Chapter 9
That evening, Roman was all ears as his mother described their day with Judith. To hear her mother and sister tell it, Judith was just this side of being a saint.
“She was only getting started with such things when I met her,” Roman said, trying to sound disinterested.
“She works with a dozen different charities in Philadelphia,” his mother said as they sat down to dinner.
“The city fathers there all know her and seek her out for advice regarding areas that are run-down and destitute. She has pushed hard to help get money allotted to folks in the poorer areas for cleanup and repairs so that the inhabitants can live in healthier conditions.”
“I suppose she told you all of this.” Roman knew his tone was a bit sarcastic.
“No, she said very little. Mrs. Van Cleve had learned about her after Sarah Knickerbacker mentioned she wanted to help locally.”
“She works a lot with the orphanages,” Claudette added, looking at her husband-to-be. “I think you’d enjoy meeting her, Daniel. She even speaks Italian.”
“How’d she come by that?” the young man asked.
“She’s college educated, and her father ran a steamboat service. She said there were quite a few Italians who worked for her father. In fact, she said there is a big neighborhood of Italians in Philadelphia.” She looked at Roman. “She did tell me that much.”
“Probably one of those poorer neighborhoods she works with,” Daniel said, shaking his head. “My people aren’t always welcomed and so struggle to get work and respect.”
“I think she’s a charming young woman. She mentioned having met you in Philadelphia,” Roman’s mother said, casting him a quick glance as she passed a platter of fried chicken. “She said it was a pleasant encounter but fears you’ll think otherwise now.”
“Now that I know she’s an Ashton?”
“Roman, she had no idea of what her grandfather was like.”
“But the women at the tea were only too happy to tell her,” Claudette added. “I felt sorry for her, but she handled it with grace and kindness.”
Roman helped himself to the chicken before passing the platter to his sister. “Why was she at the meeting?”
“She’ll be here all summer and wants to work with some of our charities. She doesn’t seem afraid to get her hands dirty or work.”
“A lot of people say that and then back away when they learn what that really entails.” Roman wasn’t buying into the idea of Judith’s sainthood.
“I think you should meet her again before judging her. She acts nothing like her grandfather,” Mother declared.
“I’m not trying to be unkind or judgmental,” Roman began, “but after a few weeks in that despicable man’s influence, I think you might find her changed.”
“She has a strong Christian faith, so I think she’ll be fine,” his mother countered. “But to ensure she has the support of Christians, your sister and I intend to befriend her.”
Roman didn’t know what to think about that.
He had to admit, he was intrigued by Judith and all the positive things that his mother and sister had said about her.
Mother was never one to offer idle praise, nor was she easily duped.
The fact that she found this young woman to be of godly principles and faith suggested to him that it was, in fact, the case.
“So have you two set the date for the wedding?” Mother asked Claudette.
“We have. We would like to be married at the church on September eighteenth. We plan to go see Reverend Knickerbacker tomorrow and schedule it.” Claudette smiled at Daniel before adding, “If no one else is already getting married on that day.”
“It sounds like a perfect date. The heat of summer will be off of us, and it shouldn’t yet be overly chilly. Daniel, I’ll write your mother a letter for you to take her tomorrow. We should probably start discussing what kind of celebration we want this to be.”
“Our celebrations are always full of people and food,” he said, laughing. “I see no reason to make this one any different.”
Roman listened to them continue to discuss the wedding and reception as he ate. He’d already made up his mind that on Sunday he would again meet Judith Ashton Stanford and judge for himself if she was as sincere and perfect as they described. No one was without their flaws.
“Did you hear me, Roman?”
He looked up and shook his head. “I’m afraid not. What did you say?”
“I asked how the surgery went today. I know you’re very tired, so I assume it was difficult.” His mother reached out and patted his arm. “I hope it went well. We prayed for you.”
“Yes, it went as well as it could. Now we must wait and see what happens. If he makes it through the next forty-eight hours, he’ll have a good chance of recovering.”
