Isobel and the Midwife
This is from a series of stories set in North East Scotland in the year 1910. The parish minister and his wife are an extremely hedonistic couple. However the stories printed here will feature his wife and her companions only.
Mrs Isobel Hardy, the minister's wife, had cycled into the village to collect some small items from the village store. With her cycle basket full, she made her way home, but on seeing the district midwife, Alice Henderson, she stopped to exchange a few pleasantries. Alice was a fine looking woman in her early thirties, unmarried, but with plenty of suitors, although she seemed to care little for the local farmer's attentions. She was intelligent and independent, and rumours had it that she had even visited London and met Mrs Pankhurst. The rumours were correct, for Alice was what was known as a suffragette, and although remote from the centres of power and politics, in that summer of 1910, she did what she could for the cause of women's emancipation.
The two women spoke for a while about this neighbour and that, who was pregnant and who had just delivered. It was a pleasant summer morning, and it was a rare opportunity for both women to talk to another who was on the same intellectual level. Alice jokingly asked if Isobel's health was fine, and if she was likely to need her midwifery skills in the near future, but Isobel just laughed. 'Not yet Alice, but I'll let you know as soon as I think I need your help.' They both laughed and were silent as if both were thinking of something. Isobel spoke first. 'I think I actually may need your professional advice, but not with regard to being pregnant.' Alice smiled and nodded.
'Go on,' she encouraged, prompting Isobel to speak again.
'This is very embarrassing,' she hesitated, blushing slightly, and then seemed to gather her courage before continuing. 'Oh dear, this is so embarrassing,' she said coyly, not the slightest bit embarrassed, but excited, 'I always seem to be wet down below. I'm wondering if it's completely natural, or if I have something wrong, like a discharge. Could you come along to the manse sometime, and give me an examination?' she asked.
'Of course, don't be silly. It can be worrying, but it's probably something very simple and natural. When would you like me to come over, because I'm free now for a few hours if that's convenient for you?' Isobel didn't hesitate.
'Now would be fine. John is off on business to Aberdeen, and I don't expect him back until after lunchtime,' and so it was that both women headed to the manse on their bicycles, enjoying the sunshine and each other's company.
Isobel wasn't quite so innocent and sexually inexperienced as one might expect the wife of a parish minister to be, and was well versed in the art of feminine seduction. Alice wasn't the first lady of the parish to be the object of Isobel's affections, for she seemed to have the knack of recognising women with similar sexual tastes as herself. Her instincts in such matters were very seldom wrong, and she had always managed to pass off her efforts at seduction as innocent sisterly affection if her advances were rebuffed.