Fame

The SUSSEX and SURREY Courier (Epsom Edition) Wednesday July 27th 1851




Overwhelmed


B'ham Hall June 3rd 1851



What have we taken on? It is as if Villiers has been released from a lifetime of domestic service into a world of entertainment and spectacle. Now I find that we have to accommodate a hundred pipers with a marquee, refreshments and their carriage fare. From Aberdeen. Mrs Doughty must have raised more funds in her enterprise than I imagined. Apparently we shall have to pay ninety guineas to these screeching Scotsmen on top of filling their bellies and finding them beds. I do not know how I am to break this news to Josiah. I shall start by pointing out how much closer to Surrey Aberdeen is than Zanzibar. That may work.

Villiers is beside himself with anticipation of this troupe of groaning boys. I am not to bother myself with where they are to sleep, apparently. Very well, then, I shall not.

The Eyes

Boo,

Thank you for speaking to Mrs D. She has served us royally in the supply of names and addresses. I am sorry this note is so brief but my days are a blur of organisation at the moment.

In answer to your question about the Girl's baby, yes he does have brown eyes like your own dear boy's. Josiah says that brown eyes become a man and indeed they are what I first loved about him when he came to Hangerworth to ask for me. How long ago that seems!

E x

Where to start?


My Own Boo,

Villiers is determined that our Ball shall be the talk of the County for many years. I told him about our visit to the Exhibition in London (which, by the way, has resulted in him placing an order for a mangle! What luxury!) and he has been drowning me in fanciful plans ever since.

This letter is to beg you to speak on my behalf to Mrs Doughty. She will know of all the machinery and sculptures we saw that day and I have been asked to find an orchestra - Villiers fancies that all the players should be boys from Morocco or some such place. The notions that man has.....

Not satisfied with the Orchestra of the East, Villiers wants Josiah to commission our very own sculpture. This could cost as much as a hundred pounds and Josiah is not happy but Villiers is as giddy as a puppy about it all and we do want to encourage him. So, please find a moment to tear yourself away from your little man and ask Mrs Doughty to send word of some people I might write to.

If everything we plan comes to fruition, this shall indeed be the Ball of Balls!

Yrs

Effie x

p.s. The Girl has perked up somewhat since our return and is looking less lumpen than before. Her child is a pitiful thing, to be sure, but we must endure his presence here. If only he was more like your darling boy. He and Little Bradstone share a look about their eyes, I must say, so he makes me yearn for your company even more......... x

Lists, lists, lists!

B'ham Hall May 16th 1851

My desk is a sea of paper - I can hardly find space or time for my diary. I have lists of people to invite, rooms to air, linen to press and windows to unstick. Cook is daily bringing me menus and new recipes she has found from wherever and Villiers wishes me to oversee the grounds plan so that the approach will be at its most welcoming.

We have to arrange for men to clear and decorate the orangery, others to construct an area for dancing on and still more to collect enough plates, glasses and candlesticks to lay a table fit for the Queen. Not that she is invited.

Josiah is less than useful, boring me to tears with his investment opportunities, and the staff are beside themselves with giddiness preparing the timetable for cleaning the rooms. I am sure I do not recall my own wedding being this exciting.

Respondez s'il vous plait

Runt

B'ham Hall April 21st 1851


I have finally had sight of the infant. He is a dull-eyed, mewling thing with sallow skin - not at all a child one could love. Had he been a kitten I should have instructed Villiers to put him in a sack in the lake. Still, he has something of Boo's baby about him which I find a little jolting. I have heard people say that all babies look alike, though, so I suppose it is only their babyness that I am observing. Josiah will not hear of him or his stupid mother leaving Blindingham. I have resolved to keep silent on the matter, for now.

Ladylike

Dearest Boo

I am Lady Hatherwick again at last! We waved farewell to London with heavy hands - I do so miss you and your darling boy. But hear this, Boo - Mr Hatherwick is to throw a Summer Ball! I am indeed the luckiest wife in all the county. You are invited of course, along with your menfolk, and I shall send cards to everyone in Town.

Sadly, Mr Hatherwick is intending to invite some of the London bores he so esteems, but fear not - there will be plenty of distractions to keep the ladies amused. Little Bradstone will sleep like a prince in our nursery. It is the nursery Mr Hatherwick slept in when he was a baby and he said to assure you that he would love your boy to make use of it.

