17: RecoveryEliza’s hostess seemed in no rush to see her return to her own quarters. The pain in Eliza’s face gradually subsided but she didn’t know whether this was the natural healing process or the continuing effects of the laudanum. Lifting the bedcovers, she pulled up her night shift to look at the source of the pain in her belly and saw that her stomach was blackened with bruises.
As she was examining herself, Mrs McCarthy appeared. ‘Yes you had a right good kicking. The doc said you must have put up a hell of a fight to get such a beating. You must have got someone pretty mad. If you ask my opinion, you’d have been better giving in and letting him have his way with you. At least it’d have been over fast enough and there’d have been no outward signs.’ The woman shook her head. ‘But
