Read The Persuasion of Miss Jane Brody for Free Online Page B

eyes to open again.
    The doctor had said it was her mother’s heart – made weak by repeated pregnancies and confinements over the last twenty years. There had been a dozen births, but only nine offspring had survived.
    Jane’s golden hair was braided but not dressed – evidence of her ceaseless vigilance for an extended time.
    “Promise me that you will take care of the children Jane. And your father,” her mother rasped.
    “I will Mama,” Jane promised again.
    The doctor had been and gone, telling her and her father that this was the end. Three of Jane’s brothers were in the army and navy overseas fighting the French. There was no way to call them home. Her other brother, Francis, was on his way from Oxford where he was studying. Jane hoped he would arrive in time.
    Jane heard a knock and moved quickly and quietly to answer the door. She hastily beckoned her three younger sisters and her youngest brother into the room and pulled forward chairs for them to group themselves close around their mother’s bed. The foursome aged from thirteen to four years old, were used to their mother being unwell, but it was obvious that they found it hard to believe that she was nearing her final moments.
    Jane urged them to speak to their mama for the last time. “Tell her you love her and will do all you can to make her proud of you as you grow up.”
    One by one they knelt at her beside and took her cold hand in theirs and whispered their farewells with love. The youngest, Christopher, threw himself onto his mother’s bed to hug her. Their tears were hard for Jane to bear. Exhaustion made the moment more raw and emotional than she could have predicted.
    As each sister dissolved into tears, Jane hugged her hard and kissed her, telling her, “Mama will remember you in heaven. She will be at peace soon.”
    As Christopher resumed his seat, another visitor entered the room - their father, Rev. Brody. He was about sixty, gone grey but with kindly eyes and a smile which Jane remembered could light his face. He was not smiling now. He looked gaunt with grief as he hurried to the bedside and grasped his pale wife’s hand, kneeling on the floor as he did so to be as near to her as possible. Immediately overcome by emotion, tears slid down his face.
    Jane saw his distress and quickly gathered her siblings and led them from the room to leave their parents in peace for a final farewell. “We will give father time to say goodbye alone.” Jane told them. “We can go back in shortly if you would like.”
    She reconsidered when she saw how stunned her sisters looked as she led them outside the room - finally understanding that their beloved mother who had been unwell for so long was actually leaving them for good.
    Feeling that it was too upsetting for her siblings to see their mother like this again, Jane shepherded them upstairs to their rooms above, calling for their governess to take them out to the park for a walk in the fresh air. Once Jane had waved them away she returned to her mother’s room. She let herself in quickly. Her father was exactly where she had left him. As she approached, she heard him whisper, “How will I cope without you my love?”
    He turned to her and she felt and saw that her mother had passed away. The enormity of her loss had hit her like a weight colliding with her chest. Powerless to stop them, tears began trailing down her cheeks. Her gentle father was prostrate with grief.
    She recalled her mother’s frequent smile and cheerful nature. Jane could still see her reading to her brothers and herself when they were children; and chasing them in the garden on a sunny day. It all seemed such a long time ago but the years had not obliterated those happy memories.
    She remembered how she had taken control of herself and her wandering thoughts and firmly requested, “Help me with her Papa. There are thing we need to do now.” Slowly, she had roused him from his daze and together they cared for her in death.