Do not say you cannot come, Boo or I shall send Villiers in the carriage to fetch you himself!

We have decided to dress the orangery - I have some fancy ideas since my visit to the Glass Palace and I know that you will die when you see it. I must fly now and make the first of a million plans before I collapse with excitement.

Watch for the post boy, Boo and give your little man a kiss

From

His Auntie Eff xx

Home

Blindingham Hall April 6th 1851

We are home. I feel like a visitor here but I am sure it will not be long until I resume my role as Lady of the Hall. I miss my London friends - how grown up that sounds - but I shall ask Josiah to hold a weekend party in the Summer. I shall enjoy showing off my home to them even though it is not in fashion.

Josiah had sent word of our return and Villiers had clearly done his best to whip the staff into shape. The Girl was at the head of the welcome line but at the sight of Josiah she set about weeping and wailing. I had no patience with her and told Villiers she must surely have recovered from being dismissed from London with such haste. I cannot have her dressing me with her wet face and snivelling. Cook seems to think she is driven mad by motherhood. I am inclined to send her away after all, or at least give her baby to someone who is not so silly. I shall speak to Josiah at dinner.

I am glad to have seen no sign of the infant himself, although I understand he can be heard at night. I am not sure I will tolerate that at all.

Packing

Oh, Boo

I cannot believe the time has come already for us to go home. I feel such a Londoner now. I have been so at home here that I could direct strangers to whichever destination they desired. But now Mr Hatherwick is a flurry of papers and boxes while he counts the days until we are once again Master and Mistress of Blindingham. He is as excitable as I am sad.

So, Boo, will you bring Little Bradstone and your good self to Brunswick Square for one last visit? I should so love to cuddle him - I swear I have enough hugging in me to last him til we come back next Winter!

Do say you can come, Boo. Not Wednesday - Mr Hatherwick has arranged a tiresome farewell for his associates here and I am called upon to nod like a doll at whatever they say. They are such bores but I must show some interest, if only for an afternoon - our future depends on it, I am told!

Til we meet

Yrs

E x

Carelessness?





Brunswick Square March 7th 1851


It is most vexing. I know for certain that I brought my brooch and my earrings to London and I simply cannot think where they have gone. I have seen no sign of the brooch since the night in Clacton when Josiah and I went for a walk and Boo is sure that my earrings did not become mislaid whilst at her house. I know I was wearing them, I always do at an evening party, but it seems they did not become detached along with my bonnet as I had thought. Josiah could not be less interested and refuses to undertake a more thorough search of the rooms here. He is preoccupied with a business venture he is engaged in as a result of our visit to that splendid Exhibition and will be investing capital in some device or another. It exercises him greatly when I try to interrupt his work with my prattle, he says. We are going home soon and I hate to think of my jewellery being lost forever on our travels. Josiah has sent ahead to have the staff open up the hall for our arrival. I should begin to pack, I suppose and say my goodbyes here.

Brave New World


My Dearest Friend Boo

I am beside myself with excitement - Oh, the things I have seen! I have been to another world, Boo, one with such amazing sights, I can hardly begin to tell you.

We waited for a long time with many others just as excited as me and oh, Boo, the building was tremendous. A glass palace from a fairytale. I thought the orangery at Blindingham was a beautiful setting, but this was a hundred times better. You could hardly see as far as the roof of it. And inside! Room upon room filled to bursting with clever contraptions and beautiful statues. I saw a weaving machine, a mechanical frame for roasting a pig, and carriages with springs in their wheels. Then in one room they showed us a device to do with laundering clothes that gets the job done in a fraction of the time. I must tell Villiers about it when we go home. There was music, the noise of machines and so many people shouting out in amazement. Oh, Boo - you should have seen it!

I confess to being a little shocked at the statues there were standing about. I am a married woman, as you know, but I felt a definite discomfort at being so close to an unclothed man, especially one in the act of kissing a woman. No matter that they were made of marble. Mr Hatherwick swept me past a few such pieces before we stopped for lunch.

I should think there were a thousand people there, and all with plenty to occupy their time. There were scientific men from other countries displaying their latest inventions and orchestras of players giving us the most beautiful music, some written especially for the Exhibition. I was filled with admiration for the imagination of the human mind, Boo, I don't mind telling you.

