The Lady of Blossholme

  CHAPTER X

  MOTHER MEGGES AND THE GHOST

  Flounder Megges, with all the paraphernalia of her trade, wasestablished as nurse to Cicely at the Nunnery. This establishment, it istrue, had not been easy since Emlyn, who knew something of the woman'srepute, and suspected more, resisted it with all her strength, but herethe Prioress intervened in her gentle way. She herself, she explained,did not like this person, who looked so odd, drank so much beer andtalked so fast. Yet she had made inquiries and found that she wasextraordinarily skilled in matters of that nature. Indeed, it was saidthat she had succeeded in cases that were wonderfully difficult whichthe leech had abandoned as hopeless, though of course there had beenother cases where she had not succeeded. But these, she was informed,were generally those of poor people who did not pay her well. Now inthis instance her pay would be ample, for she, Mother Matilda, hadpromised her a splendid fee out of her private store, and for the rest,since no man doctor might enter there, who else was competent? Not sheor the other nuns, for none of them had been married save old Bridget,who was silly and had long ago forgotten all such things. Not Emlyneven, who was but a girl when her own child was born, and since then hadbeen otherwise employed. Therefore there was no choice.

  To this reasoning Emlyn agreed perforce, though she mistrusted her ofthe fat wretch, whose appearance poor Cicely also disliked. Still, forvery fear Emlyn was humble and civil to her, for if she were not,who could know if she would put out all her skill upon behalf of hermistress? Therefore she did her bidding like a slave, and spiced herbeer and made her bed and even listened to her foul jests and talkunmurmuringly.