"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Once Arabella had rid herself of the guitar, and the burden of providing the music, she rushed over to Charlie Wentworth, who'd be just stood standing there like an Easter Island statue, and grabbed him as Hector began his up-tempo tune on the fiddle.
"Come on Charlie-boy; give a girl a dance will ya?!" she cried "And swing me round good, I'm a girl who likes it rough!" she reminded him, in case he'd forgotten what had happened at the barn dance months ago when she, he, Brendan Connelly, and Clara Redmond (as was) tripped the light fantastic in a Quadrille.
But perhaps his new standing as a Lawman would forbid such frolics? Arabella was in no mood for a refusal, though.
Miriam was not alone for long. Jemima appeared at her side an nudged her, nodding toward the seated Doctor and blind girl.
"I've been matchmaking" she said with a small sardonic smile, before looking at her workmate more seriously.
"Oh, that's your doing?" yes, Miriam was surprised.
"Saw you and Heck dancing. Everything OK? He's not bothering you again is he? Cause I told him to lay off that unwanted romantic stuff with you or I'd biff him one."
"Gracious no, please do not..........biff him one. He is fine, he was a perfect gentleman just now. We enjoy our dance," Miriam assure the sister, horrified somehow Hector would be punched by Jemima.
"We are friends, just friends. Mutual agreement of course," she added.
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
"Oh, that's your doing?" yes, Miriam was surprised.
Jemima nodded with a grim look on her face, like she'd just had to put a beloved pet to sleep. "Well, I don't have a chance with him, and she's got a burning passion for him, even though she can't even see how handsome he is." the hard working girl frowned "Funny, ain't it?"
Indeed, poor blind Frances was clearly engaged in some clumsy coquetry with poor, much-chased-after Doctor Danforth.
She then asked after Miriam, and made sure her brother wasn't bothering her, as he had done in the past.
"We are friends, just friends. Mutual agreement of course," she added.
Jemima nodded, grudgingly convinced. She looked at Miriam and then back at the dancers.
"What's it like?" she asked.
"Yes, sir," Tully muttered, taking a big breath. She did know the truth of what he said, not every man she'd come across had been cruel to her, some were outright horrid from the start, but it was the ones who started kindly, then gradually turned...or struck suddenly, when her guard was down. There had been women as well, who abused her or just chased her off.
But yes, there had been good men, but circumstances had never been right to stay, so it had been safer to just move on, from place to place, and try her best not to be noticed. Maybe Kalispell was different?
"I do like havin' a place ta stay, an' food an' all," she admitted, "but..." Well, that was it, how to explain 'but'. "Don't wanna be trussed up in lace, don't wanna be trapped...an'" she shrugged, "wanna be'a use, more'n just tellin' Miss Frances what a picture looks like." She actually had to grin at that!
"Every town needs a newspaper."
"Yes, well I can see how you feel." Phin said, then, "Would you like to go over, sit on the steps of the church while we talk? Or maybe just sit right here on the grass, but out of the way should the dancing start up again." Was his offer, Tully was an interesting young woman, just full of far it seemed, and trust, well he could see that there was very little of that available, yet there was a glimmer of hope, as she seemed most comfortable with Francis.
"Well then, the idea of being of use, of being able to help out, or to make your own way, that's important to a person, I agree. And perhaps it is not my place to ask, but if you could, if everything fell into place, what do you think you might like to do to be of use? How do you think you might accomplish that?" Heady questions to be sure.
"We know that not everyone, man nor woman can be all bad. We know that yes, there are people who are good folk, and treat others well, as surely as there are those who treat others cruelly, unfairly, and with disregard for their feelings or well-being." Phin explained, or at least tried to with some compassion for Tully.
Well, it had been worth a try, but now Jonah was alone with Frances, so he'd have to figure this out for himself! At least they weren't alone alone, so things could only get so awkward.
