ruth smiled again, then gave him a single nod, her cheeks pink. "Perhaps. We shall see how dinner goes," she told him.

Mason grinned and gave her a small bow, then shot Mae a grin that said 'hah!' as he left.

"Are you young ladies getting on well? Do you need anything? Lilli, do you feel alright?"

"Fine Uncle Isaiah," Lilli smiled up at her uncle.

"We are getting along splendidly, Uncle," Ruth smiled. "She is nice! And just as lovely as you said she was!"

Isaiah blushed furiously as he cleared his throat. "As long as you are all happy," he nodded quickly. "Miss James, would you like a drink? It will be another hour before dinner."

"So long? I was assuming we were just coming for dinner, papa never mentioned we'd have to socialize so much," Mae responded glumly. "Not that I'm not enjoying the company! I just have a lot that needs doin and nothin is gettin done just sittin here."

"I see," Isaiah smiled slightly, clearing his throat again. "I'm sorry to have troubled you and inconvenienced you."

"It's alright, I just didn't know. Around here we usually have dinner, then socialize a bit, all after the sun goes down. There's no frivolin' the daylight away, we use up as much as we can."

"Of course," he nodded. "I will keep that in mind for next time. Ruthie, I am told Miss James has a garden? Don't you also have a garden back in the city?"

"I do!" Ruth said excitedly. "The loveliest roses you've ever seen! I won a red ribbon last year and a yellow ribbon the year before! This year, I plan on getting the blue ribbon! Finney has promised to take excellent care of them while I'm gone! Do you grow roses, Mae?" Ruth asked excitedly.

"No... I grow herbs mostly. Vegetables in the bigger garden. I'm an herbalist."

"Like... a hedge witch?" Lilli asked, her eyes wide.

"Some call it that," Mae shrugged. "I make cures for things and I midwife for the ladies around here."

"Do you have a cure for an aching back?" Lilli asked with a wan smile.

"I do! And a tea that eases the pain from the inside too. I can bring them by tomorrow."

"That would be so lovely! Especially if they work! Perhaps you can stay and we will have tea together?"

That was how Mae found herself visiting the girls often up at the manor house. Lord Hallingford was always polite, but he hadn't said anything else about stepping out again and Mae forgot that he'd ever asked. He half treated her like another niece when he came in to check on all of them, talking and laughing together.

When Summer ended and Lilli was getting close to her time, Mae was sorry to see them go.

"Mae? Won't you come stay with us until after the baby is born?" Ruth pleaded. "Uncle Isaiah is coming for a month or so and he can bring you back when he comes back! Lilli adores you as much as I do and you have been so good for her! Plus, she'll need you to help birth the baby!"

"I do!" Lilli agreed quickly. "Couldn't you come? We'd love it if you did and you'd have so much fun! We could take you to parties and all of the grand events in the city!"

Mae smiled, a little excited at the thought, then agreed.

She spent the carriage ride to the city, talking with Ruth quietly while Lilli rested. Mae was unaware of Isaiah watching her and listening while he pretended not to and looked out the window every time either of the girls looked his way.

Finally, he worked up his courage to speak. "Mae? Have you ever been to the city?"

"No! Two hours is a long ride. I leave it to Mr Coates, he's the one that picks up supplies for everyone. He says it's crowded and loud and smells bad."

Ruth giggled. "He's going to the wrong parts of the city then! The first thing we are doing when we get there is going to the dressmakers and getting you a dress made for this weekend!"

"Ruth, I can't..."

"Not a word of it! We have an open credit running with her!"

"We do," Lilli agreed softly, grimacing.

Mae went to her knees on the floor of the carriage and felt Lilli's belly and how it was going tight all over. "We need to stop for a while, all this bouncing around isn't good for her or the baby. She's having contractions and she shouldn't be yet!"

Isaiah immediately pulled the cord that rang the bell above.

Mae got Lilli out and helped her to a place where she could sit and stretch her legs and breathe in the fresh air. In another hour, they were on their way again, Isaiah telling the drivers to go more slowly so they wouldn't bounce as much.

The city wasn't like Mae imagined. First off, it was a LOT bigger with a LOT more people. She had imagined a couple dozen houses crammed together and a few businesses, all dirty and crowded.

It was crowded, but it was still huge and there were cobblestone roads. There were more businesses than she had ever imagined and so many houses! So many BIG houses where they went and they kept getting bigger. There were gardens and trees and flowers separating to roads, one that went one way, the other going the other way Ruth told her. It was so extravagant and beautiful, the mansion even prettier and larger than the manor house back home.

The inside was like a gilded dream and there were more servants. Mary, Lilli and Ruth's mother, welcomed Mae with a hug, then she hugged and kissed Isaiah as he smiled at his sister fondly. She fussed over Lilli and got her sitting down immediately.

"Her time might be on her sooner than expected," Mae told Mary. "She was having contractions in the carriage. I slowed them down, but that don't always work, they always come in their own time and not ours. She's tried to hide it, but I know she's had more. I been watching and they ain't too close together yet, and now that she is relaxing, they might ease and stop, but... be ready if they don't."

"Mae is a midwife," Ruth told her mother quickly. "She's delivered near a hundred babies! She goes to all the farms out there and both the little villages close by! And they all come to her for remedies!"

