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no longer pretend she was feeding her daughter. Mrs. Ann set aside the liquid concoction and returned Elizabeth to her bed. Little of the liquid had made it into Elizabeth’s body. This was not working. With nothing else to do, but grateful to have something to occupy her mind, Mrs. Ann silently recited the Lord’s Prayer over and over until she rested her head against the bed and joined her daughter in slumber.
    Hours later, in the dark, Mrs. Ann awoke to the sounds of shallow, labored breathing. She uncovered the small, hot body, and then covered it again. Helpless and uncertain, Mrs. Ann stared at her daughter’s chest rising and falling in a jerky rhythm. Fingers tapping against her lips, standing, then sitting again, she considered sending for more sugar water, then rejected the idea. She thought of sending for cool rags to wipe her daughter down but rejected that idea also because she was struck by another possibility.
    She stood up, looking thoroughly around the room to confirm she was alone. She crossed to the door and turned the key to the right until she felt a satisfying click as the lock engaged with the doorframe. Returning to her daughter, she lifted the child, limp as a rag doll, onto her lap. Heart pounding, she unbuttoned her bodice. Miss Elizabeth flopped off her mother’s lap and bumped her head on the seat of the chair. Mrs. Ann returned the small body to the bed, finished the task of unbuttoning her bodice, and peeled her chemise over her head like the skin off a grape.
    Her breasts free to the air, she looked around again before pulling her daughter across her lap. She leaned over Elizabeth and brought her breast over the baby’s face. A droplet of white liquid seeped from the dangling nipple and hung from the tip until the force of gravity caused it to drop onto Elizabeth’s eyelid. Both lids slowly rose to reveal glassy blue eyes. Elizabeth gazed at the pink nipple suspended over her head, then at her mother’s hopeful face peering down at her. Mrs. Ann hoped her daughter knew what to do with the offered breast and held her breath in anticipation. Leaning down closer, another drop of milk landed on Elizabeth’s cheek and rolled to her lips. The girl’s tongue crept out and tasted the liquid. Hope rushed through Mrs. Ann’s body. She waited nervously. Elizabeth looked into her mother’s eyes again and then at the offered nipple. Then the baby closed her eyes and turned her head away.
    Mrs. Ann sat back hard in the chair with a sigh. Shame and humiliation radiated through every pore. She felt foolish for even trying. She looked down at her fevered daughter and considered her options. She wiped away the sweat from Elizabeth’s damp forehead. With another sigh, Mrs. Ann returned her daughter to bed. Blinking away tears, utterly defeated, she slowly pulled her chemise over her body and buttoned up her gown. She was not going to let her daughter die. Ignoring Mrs. Gray and Charlotte, who had been hovering outside the locked door, she went in search of Mattie.
    When she found her, Mrs. Ann spoke urgently. “Elizabeth has burned with a high fever for three days. She has not taken a drink since the fever came.” Desperation in her voice, she pleaded, “Come now. See if she will drink from you. She must drink something or…” She left the rest unspoken.
    Mattie followed Mrs. Ann down the long hallway anxious about the situation she would find. Mrs. Gray stood in the doorway like a sentry.
    “I do not believe this is wise,” stated Mrs Gray. “She will not become used to the new arrangement if we bring Mattie every time she fusses.”
    “I am not concerned with my daughter becoming accustomed,” Mrs. Ann declared. “The doctor made it quite clear she must drink something. Let Mattie through. Now!”
    Mrs. Gray stood aside. A bitter, metallic smell hung in the air. Miss Elizabeth’s small form lay under a light sheet. A rush of tenderness filled Mattie. She reached her hand to Miss