‘Yes, but Jessica doesn’t know she was supposed to be. We must tell her that Meg is pregnant and is going to have Jack’s child.’
‘No! The girl has suffered enough. No, fuck you, Hester, we’ll not make it worse for her, you pleased as punch with Meg and poor bloody Jessica in disgrace!’
‘Joe, please, mind your language. Listen to me, it’s important.’ Hester takes a breath. ‘Nobody knows Jessica’s pregnant, do they?’ ‘The doctor bloody knows.’
‘That’s just it. Now try to remember, when you saw Dr Merrick did you give him Jessica’s name, her Christian name?’
Joe scratches his head, trying to recall. ‘No, I just said she was me daughter. You know, “Doctor, I’d like you ter look at me daughter, she’s been chucking up her guts in the mornin’.’”
‘You sure of that? He didn’t write anything down?’
‘Nah, she said not, when I asked later. She said he took her behind a screen and examined her and asked about the vomiting.’ Joe tries to think if there is anything else. ‘Yeah, now I remember, he called her “my dear” at first and then “Miss Bergman”. That were only the once, when we was talking after, like.’
, “Miss Bergman”. He said “Miss Bergman”?’ Hester repeats in delight. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yeah. I dunno. Maybe he said somethin’ behind the screen she forgot to say, but I didn’t hear him say nothing ‘cept questions to me.’
‘All right, then. Joe, you’re going to have to go in and see old Dr Merrick and take him a letter from me. Take him in a flitch of your cured bacon as well.’
Hester then explains her plan to Joe, who is at first reluctant to go along with his wife, though after much convincing he agrees. Desperate to save his family, he sees that in her plan there is a chance to do so, though his conscience is sorely tried. Hester sits down to compose a letter to the Heathwood family doctor.
Dr Nathaniel Merrick Esq.
Wagga Wagga
30 July 1914
Dear Dr Merrick,
I trust you are well and in good spirits. Thank you for seeing our daughter Meg and for so very kindly agreeing to keep our untimely news confidential. It is nice to think that in times like these we may turn to the family doctor for compassion and understanding.
You have seen the comings and goings of three generations of the Heathwood family and I hope you will agree we have always conducted ourselves with the utmost respectability in the Narrandera community.
We lead a quiet life here in the country so I don’t expect that the townsfolk will come to hear of our most recent misfortune, though it saddens me greatly to think that our daughter has so badly let our little family down. Alas, the problem we face is more than at first it seemed. We have discovered our daughter’s affections have been extended over some months to not one, but two young men.
Meg admits to a special regard for one particular lad and I am happy to report that he is from a good Protestant family and is not entirely without prospects. The other boy is of the other religion and entirely unsuitable and would, we feel quite sure, make for an unhappy future for our daughter.
However, we are now faced with a dilemma which I am sure you will readily understand. While we require a letter from you attesting to Meg’s pregnancy, we do not wish you to state its duration.
The lad she has chosen and who seems to return her affections is afraid to approach his father. He, the boy in question, works on a big station and his father may well be able to prove his son was away on one of the bigger runs at the time you state Meg fell pregnant.
It would be best for all concerned if you will see your way to state in your letter simply that Meg is expecting, so that we may use this confirmation to its greatest effect when my husband and I visit the father of the young man.
I would be so very grateful if you will oblige u
s with this preference, as, at your own suggestion, we are anxious to put right this matter as soon as possible so that the child may be born within wedlock. I beg you to destroy this letter so that it may not prove a future source of suffering to us should it ever come into the possession of other interested parties.
Yours sincerely,
Hester Bergman (Mrs) nee Heathwood.
Joe leaves in the morning, riding all day, and is ushered into the old doctor’s surgery in the late afternoon, carrying the flitch of bacon carefully wrapped in cheesecloth. ‘Sit down, Mr Bergman, I had not expected you back so soon,’ Nathaniel Merrick invites.
Joe tries to conceal his nervous state. He places the bacon down, leaning it against the desk. ‘Doctor, a nice bit o’ bacon, Hester thought you might fancy a slice or two for yer breakfast,’ Joe begins. Then, lost for further words, he adds quickly, ‘Cured with a bit o’ red gum honey, like they done in Denmark.’
‘Thank you, very kind of you.’ Nathaniel Merrick clears his throat. ‘What was it you wanted to see me about, Joe?’
Joe immediately feels more comfortable. ‘Doctor, you remember my wife, Hester Heathwood?’