"Like... an apothecary?" Mary asked, sitting with Lilli and holding her hand.

Mae was immediately intrigued. They had places in the city that did what she did? She would find out later. "Lilli, if you want to stop the labor, you should lay down. If you want to speed it up, you should walk around."

"Walk around? In her condition? She should be in bed if she is going into labor!" her mother scowled.

"Pardons, Ma'am, but no. She should walk, it helps get the baby in position and works all those muscles. When she's in labor, she shouldn't be on her back at all, it slows the labor and makes it harder on both of them. Best way is to tilt a table for her to lean back against and let gravity and mother nature do all the work and not Lilli."

"That sounds... horrifying!" Mary scoffed.

"Just so, it's the best way all around."

"I want to try," Lilli panted, grimacing as another contraction hit. "I want to do it Mae's way! If it's easier, I want that!"

Mae nodded as Isaiah hovered nervously. She turned to him. "Find me a table that will sit at an angle if you tilt it to its side. Not straight up and down, but reclined a bit. Get a large basin full of lukewarm water and put it up against the table in the middle. Lilli, start walking. Ruth get a few towels and make sure the table is clean. Mary, help her walk. She will do fine until she has a contraction, then she'll need help. Don't let her lay down. Once they are about 60 seconds apart, bring her to the table.

Lilli had her baby in just over an hour and Mary was astonished.

"Lili had me in bed in labor for three entire days!" she complained. "Ruthie took 18 hours!"

Mae only nodded. "A lot of people seem to think it's better, I don't know why. Gravity will do half the work if you let it and laying down slows down the whole process. Leaning against an incline on your feet, squatting is the best way. Tub underneath for a quick wash and... to catch everything else. It's simple, really, unless there's something wrong on the inside. Breach especially. Still, haven't lost a baby yet!" Mae smiled, swaddling the tiny baby girl to give to her mother.

Mae stayed with Lilli all night to show her how to feed the baby and help her with her, so she was tired when Ruth woke her up to go dress shopping.

Ruth was grinning ear to ear as she pulled Mae out to the waiting carriage. "Uncle Isaiah told me to get you anything you wanted no matter what it was!" Ruth laughed. "I guess he is even more thankful than Lilli for how well you did with baby Bethamin! He even said he would meet us for lunch at the Stratford! The Stratford, Mae! Can you imagine? Uncle Isaiah is one of about 5 people in the whole city who can get a table just by showing up! Most people have to make reservations weeks and even months in advance! I've only been once and Cordie and I made reservations 5 weeks ahead! The food is devine there!"

Mae yawned and was much less impressed than her friend about this place that was built for nothing for rich folks to eat at and who could get in and who couldn't.

The woman at the dress shop seemed overjoyed to see Ruth come in with a new friend that she wanted to get a full dozen dresses done for. Mae shook her head, but Ruth ignored her protests as the woman measured her, then began fitting her right there on the spot, saying she wouldn't allow her to walk out of her store in the clothes she was wearing.

As embarrassed and uncomfortable as she was with it, Mae had to admit the dress looked and fit nicely as Ruth led her back out to the carriage to go meet her uncle. The woman promised to have another delivered to the house before nightfall and the ballgown tomorrow afternoon. She would have them delivered as she finished them after that. Mae felt almost overwhelmed as she fussed with the fine fabric, terrified to get it dirty.

When the carriage pulled up to the crowded building that Ruth had called a restaurant, Mae felt extremely put off by all of the fine, rich people and the servants in fine suits. Isaiah was waiting for them and Ruth ran to him and hugged him. Mae clutched her hands together and looked around worriedly, afraid everyone knew she was an imposter. She was wearing a fine dress and Ruth had done up her hair, but she felt like these people all saw right through her.

Isaiah smiled at her as he looked her over, his eyes shining, pleased. Taking up her hand, he bowed and kissed the back of her fingers. "You are a vision, Mae! Lovely as ever you are."

Mae blushed and pulled her hand away as she looked down. Ruth hooked an arm through hers as they were led to a table and Mae looked around uncomfortably as everyone seemed to be watching them. She was sure of it as eyes stayed on them and many of them leaned close to each other to whisper.

"Why are they all staring?" Mae asked Ruth in a whisper.

"Well, they have to be wondering who you are!" Ruth giggled. "You here with Uncle Isaiah and I and not been introduced into society yet! I bet they're all thinking you are an illegitimate child of his!" she giggled again.

"They don't really think that do they?" Mae asked, distraught as a man came out and began pouring them all wine.

"Think what, Mae?" Isaiah asked softly as he looked over a parchment the man handed him.

Mae looked at the paper as the man handed one to her and Ruth both, confused for a moment as she looked at it.

"Nothing, Uncle, I am only teasing her," Ruth assured him. "Mae, last time I had the goose and it was just to die for! I think this time I will just have the veal."

Mae stared at the paper and realized it was listing foods, all of the meals she had to choose from. "I can just pick any of these?" she asked in shock.

"Of course, anything you like," Isaiah told her.

"What is this here?" she asked, pointing to the numbers next to the meals.

"Don't worry over pricing, Mae, I am treating you both to lunch," Isaiah assured her softly.