«Natalie, you won’t believe what I’ve heard!» Irene, usually so composed, spoke in an uncharacteristically agitated tone. «It’s simply beyond belief!»
«What’s happened?» asked Natalie Thompson, startled by her friends unusual display of emotion.
«No, I cant tell you over the phone. Im just around the cornermay I come by?»
«Of course, do,» Natalie replied, curiosity piqued.
***
«Well, out with it!» Natalie urged impatiently as she ushered her guest to the table, where a freshly baked apple pie, two delicate china cups, and a steaming pot of herbal tea waited.
«I scarcely know where to begin,» Irene murmured distractedly.
«Start at the beginning, then,» Natalie suggested.
«The beginning? Very well…»
Irene paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts, then finally asked,
«Do you remember Dr. Eleanor Whitmore from the childrens clinic?»
«Whitmore? Of course! A wonderful woman! She saved my boys life,» Natalie exclaimed warmly. «Not just minethere must be a hundred stories about how precisely she diagnosed the little ones, how many complications she prevented! Parents called her personal number, begged for home visitsnever once did she refuse. A truly gifted physician, heaven-sent!»
«Exactly,» Irene nodded. «I owe her my daughters health too. If not for her sharp eye, heaven knows what mightve become of her. She was at risk of disability.»
«But why bring her up now?» Natalie asked. «Shes been retired for years. Last I heard, she sang in the church choir. I saw her there once.»
«Sang,» Irene corrected softly, her face darkening. «Shes passed.»
«No! I spoke to her not long agosmiling, kind as ever, her eyes still shining… She didnt seem ill. Though, at her age…»
«Nearly eighty. And in good health, by all accounts.»
«Then how?»
«You wont believe it,» Irene said bitterly. «Her own children did it. Drove their mother to the grave. Literally.»
«Surely not!» Natalie gasped.
«Oh, but they did,» Irene replied firmly. Her expression hardened, and a flicker of helpless dismay crossed her eyes.
***
Eleanor Whitmoreonce just Elliehad married a young cadet fresh out of Sandhurst while she herself was newly graduated from medical school. Naturally, she followed her husband, William, to his first posting, taking up work as a physician at once.
They moved often, living out of suitcases from one garrison town to another, until at last settling in a modest county town. Eleanor worked tirelessly, for doctors were always in short supply in small towns.
By then, they had two children. The elder, Beatrice, took after her fathersharp, proud. The younger, Edward, was his mothers double.
William served; Eleanor held the home together and tended to the towns children.
Only an officers wife knows the weight of that life. Eleanor bore it allchildren, household, the endless upheavalson top of her demanding profession. And William was no easy man to live with.
Yet she never complained. To the world, she was ever cheerful, graceful, unshaken. Not even her closest friends suspected the cracks beneath the surface. Outwardly, the family thriveda fine three-bedroom home, a car, well-dressed children.
Eleanor was not just a gifted doctor and a kind soul but a homemaker of rare skill. The garrison families adored her, as did their children. Her son, Eddie, was the life of every gathering, though a scoundrel at heartmore interested in strumming his guitar and chasing girls than his studies.
Beatrice, however… Clever, top of her class, wise beyond her years. She clashed with her brother, kept to herself. Eleanor fretted over her, fearing shed struggle in the world.
And so it proved.
***
The familys peace shattered in a single day. One morning, without warning or explanation, William abandoned his wife and children. The youngsters were nearly grown by then.
Eleanor had suspected his infidelity, of course. But she endured itfor Beatrice, for Edward. They were old enough to understand, and the shame of it all gnawed at her. So she feigned ignorance, let him believe himself unchecked.
William, emboldened, stopped hiding his affairs. Then, one day, he packed his things, uttered a careless «Ta-ra,» and moved in with a widow down the streeta woman with a young child. Whether it was true love or mere folly, no one could say. The garrison buzzed with gossip, but William, retiring soon after, spirited his new family away to parts unknown.
***
Eleanor was devastated. Twenty years togetherno small thing.
Theyd started with nothing, weathered cramped quarters, raising two children scarcely two years apart while he was off on maneuvers. It had eased when the children started school, but Eleanor had never been idle, taking work at the clinic.
In her youth, shed never imagined William capable of betrayal. But as grey streaked their hair, she felt the wall between them riseswift, silent, unyielding.
And then she saw it with her own eyes.
Still, she refused to break the family apart. Not for her sakefor the childrens. Yet in time, it was she they blamed for their fathers desertion.
Father…
A rare visitor, and thus all the more beloved.
She had taught them that herself.
***
An invisible war began in Eleanors home.
Her children ceased to respect her. In their eyes, she had fallen «beneath contempt.» No matter what she said or did, it was met with scorn or silence.
She endured, smoothing every conflict, praying theyd mature in time.
They did not.
Beatrice left for university in London, married some wealthy businessman, and lived in luxury. For reasons unknown, she bought a flat in her mothers townnever lived there, just rented it out.
She visited rarelyonce or twice a year, if that. Sometimes she didnt even call on her mother. Edward might as well have been a stranger.
So they lived.
As strangers.
***
Years passed. Eleanor grew accustomed to the phantom presence of a daughter who was and yet was not hers.
She poured herself into her work, into other peoples children.
It was all she had.
Then Edward, her beloved boy, her youngest, brought chaos crashing back.
