Category : Stories

Sub Category : YoungAdult

 Each time her husband ask to delay the performance of his marital duties Florence would cry and plead with him to make love to her. She begged " Bill, you loved me once I know you could fall back in love with me if you tried. Tell me what has caused your love for me to die . what ever it is ; husband,, I'll change . I promise.

When Bill and she spoke about the marital problem Florence made it clear she believed her husband no longer desired her as a woman or a wife. She would give him credit for loving her and choosing to protect her but, she was a woman. And, as a woman she would rather be dead than spend the rest of her life with a man who loved her as his sister and treated her as a child.

When Bill insisted he and she follow the doctors advice and wait a year before they attempted to have another child Florence would attempt to take her life. The problem had reached a point where he was afraid to sleep at night , afraid his beautiful wife would slice her wrist or throat . 

Every time Florence tried to kill herself her husband would summon Precious her old governess and the doctor . The doctor would stitch the wounds closed and Precious would clean and bandage the wounds . Then the doctor would sedate Florence . The sedation never lasted long enough .

The sucicde attempts were increasing in number as was the community gossip . The women all looked at BIll with that look of condemnation seasoned with just enough sympathy to still be Christian and yet, be judgemental . Some ladies whispered the difficuty was Billls fault . The babies were all dying because of some imperfection in him . If he were man enough to set things right with God then he could be a husband to Florence and the babies would live .  Other women looked at Bill and whispered will he wed again when Florence finally kills her crazy self ? Gee I hope so , a real woman would know how to conceive her husband's child and bring a healthy live baby into this world for her husband.

The men looked at Bill , if there was trouble in his house it was his fault . If his young wife was acting out ; again, it was the responsibility of the man to keep his household in order . Every one in the community thought he or she had the perfect solution but no one knew the truth not , Bill, not her governess, not even her father or Florence knew the true reason her babies were dying and why Florence was so psychotic .

Mental illness is a family problem and as a matter of courtesy and respect Bill always informed Mister Jennings about every attempted suicide . As his health and work permitted James Jennings would volunteer to sit with his troubled daughter so her battle weary husband could get some sleep. Whie her husband slept in another room Mister Jennings assured Florence would not awaken and attempt another pregnancy . when his daughter showed signs of movement he would sedate her with a partial dose of the Laudanum .

when Florence tried to speak to Precious woman to woman about the problem Precious did not seem to understand even though she had five children of her own. Florence envied Precious she had been blessed with a man who saw her as a mature desirable woman. Her man , loved her and fathered five beautiful children with her . yet, she would abandon that life to return to the Jennings family to care for her father why ?

Precious would never say why ?

It wasn't socially accepted for Florence to speak to her father about this matter but, perhaps, he could talk to Bill , prehaps, he could persuade Bill, to accept Florence as a woman . She wanted more than anything for her husband to make love to her , to love her as his wife . She was tired of hearing her husband, Preciousd, and her Father repeat what the doctor had said to her , to them.

Florence demanded Bill perform his Christian duty to her ; that he give her another child . She insisted he keep impregnating her until they had a healthy live child or she was taken from this world . With the next Pregnancy her prayers were answered her husband and father buried her beside her other children .