‘Right then, Master Fenton, bedtime it is!’ She stood up, wiped the muck from her cheek with her apron and fetched a hot cloth. I was then sponged and changed with professional exactness and delivered to my cot. She did not read me a nursery story as was the usual custom, but instead closed the door and stormed to her room.
I wailed and squealed but to no avail. My parents’ room was in the other quarter and they were completely oblivious to my distress. In fact, they were happily occupied in each other’s arms. I flailed my arms and kicked my feet outraged at my sudden abandonment and was met with silence. I was practically goggle-eyed with indignation that my usually tender nanny had left me to the darkness of the night. My vocabulary was limited so I was only able to communicate my disgust by crying and howling. And in this I was master. Her maltreatment of me ensured I remained unbendable in my goal to reach my mother and father. I knew their love was boundless and they would make me safe and happy again, and so with that in mind I was confident of their forthcoming arrival. All I needed to do was to make them hear me and they would come running; therefore I threw everything into my tiny lungs and expelled it out of my mouth. The result was deafening and if angels were watching over my bed that evening they would have flown back to Heaven covering their tortured ears.
The door to my room remained impassive. No sign of any movement whatsoever. My nanny had retired to her bed and stuffed her ears with cotton wool to drown out my misery. She had dealt with my irritated self all week and was furious with my abnormally bad behaviour. My parents didn’t help with their constant fussing and cuddling of me, tending to my every whim. If it wasn’t for her penurious state she would have resigned six months ago. She was categorically denied any type of physical punishment towards me, which was made quite clear when they interviewed her for the position. The merest smack on my backside or tap on my hand would be immediately followed by her dismissal. They had let the previous nanny go for exactly that reason. Therefore I knew in my own childish way that I was in charge of her and could do what I wanted, making this current situation rather untenable. I screamed and cried with baby tears dribbling down my flushed cheeks. I kicked my feet as if I were drowning, gasping for fresh air and sobbing in anguished despair. As each minute passed there became a growing realisation that I would not be saved and that my parents could not hear me. My reddened blotchy face was a picture of woe as I tired from my exertions and gradually simmered down. After a few more snuffles and whimpers I eventually nestled down to sleep, cuddling my snuggle blanket and sucking my thumb.
The next morning my nanny woke early with a guilty start. She had slept through for the first time in weeks and though she was rested she remembered our disagreement last night. She hurried to my room filled with good intentions and a desire to rekindle the friendship. She would start with a big cuddle and a nursery song before feeding me my favourite breakfast of coddled egg.
She opened the door anxiously and was met with silence. Strange, she thought as she neared the cot. She peered over and inspected me. I lay there flaccid, still blotchy from last night’s events. My eyes were open but unseeing. I could notice a blob in front of me but had no clue as to who it was. Her eyes widened at my apathetic state and she speedily picked me up to cuddle me and change my sodden nappy. I was hot to touch and my bottom was excoriated from the loose bowel movement I had passed overnight. The nappy was soaked in offensive smelling faecal matter and she was filled with dreaded remorse.
‘What have I done to you, my little man?’ she muttered to herself whilst wiping the muck away and soothing some grease onto my burnt bottom. She sponged my face and chest, worried at how warm I was and hoping it would cool my fevered state. After quietly dressing me she attempted to feed me my breakfast. I refused again and it was with troubled heart that she now wished I would be the naughty boy I had been last night. She could not delay any longer. I had to be taken to my parents.
My mother was sipping her tea in the breakfast room and turned to smile at the nanny coming through the door. Her smiled dropped when she saw Meg’s expression and she rose anxiously to see her son.
‘What is the matter? What’s wrong with Charles? Why he is so hot?’
The nanny stared at the floor and squirmed. ‘He wouldn’t eat his dinner last night, ma’am, so I put him to bed early and when I woke he was like this. He hasn’t eaten any breakfast either.’
‘Charles! Charles! Come here quickly. Our son is sick,’ she called out to Charles Senior in the nearby room, who scurried in and scanned my face worriedly.
‘Good God, woman! He’s burning with fever! How long has he been like this?’ he demanded of the nanny, who quailed under his ferocious glare.
‘I’m sorry, sir. I just thought he was being a bit naughty. He kept throwing the food at me and he wouldn’t listen at all. So I thought an early bedtime was the right thing to do.’
‘Well, look at him, girl! He’s burning up with fever! You should have known better and informed us last night.’
Charles Senior hurriedly wrote on a note and handed it to Meg.
‘Go to Dr Greene immediately. Tell Jack to take you down in the buggy. Give the doctor this note and wait. You will be bringing him back to the house as soon as the doctor is ready. Do NOT come back without him or you will be packing your bags and leaving.’
Meg gulped and placed the note in her apron pocket. She hurried out of the room and down to the stables where Jack was busy combing down one of the horses. He looked up in surprise at seeing Meg. She wasn’t usually able to visit so early.
‘Jack. You have to help me. I’m in terrible trouble. Wee Master Fenton has taken ill and it’s my fault completely. I left the wee bairn all night. He was being a little imp, and now he’s all sick and hot. I feel terrible, absolutely terrible,’ she said, wiping her eyes with the edge of her apron.
‘There, there lass, the lad will be all right. He’s a bonny little bugger,’ Jack said, patting her on the shoulder. ‘Don’t you worry about a thing. He’s a Fenton, made from this land and of good stock. He’ll pull through.’
Meg implored Jack. ‘We have to go right now, Jack. The master of the house has demanded I fetch Dr Greene straight away and bring him back without delay. If I don’t, my time here is over.’
Jack nodded and set to the task of preparing the buggy for transport. Meg fidgeted at the delay, hopping from one foot to the other and watching anxiously until he gave the nod for her to climb aboard.
She hoisted her skirts and with help from his proffered hand, she scooted up onto the buggy and stared resolutely ahead. Her hand clenched around the note checking once again that she hadn’t dropped it in the process. She couldn’t fail the master anymore. Her bowel tightened at the thought of being sacked from the Fenton Estate. She knew what Mr Fenton was capable of and she didn’t want to be victim of it.
Jack drove the buggy speedily down the path towards the town doctor five miles away. He knew the route like the back of his hand and instinctively urged the horses to make haste. Every minute counted, of that he was sure. It wasn’t long before they pulled up outside the doctor’s practice. He hopped off the buggy and assisted Meg down. She smoothed down her skirts, raced up the steps and knocked anxiously on the door.
‘Yes? Can I help you?’ the doctor’s wife enquired with a smile.
‘Oh
