"But of course, Madam, it would be a pleasure," Ferdy said with a smile. "And why is the parlor taken up so? Is there not a more appropriate room to be used in that manner. I realize that Hector is your son, but, as you say, the other guests, I don't envy your dilemma."

And the nurse, if in fact she actually had been capped by an accredited nursing school, of course, that was none of his affair. He found it interesting that Misses Wigfall had allowed the use of the room and a hospital suite. But then it was her house, guests or not. He smiled: "Forgive me, but your husband, is here in Kalispell? I don't mean to intrude."

"But of course, Madam, it would be a pleasure," Ferdy said with a smile. "And why is the parlor taken up so? Is there not a more appropriate room to be used in that manner. I realize that Hector is your son, but, as you say, the other guests, I don't envy your dilemma."

"Well, he's been stuck in his bedroom for two weeks, I shall allow it this time, but from tomorrow on, we shall return to normal." she proclaimed.

"Forgive me, but your husband, is here in Kalispell? I don't mean to intrude."

"Who?" the dark haired woman, who had once been great beauty and who had withstood the ravages of time - all women's greatest enemy! - very well, looked completely bemused; then the light of realisation flickered in her eyes. "Oh! Him!" She gave a short, rather cruel, little laugh. "Hmph, he doesn't bother me much. Spends most of his time at the telegraph office. Ahhh, but I did have an interesting man in my life once, Mr Lyle: oh, nothing unseemly, I assure you..." she assured him "... just a platonic friend, but we were very close, emotionally, I'm sure a man of your discernment knows exactly what I mean..." she sighed wistfully. 

She swished over to a mantlepiece and took down an old tintype from some twenty years ago and showed it to Ferdinand. "Ahh, Mr Richard Orr, as first I knew him" she said, showing her visitor a picture of a man the exact spitting image of her son Hector! She brushed a tear from her eye. "It is almost a year since he died, Mr Lyle, but I still miss the manly presence of his visits to me. My little nook feels quite empty without him hereabouts."

Flip

The likeness struck Ferdy immediately, which was something a gentleman did not mention in polite conversations. "So sorry to hear that. I, too, have had close female friends, such as your Mister Orr. The fact being I just left one, whom I missed the moment I left New Orleans. It is hard. Close friends like that are so hard to replace. I mean, yes, life does seem quite empty without them." He empathised with her, and there had been several in his past that had been precisely what was needed.

"My dear friend Worchester Pettigrew, for example, though not of the opposite sex, had been a ruthless competitorin the industry and we had near fisticuffs several times, until a tragedy struck. There was no one to come to his aid. Well, I stepped forward to help out, and we became the closest of friends after that." He explained as he admired her hideaway. A good place to get away from it all. He was certain that in time he would find a place of his own, with over a storefront or at a separate location, but he too would have such a nookl as she had. As he had had before.

"I did not mean to bring up unpleasant memories. Please excuse me for that. Now I noticed that Hector has an interest in the telegraph. Does he work at the office?" Which seemed a safe question to ask.

"I did not mean to bring up unpleasant memories. Please excuse me for that."

Mrs Wigfall gave a fey smile.

"It is bitter sweet to remember, and walk again in yesterday" she sighed wistfully "But here we are in the present, Mr Lyle, and it is the present that we must deal with." she uttered, philosophically.

"Now I noticed that Hector has an interest in the telegraph. Does he work at the office?" Which seemed a safe question to ask.

"Oh, yes indeed, my Hector is known as the fastest telegrapher in the whole Territory, both sending AND receiving!" the Mother beamed with no little pride "They don't call him 'The Flying Finger' for nothing!"

"All these heroics are all very well, and they have certainly gained him some attentions from the more silly girls in town, but my Hector needs to concentrate on his career and on getting fully better. So important for a man to have a trade, a useful skill... like you and you tailoring, no doubt." she added, bringing him back into the conversation.

Flip 

"I notice, or I should say, I have noticed in my time, heroics are not planned, no, it seems they happen at the most unlikely time, and sometimes with the most unlikely of persons. Not to discredit your son Hector at all. No, sometimes a person has that moment, and they seize it without thinking of personal danger, as Hector obviously did. He was not seeking attention or personal glory; his only concern was for the young lady. A truly gallant gesture!" Of this, he was not only serious but genuine. He did admire bravery in any instance, including his own, on the field of honor with pistols at twenty paces.

"It is bitter sweet to remember, and walk again in yesterday" she sighed wistfully "But here we are in the present, Mr Lyle, and it is the present that we must deal with." she uttered, philosophically.

"Oh, so true. Moments in our past that create a lasting impression, regardless of the emotions involved, or the personal cost at the time." He agreed, having his own personal ordeals in the past to relate to. Not with a lover who created a child together, but perhaps just as heart-wrenching. "Ghosts of the past that have a hold on us yet. I fully understand such pain, if that is what you are feeling."

He listened to her recounting of Hector's skill at the key, and that was also good to hear, "Oh, a man without a skill in this day and age, even out here, is doomed to menial work, with no future, nor hope for advancement. There will always be a future with the telegraph." And that he believed was a certainty!