(Pictured above: Emmeline, Gideon and the town of Abbotshire)
June 1807
Emmeline Somers woke with the dawn and quickly put on a simple calico dress and apron. She plaited her long walnut colored locks in a neat braid before pinning it into a bun. She glanced at herself in the mirror. "Good enough" she said to herself before smoothing her skirt and leaving her room. Emmeline wasn't an ugly girl by any means. She was a petite girl with womanly curves and a healthy weight. Not that it mattered much, working in her father's apothecary shop didn't exactly attract many suitors. She went into the kitchen and prepared the poultice for her father's leg.
Gideon was a good man, raised his daughter singularly after Emmeline's mother died. It was only in the past few months that he began to show his age. A small cut had turned rather bothersome after he left it untreated. Now he rarely made it down to run the shop.
"Good morning Papa, how are you faring today?" Emmeline asked as she enter his chamber.
"As good as one can at this age, and how are you my dear?"
"I am doing quite well. Nathaniel is to arrive soon with new herbs from the West Indies. "
"How exciting and now am I to presume you will soon be teaching me new recipes once I am good and healed?"
"Maybe Papa, but no one could be as good as an instructor as you. Now let's get your leg set up. I am to make a house call at the Wilbourn home around luncheon and there are things I must take care of downstairs."
"Oh alright, just don't wrap the bandage too tight." Emmeline quickly tended to the wound before going downstairs to tend to the shop.
She swept the entryway and prepared a few mixes that people tended to ask for throughout the day. It was a quiet life she led but she reveled in it. After the death of her mother it was the only way she could connect to her father. A good man, Gideon married Eleanor for love. After several miscarriages she gave birth to Emmeline. The three of them were thick as thieves. Gideon and Eleanor raised Emmeline with love. Both of them the most caring souls in the entire country, they treated everyone that walked into their shop as kin. Even when Eleanor got sick, she still made it out to house calls. It was this caring spirit that eventually killed her. This was why Emmeline wouldn't allow her father to leave his bed. She couldn't risk losing another guardian.
Emmeline prepared a quick luncheon for her father before leaving for the Wilbourns. She packed a bit of ginger tea and turmeric oil. Lady Wilbourn had recently begun to feel the aches of age upon her and typically requested a visit by Emmeline or her father every week. Recently, with her father's weakness keeping him from doing regular business, she has been called to assist Lady Margaret more frequently. Not that Emmeline minded, the Wilbourn family had become like kin. Sir Patrick wasn't a pleasant fellow at all and was known for his disdain for his wife and love of loose women. His daughter Lydia was quite pleasant and the two girls had formed a friendship over the years of care.
~
"Good afternoon Megan." Emmeline said cheerfully to the maid as she took her cloak. "Lady Wilbourn is in her chamber I presume."
"Yes Miss."
"I shall go right up then. Oh, here is her dosage for the week. Please make sure she drinks a cup before she goes to sleep every night. If she refuses add a little honey or brandy to it to lessen the taste." Emmeline adds, removing a small satchel of tea from her bag.
"Yes Miss, I shall have Fiona bring up some tea in a few minutes."
"Thank you Megan." Emmeline ascended the staircase to Lady Margaret's chamber. She knocked quietly before taking the liberty to enter the dark room. Lady Margaret sat up in bed upon hearing the young apothecary's voice.
"Good afternoon Lady Margaret, how are we faring today?" Emmeline asks, joyful as ever.
"I do believe the pain is getting worse. That tea you've given me has done nothing but cause more pain."
"Are you drinking all of it before bed ma'am?"
"As much as I can handle. I only get through a few sips before my stomach goes sour."
"Well it will not work if you're not willing to drink all of it." Emmeline laughs, opening the curtains, "Why I was looking after one of your stablemen, Billy I believe, he had a lame leg just like you. I gave him a small parcel of the tea and within a week he was back tending to the horses."
"Cow manure. That boy and I don't have the same kind of aches. He is young. He can recover faster than I."
"Stop considering yourself to be an old fool Madame. You are as young and able as ever." Emmeline takes a seat next to the bed, smiling radiantly at the woman. "In fact I'll make it into a wager. You drink the tea for a week and the next time I visit you and I shall have a turn about the garden. I'm sure your lilies are in full bloom this time of year. If you're not up to it you'll never have to drink the tea again. However, if you're feeling capable of it you and I shall have a nice picnic lunch by your lilies. Do we have a deal?" Lady Margaret looks suspiciously at Emmeline.
"Be prepared to have to create another concoction besides that tea young lady. I don't believe I will be moving from this bed for quite some time."
"I shall create something even better then, but for the time being may I have a look at your leg before Fiona and Lydia come for tea?" Margaret removes the comforter from her body and allows Emmeline to inspect the area. The maid Fiona enters shortly after and Emmeline assists Margaret into a robe and takes her to a small settee.
"Good afternoon Mother." Lydia chirps as she enters the room, "I'm glad to see you're out of bed." She takes a seat next to Emmeline as the tea is being poured. "She hardly ever leaves the bed on days you don't visit." She whispers to Emmeline.
"I don't see a reason to at this point with your father in town and your brother off in the West Indies doing God knows what. It's not like you've given me any grandchildren to give me a need to leave the bed."
"Oh Mother don't be so fickle. When a man comes who is worthy of my time I shall give him all of it."
"Love is a foolish thing to wish for my dear. You must find a man who you can tolerate long enough to give an heir to and has enough money to make you happy."
"Lady Margaret don't be so cynical. Allowing ice to form in your heart doesn't make your body heal faster. In fact some even say it makes the process slower."
"Oh you hush as well. If your father didn't have you working like his apprentice you could be good and settled with quite a few babies. It's a shame your mother couldn't instill that value in you before she left this world."
"But if I weren't working Lady Margaret I wouldn't be able to see your smiling face every week. I've come to really enjoy our weekly interludes."
"The two of you should be married with child, I shall have no more arguments. Mooreland Park is to be inhabited again. The late Earl's son is finally coming home."
"Who is it exactly Mother?"
"The Earl of Wesleyan, he and his daughter are returning home after several years in London."
"Why do you tell us this Margaret? Are you expecting one of us to warm his bed when his wife is away?" Emmeline laughs, trying to lighten the mood.
"His wife is dead. What I was going to tell you before I was so rudely interrupted is that your father has insisted on hosting a ball around the same time. The Earl has been gone for so long a good lot of the county should show up which gives the two of you prime opportunity to meet someone of substance."
"And on that note I must take my leave Madame. I am afraid I have lost track of the hour and I must go tend to the shop. I shall see you next week for our walk." Emmeline rose from her seat and headed back home. Another ball to attend, another chance to be rejected by every man in the room. Being a female apothecary had its benefits but most men didn't care to hear about women's work. They were looking for a simpleton who sat and did needlepoint and that simply wasn't who Emmeline was.
~
Emmeline returned home and tended to the shop. It was relatively quiet without anyone entering the shop. Around 7 when it seems no one would be coming, Emmeline allowed herself to retire. She locked up the more potent opiates and closed the door to the shop. She made a simple dinner for her and her father, who had already fallen asleep. Before she went to her bed to rest Emmeline went into one of her trunks of clothing. Looking inside she saw the few ball gowns she owned. They were all gifts of Lydia Wilbourn. Emmeline and her father didn't have enough money for frivolous things such as the gowns so she received hand-me-downs from Lydia. Her sewing skills were accomplished enough to be able to alter them to her size.
She removed her favorite one from the trunk and hung it on the front of her wardrobe so that it may air out before the ball. As she slept she allowed herself to fantasize about the ball.