He settled on the bench, leaving as much distance as he could, which wasn't much on the small bench. "So..." Awkward already! He wasn't accustomed to being with young women under such circumstances, he was either wooing, or, more recently, discussing business, such as the conversations about the hospital with Miss Leah. That was all it was, right? Business?
"Oh, Jemima is such a wonderful, warm hearted and generous girl, and such a hard worker, skilled in the kitchen and at the needlepoint, and just about the least aggravating person one could hope to meet: I wonder that no young man has snatched her up as his bride yet! Why is that, do you think? Does she have something wrong with her that I cannot see." she asked, genuinely puzzled. "It is not really nice to ask, I know, but I am a woman Doctor, and feminine curiosity is one of the crosses I have to bear."
"Oh, well..." There was a school of thinking that held that appearance had little to do with how a person should be rated, and while it was a noble standing, he couldn't say that he held by that, since he'd be in quite the pickle if looks didn't count for something! "She's a fine young woman, perhaps a bit earnest, and certainly self-sufficient and opinionated. Many men find those qualities intimidating, as they point out their own faults."
Tully followed Phineas to the church and settled on a step, drawing her knees up, and realizing that she probably shouldn't...shouldn't sit on steps in a pretty dress like this, lest it be soiled, and shouldn't sit in this manner, as it was unseemly. And there was yet another problem with convention! No one would care if her old clothes got dirty, and she could sit any way she pleased in britches!
"Well then, the idea of being of use, of being able to help out, or to make your own way, that's important to a person, I agree. And perhaps it is not my place to ask, but if you could, if everything fell into place, what do you think you might like to do to be of use? How do you think you might accomplish that?" Heady questions to be sure.
Shrugging, Tully looked around at the other picnic attendees. "Didn't never much think on it," she commented, then she grinned. "I c'n skin a rabbit, an' I don't mind bein' among spiders an' rodents." Likely the best she was good for was sweeping floors and washing dishes, and she'd rather be on her own.
"We know that not everyone, man nor woman can be all bad. We know that yes, there are people who are good folk, and treat others well, as surely as there are those who treat others cruelly, unfairly, and with disregard for their feelings or well-being." Phin explained, or at least tried to with some compassion for Tully.
"There are men can be all bad," Tully countered, "twisted an' broken in their heads. But they hide in th' darkness, hunt them they think are weak. Reckon I should stay in th' light."
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
Frances listened great with interest to the Doctor's opinion on why her friend and helper Jemima could not find the love that she, in the blind girl's mind, most certainly warranted.
"She's a fine young woman, perhaps a bit earnest, and certainly self-sufficient and opinionated. Many men find those qualities intimidating, as they point out their own faults."
"Oh, Doctor, that is such a relief!" Frances sighed, reaching out her hand and touching the first part of the man's anatomy which she happened to reach, luckily his arm. "I had wondered if she, perhaps, was this thing that is called 'plain'. Believe me, I have touched the faces of some men and women whom I have be told are 'handsome' or 'beautiful', respectively, and those who are termed 'plain' or 'ugly': and I could feel very little difference in the two."
She thought on what Danforth had said about Jemima's manner.
"I must own Doctor, that the forthright and unvarnished nature of Jemima's pronouncements are of infinite value to me: as a person without sight, I depend an awful lot on people telling me the truth. I..." she paused a second and gave a little gulp "... when my brother first died, a gentleman here in town rather 'led me up the garden path' and allowed me to think that he cared for me. I am afraid that I rather made a fool of myself by telling my friends that I though that the two of us might become sweethearts. Believe me Doctor, that gentleman has not called upon me for some time and the last I heard he was heading out of town with some other lady."
She looked sad and then slid her hand down Daniel's arm and her small delicate hand rested on his.
"You would tell me though, Doctor, would you not, if I am making a fool of myself by beginning to develop a very great fondness for you? You are a very kind man, and it will be hard for you to hurt me, I know: but, it is better to strangle the cruel viper as a baby in its nest, rather than to wait until it has grown into an indefatigable monster: you would be doing me a kindness should you tell me, here and now, that you could never love one such as I."
