The Widow's War by Mary Mackey Read Free Book Online Page A

her grief, turns the choking into a cough, masters her emotions, and turns back to Mr. Presgrove.
    “June?” he says. “But Carolyn—Miz Vinton—you can’t possibly stay here. You must come back to the States immediately and let my stepmother take care of you. You cannot go through the dangers that attend childbirth alone.”
    Again he echoes a thought that Carrie has been having. When she wakes at night in a panic, she not only worries about William; she worries about giving birth to their baby in the tropics. Her two brothers and only sister died as infants here. She is probably alive only because her mother returned to Indiana to give birth to her. She was six—well past the age of greatest danger—before her parents took her to Brazil where even in large cities like Rio the lives of babies are so short that sometimes their parents don’t name them until they prove they can thrive. She can imagine nothing worse than bearing William’s child only to have it die or dying herself and leaving their child an orphan. Her own mother succumbed to childbed fever not two miles from where she now sits.
    Time is running out. She must choose between Brazil and the States while she can still travel. For a few more seconds she wavers. Then she comes to a decision. She cannot do less for her child than her mother did for her. She’s been waiting to find out what happened to William. Now that she knows he’s dead, what is there left for her here in Rio where every street reminds her of him? Since she came back to this house, she hasn’t even been able to sleep in her own bed because they once made love in it. That bed is empty now, made up with fresh sheets, neat as a coffin. It would be better to leave it behind. She needs to start over. This is no place for her and no place for her baby.
    She looks up and sees Mr. Presgrove waiting for her to speak. “I plan to return to the States,” she says. “But—” She breaks off in mid-sentence. She intends to tell him she doesn’t want to impose on William’s mother, but the truth is, she’d like to have her baby’s grandmother with her when she gives birth.
    Mr. Presgrove looks relieved. “I’m glad to hear you are leaving,” he says. “The fevers alone, Miz Vinton, not to mention the bad water, filth, heat, venomous snakes . . . well, Brazil is no place for a woman who is with child. If I had a wife, I’d ship her back home as soon as she told me the good news. Have you booked your passage yet?”
    “Not yet.”
    “Then let me do it for you. My family has a sugar exporting business in Salvador. We are doing quite well, and I can easily book you passage to New York on a clean, sturdy vessel.” He smiles kindly.
    Under normal circumstances, Carrie would have smiled back, but grief is bubbling up in her again, threatening to overflow, and she can hardly trust herself to speak. She wants him to go away now and leave her alone to mourn William, but if she’s going to accept the hospitality of the Presgroves, there are arrangements to be made.
    She is so busy trying not to break down that she pays no attention to Mr. Presgrove’s description of the family business in Salvador. Not until much later does she play back this conversation and realize how strange it is that the Presgroves are making money in sugar when everyone in Brazil knows the sugar market has collapsed. Coffee , she thinks. He should have said ‘coffee’, but what did it matter. I wasn’t listening for warning signs, not then.
    “You must let me escort you,” he continues. “There’s no use protesting that you can easily find a suitable female companion to travel with you. She is welcome, of course, but I insist on coming, too. You should not make such a voyage without a man to look after you.”
    She is about to tell him she can look after herself, but he continues speaking with an enthusiasm that defies interruption.
    “No, no, Miz Vinton, I beg you. Do not refuse. I will conduct you directly