The narrative leaps forward to late March of the following year, with the birth of Katherine’s child at Brockhurst. There has been twenty-four hours of acute anxiety regarding the mother’s condition, and Mrs. Denny guards the door against visitors. The parish of Sandyfield rejoices; the rector, Thomas Caryll, rings the church bells and preaches on the text “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” Dr. Knott examines the baby but does not disclose his findings to the company at dinner. That evening, gathered in the tapestry-hung dining-room with the southeasterly gale rattling the casements, are Julius March, Captain Ormiston, his lively sister-in-law Mrs. William Ormiston (Charlotte), and Mary Cathcart of Newlands. Mrs. Ormiston raises a toast to the baby and, in the older ceremonial form, flings her wine-glass over her shoulder so that it shatters on the polished boards, “to ensure the fulfilment of the wish.” The section closes with her departure at cockcrow the next morning.
Enter a Child of Promise – CHAPTER III
The section opens with Captain Roger Ormiston reflecting uneasily in the wake of a dinner party at Brockhurst, fearing that his relationship with Mary Cathcart has suffered rather than improved. He resents that Dr. Knott pressed Julius March with questions about his parentage, considering the story of Julius’s origins unworthy of serious attention yet bristling at its discussion. When he remarks that the wind is rising and Dr. Knott will have a rough drive home, the doctor replies that his constitution has weathered worse journeys. The conversation then takes a darker turn: Dr. Knott reveals that Lady Calmady’s newborn son has suffered a form of spontaneous amputation, the leg missing from above the knee with the foot embedded in the stump. The doctor emphasizes that the child is otherwise healthy, strong, and beautiful, but the deformity is permanent. Ormiston is horrified, drinking port with shaking hands and pacing the room as the memory of a litter of puppies at the veterinary surgeon’s sanctum comes back to him. A discussion follows about who should break the news to Katherine; it must come from an educated equal, not a servant. Ormiston reluctantly accepts the role, agreeing to tell his sister if Dr. Knott is unavailable. Julius March, who has been silent, supports the doctor’s plan, having recognized the man’s underlying humanity beneath his rough exterior. After the men part, Julius kneels in the chapel to pray for Katherine and the child, wrestling with the problem of suffering and the body, while Dr. Knott drives home through the wild night to deliver illegitimate twins to a scrofulous servant girl in a rat-eaten cottage.
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