Frances felt awful putting him on the spot like this, but she had learned in her eighteen years of living a life in darkness that the truth seldom visited her uninvited, and that always she must reach out and grab for it.
"Every town needs a newspaper."
"There are men can be all bad," Tully countered, "twisted an' broken in their heads. But they hide in th' darkness, hunt them they think are weak. Reckon I should stay in th' light."
"The light, yes. The light serves us all well, and I must agree, if not stand corrected, that there are those that indeed are all bad, that there is not a shred of decency in them. They are out for what they can get at the expense of those they come in contact with." He retracted, "And there are those that are marginally good when it serves them, while others are for all intents and purposes, good human beings."
"And while I neither profess to have those all of sterling attributes, or all of those deficiencies of character, I find I might well be somewhere in the middle. I believe I do the best that I am able as far as being a decent person to associate with, whether I achieve that or fail at it I couldn't say. That is for others to decide. I too prefer to stay in the light as it were, away from the dark and whatever might lurk there." That was probably more information than he had shared about himself the entire time he had been in town.
"Oh, Doctor, that is such a relief!" Frances sighed, reaching out her hand and touching the first part of the man's anatomy which she happened to reach, luckily his arm. "I had wondered if she, perhaps, was this thing that is called 'plain'. Believe me, I have touched the faces of some men and women whom I have be told are 'handsome' or 'beautiful', respectively, and those who are termed 'plain' or 'ugly': and I could feel very little difference in the two."
"What is the quote? 'Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye…'" Jonah shrugged, patting Frances' little hand, noting how soft it was, the testament to no work, not that that was of the girl's choosing. "Plain is what the observer sees, and we all see things differently, a Human trait that adds spice to life and gives everyone a chance at love!"
"I must own Doctor, that the forthright and unvarnished nature of Jemima's pronouncements are of infinite value to me: as a person without sight, I depend an awful lot on people telling me the truth. I..." she paused a second and gave a little gulp "... when my brother first died, a gentleman here in town rather 'led me up the garden path' and allowed me to think that he cared for me. I am afraid that I rather made a fool of myself by telling my friends that I though that the two of us might become sweethearts. Believe me Doctor, that gentleman has not called upon me for some time and the last I heard he was heading out of town with some other lady."
Sighing, Jonah looked down at the little hand covering his, contemplating the young ladies that had met a similar fate at his hands, although he tried to justify it by believing that the young ladies involved had come willingly into the mess.
"You should count yourself lucky that you discovered the character of the man before you were in any deeper," he commented, his form of philosophy, and again, thinking on the young women who had been taught similar 'lessons' by him, although he sincerely wished them well in life as he fled from town to town, eventually landing here in Kalispell.
"You would tell me though, Doctor, would you not, if I am making a fool of myself by beginning to develop a very great fondness for you? You are a very kind man, and it will be hard for you to hurt me, I know: but, it is better to strangle the cruel viper as a baby in its nest, rather than to wait until it has grown into an indefatigable monster: you would be doing me a kindness should you tell me, here and now, that you could never love one such as I."
"I don't..." He looked into Frances' soft face, seeing the expression, even with the expressionless eyes, and knowing that he wasn't going to lie to her, or string her along, he couldn't do that, and it wasn't out of pity for her blindness, but rather, respect for her...person. It was a feeling he was unaccustomed to, and one that he could only attribute to...
No, that couldn't be it!
"Dear Miss Frances, I'm old enough to be your father!" Well, barely! "I do have an affection for you, but I..." He what? Certainly, he couldn't admit the truth, to himself, much the less his current companion. But she did deserve an explanation...the truth. "I believe I have affections for another lady, despite my better judgment, and I'm certainly not deserving, but..."
Maybe it was time to move on?