Becoming Jane

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

A week after, the doctor was able to travel out to Catherine’s farm to check on Kitty. Kitty was getting stronger every day. Her incision site had not become infected, which Little J thanked the Lord for. The doctor has commended her quick thinking, even though he did not approve of her actions – Little J was sure he would have toasted a glass of brandy to her had she been a man. But, she knew she had to be prepared for such stigma if she was to enter the medical field as a woman. Perhaps she should keep her disguise for that part also.

Her male relatives noticed the country doctor’s reluctance to acknowledge Little J’s ability as a woman. They informed him of how she was the cleverest and therefore the most capable of saving Kitty’s life. The doctor still kept his views. Little J didn’t mind, she just believed him ignorant. Nevertheless, he agreed that laudanum was the best pain reliever for Kitty, but reminded them to keep her dosages small so she didn’t develop a reliance.

He just reiterated the fact that Kitty wasn’t to rise until her incision site was healed. He also agreed that little Millie was in excellent health and there was nothing to worry about with her smaller size.

After a month, though, Millie was the size of a normal infant with her father’s bright, blue eyes and her mother’s brown hair. She looked exactly like Will did when he was a newborn.

Christmas wasn’t the usual affair, much to both Kitty and Sabine’s disappointment. They had both hoped the share their usual family traditions with their husband’s, but thanks to Kitty’s condition, those had to be put on hold. Sabine was more understanding than Kitty was. Come Christmastime, two and a half weeks after she’d given birth, she insisted she was able to at least go outside to find the perfect yule log. To compromise, the log was burned in Catherine’s bedchamber. Little J was sure that Kitty’s wish was to be able to get out of bed.

The Alcott’s held a more minimal Christmas. They didn’t go wassailing, however, Catherine still made a trip into the village to give food and knitted goods to the church like the generous woman she was.

It was still a lovely Christmas, even if Kitty was bedridden. They exchanged gifts with Kitty, but Kitty insisted that the family eat their dinner downstairs, and not all have plates on their laps. Little J received a beautiful silver hand mirror from her parents and a brand new silver tipped quill and ink well from her grandmother. It was much finer than the set she wrote with at home, so she was excited to begin writing her papers with it.

Little Millie received several gifts as well. Cardigans and booties were all quickly knitted by her great – grandmamma, her grandmamma and her great – Aunt Jane. It made Little J smile, yet feel old in herself, to see her mother as a grandmother. Emilia wasn’t very old, only in her mid – forties, yet she had had her children young. Little J was two and twenty. She didn’t know when, or if she would ever become a mother. She hoped so. She loved her nieces and her nephew, but she knew she would like one of her own one day. She wouldn’t settle though. Unless she found a love match then she wouldn’t marry, and that man had to accept her for who she was – a clever, intuitive woman with the aptitude to become a doctor.

By the time January came, the snow was limited to light flurries every now and then, so it was safe to travel. Sabine and Connor left first for Scotland to spend the rest of winter with his family. The rest of the Alcott’s and Winchester’s left mid – January back down south to Nottingham and London respectfully.