By forty, hed racked up two failed marriages and two children. Neither wife had patience for a layabout who still strummed his guitar like a boy, drank heavily, and scarcely worked. Both threw him out.
And where did he go? To his mother, of course.
A leech.
Another woman might have disciplined her grown son, but not Eleanor. She believed herself at faultthat shed robbed him of a fathers guidance. So the «boy» ran wild.
Eddie spiraled. First came the drinking, then fleeing to avoid child support…
«Good heavens,» Natalie murmured, shaking her head. «I never knew Eleanor had such troubles with her son.»
«Oh, but thats not the worst of it,» Irene said grimly. «Listen.»
After Edward fled, Eleanorwho doted on her grandchildren and was nothing if not dutifulwent to the courts and took on his child support payments herself. Can you imagine? She paid them!
«Why?» Natalie nearly rose from her seat.
«To spare the grandchildren hardshipand to keep her son from punishment.»
«Thats madness…»
«Yes. But Eleanor couldnt bear otherwise. She worked double shifts to the very end. Morning, eveningalways at the clinic, still making house calls though there were younger doctors enough. Then, once retired, Eddie returnedwith a new woman in tow. And where do you think they lived? Right. With Eleanor. She couldnt refuse. Before long, she was their maid and cook. The pair had no intention of working, but drinking? That they did. With all the usual consequences.»
«Horrid!»
«Worse than that. Meanwhile, the world saw only Eleanors smile as she walked down the street, neat as ever. Not once did she complain. Then, a year later, at his girlfriends urging, Eddie packed his mothers things in a bag and threw her out. Said she was in the way.»
«That cant be!» Natalie gasped.
«Oh, but it was. The neighbors heard his shouting. They found Eleanor sitting on the steps. They offered shelter, but she refused, certain her dear Eddie would relent. He did not. For days, she lived in the stairwell. Why she didnt seek help, no one knows. At last, the neighbors tracked down Beatrices number and called. She arrived two days later (London was but a train ride away). She took her mother to her flat, tossed her the keys with a cold Sort yourself out, and left.»
«Just like that? Didnt even stay the night?»
«Just like that.»
***
For months, Eleanor lived in peace. Alone. In silence. No drunken rows, no chaos.
She began attending church.
Someone heard her singing during service, and she was invited to join the choir.
Life, at last, seemed to mend.
Then
One evening, a knock at the door. Eddie, drunk, demanding money. Eleanor, seeing reason was futile, handed over what she had. It wasnt enough. He took her pension cardher only incomeand what little savings remained.
«Eddie, how will I live?» she asked softly.
«Not my problem,» he sneered. «Dig into your stash, or let the old folks home feed you.»
There was no stash. Too proud to borrow, Eleanor rationed what food she had, stretching it nearly three months.
Then Beatrice stormed in.
«Why havent you paid the rent?» she shrieked. «Now theres a fine to settle!»
«Darling, forgive me,» Eleanor whispered. «Eddie has my card»
«What?» Beatrice cut her off. «You gave him everything? Well, if you love him so much, go live with him. Pack your things!»
Eleanor hadnt time to speak.
Beatrice threw a bag together, yanked her mothers coat from the hook.
«Dont just stand there. I helped you onceyou squandered it. Since Eddies so precious, he can have you. Id rather rent the flat than cover your debts.»
She drove her mother to her brothers door, pressed the bell, set the bag down, and left.
Without a backward glance.
***
A bleary-eyed Eddie opened the doorthen shut it at the sight of his mother.
Eleanor sank onto the step and wept.
Just then, an old acquaintance entered the building.
«Ellie! At lastIve missed you every time I called. But why the tears?»
Eleanor, broken, told her everything.
«Come stay with me,» the woman urged. «Ive room to spare.»
Eleanor agreed. What choice had she?
«Well, thank heavens,» Natalie breathed. «At least one kind soul remained.»
«For a time,» Irene said quietly. «Six months later, the woman rang Beatrice in a fury. I wont keep your mother any longer! Fetch her at once.»
Beatrice arrived a week later. She had Eleanor committed to a locked ward in a psychiatric hospital.
And still, it worsened.
She left no contact number, instructing staff to call only in emergencies.
An emergency came soon enough. Eleanor died four months later. By the end, they said, she scarcely knew where she was.
Beatrice collected the body, arranged cremation, and took the urn. No one knows where.
Eddie never learned his mothers fatenor cared to ask. Though in his cups, he still sometimes muses how nice it was to live off someone elses labour…
***
Where Dr. Eleanor Whitmorebeloved physician, cherished by countless familiesis buried, no one knows.
But she is remembered. Spoken of with warmth.
The tale of her sorrowful end spreads from lip to lip, stirring hearts.
Some blame her husbandhis betrayal began it all.
Many blame the children.
A few murmur that Eleanor brought it on herselftoo patient with a faithless man, too lenient with her children, too devoted to others sons and daughters.
And a handful, after a long silence, say only: «Nothing happens without reason. There are causes deeper than we see. Natalie sat in stunned silence, the steam from her tea curling into the still air. Outside, the wind stirred the trees, and a single yellow leaf drifted down from the branch that tapped gently against the window. Irene reached across the table, her hand trembling slightly, and covered Natalies with her own. The apple pie sat untouched, growing cold. Somewhere in the distance, church bells began to ring, slow and solemn, as if marking time for a soul long gone. And in that quiet kitchen, the weight of Eleanors lifeand its quiet, unwept endsettled like dust after a storm.
