1.4 Mrs Sinclair and the Feather Haa

In which the doctor interviews the new-made widow.

Dr McKay had seen her through five confinements, two burials and all the children’s illnesses. They were not exactly old friends, but she was aware that he knew her more intimately than even her husband, but in a distant way, suitable for her station and his role. She had a sudden, reassuring memory of his voice during Anne’s birth, and the confidence of the pressure of his hands on her stomach and on her back, relieving pain and easing the birth.

She curtsied, briefly.

‘It was kind of you to wait to see me, sir. Will you take some refreshment?’

He looked at her appraisingly, and nodded.

‘I will, Madam, if you will eat a mouthful as well.’

She glanced at Anderson, who bowed, and she led the way to the parlour.

‘You’re looking too pale, Mrs Sinclair.’ The doctor held open the door for her.

‘Undoubtedly,’ she said, walking ahead of him. ‘I have lost my husband, and am now the only protector of my children. I have much on my mind.’ She felt both dulled with tiredness and on fire with dancing intelligence. Would this be a battle between them? Or an easy semblance of their usual discourse?

Anderson brought in a silver tray of negus and sweet oatcakes. He had set out two of the Spanish glasses. Mrs Sinclair felt a trill of pleasure at the sight of their delicate engravings.

‘Well, this is an unusual occasion,’ the doctor said, removing the glass stopper from the decanter of wine. ‘It’s strange to see these glasses brought out in daylight. Anderson must have a fondness for them.’

‘They were reserved for Mr Sinclair’s own use, when he invited friends to the house to drink with him. He let me take wine in them on my birthday.’ Mrs Sinclair kept emotion from her voice, but she was delighted to see this gesture from Anderson.

The doctor paused for a moment, and then continued pouring. ‘Very proper,’ was all he said.

She accepted a glass of wine and a biscuit, setting them on the pie-crust table beside her chair. She nibbled at the biscuit with caution.

Dr MacKay settled himself in the old straight-backed mahogany chair opposite her on the other side of the hearth. A small peat fire burned between them, cosily. The scent was heady and she breathed it in with pleasure.

‘I have made my examination. I knew of nothing untoward in the state of Mr Sinclair’s health,’ he said abruptly. ‘Had he been feeling unwell?’

She shook her head. ‘He had been drinking in his usual manner, if that is what you mean,’ she said in a colourless voice. ‘Anderson will tell you how many of claret, hock and port my husband usually consumed in a month. I saw no change in his habits.’

‘Had he taken any unusual exercise lately? Exerted himself in a new fashion?’

She met his eyes squarely, hoping her tiredness would express itself in her voice. ‘His habits were regular, and predictable. He did nothing in the past week that he had not done ten hundred times before.’

‘Mmmph. I see. Well, I consider that he died an unexpected but natural death. Have you written to Newton?’

‘Just now, yes. Oliphant is taking the letter.’

‘Well, I’ll write a note too, for Newton to read when he comes. He’ll no doubt want to read you the obsequies.’

She rose to bring out the writing materials from the bureau, and set them on the table. While the doctor was scratching his note to the minister with a long feather quill, Mrs Sinclair gazed out of the window at the bleak wet moorland to the east. She felt as calm as if they had been discussing the weather. Rain was falling now, and spattered on the window in gusts that made her think guiltily about poor Oliphant, riding south to the ferry. She hoped that her letters were tightly wrapped in oilskin.

The doctor had folded his note and addressed it. He poked it into a gap in the moulding of the bronze clock face where it stuck out like a cockade. He stood warming himself in front of the fire, absorbing all its heat.

‘I collect that you will pass the news on as you visit,’ she said quietly.

He cocked an eye at her.

‘You’re taking this very calmly, Mrs Sinclair.’

She looked at the toes of her neat black house shoes, and decided to tell the truth.

‘I feel as if I am sleepwalking. I am in a terrible dream, engulfed by a monstrous deception upon me and my children that I cannot understand. I feel as if I am acting a part, on a public stage for all to see and comment on. It has been a great shock,’ and she faltered, hoping that her voice might crack. ‘You are very kind, but I do not know how widows should conduct themselves. This is the best I can do.’

‘Ye’ll do fine, wumman. A credit to your husband’s name.’ He cleared his throat with a harumph and tossed down the remains of his negus. ‘I’ll take my leave.’

‘Will you not wait until the rain passes?’ she asked him. He was searching for his riding gloves.

‘Thank you, but I have to get over to Unst before dark. I’ll be back for the funeral.’ He was looking at her now with a curious expression.

She had sunk back into her chair in a rush, feeling faint.

‘The funeral. I have never arranged a funeral.’ Her voice came out as plaintively as she felt, and she trembled.

He regarded her with some satisfaction. ‘That’s more like it. I thought you were turning into marble. I’ve told Newton to manage it. No need for you to do anything.’

Now she felt sick, and put her hand to her mouth. ‘When will it be?’

‘It’s Friday now. Next Thursday or Friday. Newton will decide. You won’t attend, of course. But your lawyer should be there – have you written to him as well?’

She nodded, speechless with frustration at her own weakness, but obscurely glad to have someone as sturdy as the doctor overseeing these irritating but necessary details.

Episode 1.5 will follow.

Mrs Sinclair and the Feather Haa © Kate Macdonald 2024.

Please get in touch if you want to reproduce any part of this or any other published episode.

This is a reader-supported publication. When you subscribe to the paid tier for the two novellas, In Achaea and Mrs Sinclair and the Feather Haa, which unpack and develop some aspects of The Shetland Witch, you will also receive all episodes of The Shetland Witch.