“Then we will pray for him all the more,” Mother replied.
After dinner, Roman went to his room to catch up on some medical reading.
There was a book he’d just received that covered a variety of new medical techniques, and he was eager to read it.
Keeping up with the changes and advances in medicine was critical.
Unfortunately, not all his colleagues felt the same way, and many were inadequately trained to begin with.
Prior to the War Between the States there were a mere one hundred thirteen doctors in the entire United States Army.
After the war, there were twelve thousand in the Union Army and three thousand in the Confederate.
Some were well-trained and educated men who signed up to serve when the war broke out.
However, many were men posing as doctors.
Now those so-called doctors had spilled out across civilian life, and most had only their war training to back up their practices.
It was of great concern to many of the doctors who had diligently studied at a medical college and then practiced under the observation and training of an experienced doctor.
Roman was eager to support better licensing practices and training for doctors. He’d met many a man who never should have called himself a physician. It would take changes in the law to begin eliminating those unqualified pretenders.
But with the bad came the good. The war had also brought about many changes and improvements in medical procedures.
He supposed that was the way with any war.
Necessity forced a man’s hand and imagination.
Breakthroughs often came about because of the urgency in the operating room and on the battlefield.
He’d seen that a lot and had even created his own procedures and innovations.
Surgery had already been a focal part of Roman’s training, and he was known to be quite good at what he did.
Because of this, he was highly regarded and called upon to do some of the more delicate and difficult operations, especially when they involved men of great importance or their sons.
More than once, he’d been called away from one battlefield to attend another.
It had been dangerous and harrowing at times, but it had made him a better doctor in the long run.
Roman settled into a chair and turned up the lamp to provide better light.
He started to read, but his mind quickly took another direction.
Judith. It wasn’t the first time in the last four years he had thought of her.
Most of the time he could busy himself enough to stave off feelings of loneliness, but he was just as vulnerable as the next man.
Vulnerable to thoughts of falling in love .
. . marriage. The women in his family teased him often enough about it, but he always pretended it wasn’t a big concern.
But with Judith Stanford back in his life, or at least the possibility, Roman couldn’t pretend such thoughts didn’t matter. He was ready to fall in love.
“But it can’t be her. She’s an Ashton.” He closed the book and his eyes. “I can’t fall in love with an Ashton.”
Sunday morning, Judith had breakfast in her room.
The poached eggs and toast were perfect, as was the coffee.
She’d developed a taste for the nutty brew as a girl in the pilothouse of her father’s riverboat.
When she’d been young, they had traveled as a family up and down the river.
Many a morning she would sneak up to see her father in the wheelhouse.
She would take him a cup of coffee just as he liked it, creamed and sugared.
He had always welcomed her, and she would sit beside him while he guided the boat, and they would talk.
Sometimes, he’d let her have sips of his coffee.
She supposed it was why to this day she drank it with cream and often sugar, as he had.
It always served to give her pleasant memories.
She sampled the coffee a second time. They had known such happiness until the day that her little brother Frank fell overboard and drowned.
Judith’s heart still ached at the memory.
Her mother and father had been devastated, and she’d tried so hard to be brave for them.
Judith remembered snuggling up next to her mother and infant brother, Jonathan, on the sofa to offer consolation.
She’d done the exact same thing years later when Jonathan had died in the war. He’d barely been eighteen.
Mother had never quite recovered from losing Frank.
She left the river for a great many years, determined to never again return.
In time, though, she had missed the life she’d grown up with.
Missed her husband too. When Judith headed off to college, Mama had reluctantly packed her bags and returned to life on the river.
Sadly, it was that existence that took both Judith’s parents.
At their funeral, one of the older church women reminded her that as children of God, they were never out of His care. Judith had struggled with thoughts that perhaps somehow Satan had taken advantage of the moment, but her friend assured her that Satan could never have the upper hand with God.