I looked out for Mrs Doughty but I couldn't see her. She evidently knows some wealthy men to have raised enough money to put on such a spectacle.

We came home tired but full of energy as well. The strangest feeling. Mr Hatherwick went straight to his study saying he had ideas for new investments or something. How exciting to think he might be involved in such industriousness again.

I must go now, Boo. Your boy is here to return my bonnet so I shall give him this and make his return journey worthwhile. I think I may have lost my earrings when I was last with you - the sapphire drops I had for my wedding outfit. Would you find a moment to ask your staff if they have seen them?

Kiss Little Bradstone for me

Effie xxx

I have grown up this winter


Brunswick Square February 22nd 1851

My latest tea party was an absolute triumph. Everybody was happy and the conversation was not, this time, confined to kittens and the like. Mrs Doughty was telling us about the Great Exhibition which sounds like nothing I have ever seen. It is to be held inside an enormous hall and will show us all how advanced and cultured we have become. Mrs Doughty is on some committee or other to raise money for the presentation of it and she has met Prince Albert. She is a woman of the world and I feel privileged to call her a friend. I have told Josiah I should like to visit this Exhibition and he said he would be delighted to accompany me there - I think he may have a business connection in mind but no matter, as long as he takes me.

He was much taken with Boo's little boy. My heart beat twice as fast to see him soften and bill at such a tiny baby. If I didn't know him better I would say that he shed a tear as he gave him back to Boo. She was a little quiet, I thought, but I suppose she must be tired a lot these days.

When I told my guests we were leaving for Blindingham soon they were shocked, so much so that I felt quite proud and sad together. I have made good friends here and shall be sad not to have them close by. I have resolved to invite them all to the Hall just as soon as I am back in charge of it. I'm not sure whether Boo will come, but I shall invite her all the same.

Starting to say goodbye

Boo!

I am to have another tea on Wednesday. The Coopers will be there, and Mrs Doughty and Miss Guiser. May you come? I would love to see you and now that you are out and about again you could make it a project for you and that darling boy of yours. Oh, do say you'll come!

I cannot believe we have been here nearly six months and will be back off to Blindingham soon. I have had such an exciting time here. I shall insist to Mr Hatherwick that we come back to Brunswick Square in September.

Send word as soon as you can and I'll have the old Girl set up a nursing chair for you. Mr Hatherwick will send the carriage if that's best. I know he would love to see you just as much as I. He has yet to see Little Bradstone, don't forget. I shall not take no for an answer, Boo!

Yrs

E x

I am determined


Brunswick Square February 10th 1851

I have heard from home that the Girl and her poor mite are getting along famously. I had hoped she would want to return to live with her own mother but Villiers says there is no room for them there. At present no-one in the village knows we are housing the bastard child of one of the staff but we cannot keep them hidden for long. I shall be forced to decide soon whether to keep her in employment. I have been too kind already and would dispense with her tomorrow, but Josiah is adamant that we should be charitable. I admire his sense of duty towards one who has served us well, but I do not share his view that we should allow the child to grow up at Blindingham. I should be the talk of the County for my softness and that does not sit well when trying to manage the household. Villiers says that all the serving girls behave as if the child is jointly mothered - thus allowing the Girl to undertake some light duties in return for her keep. It is a rum situation, though, and I cannot let it continue once I am Lady of the house again. The servants would be too busy laughing behind their hands to get much work done. I shall speak to Josiah. He is more approachable now his gout is a little dispersed.

Confirmation

Dearest Boo

You were right, Josiah will not countenance my running a school. Oh, I am so cross with him! I told him all my dreamings and plannings and he listened with such a sour face I thought he was ill. After I had finished explaining my notion he waved his handkerchief at me as if I was one of the staff, said 'What nonsense you talk, woman!' and went back to reading his newspaper.

I was left feeling like a silly fool and I confess I swept past his gouty foot as I got up to leave the room. How he roared! I shall pretend to be sorry later but I am not.

I am not going to give up my idea yet, not after all my efforts to think it up. But I shall not ask Josiah for help until his gout has left him. Heavens, we may even have to go to Cheltenham or Bath for a treatment. I shall do whatever I need to turn his mood in my favour!

Until next time, Boo. Give Little Bradstone a big wobble and a kiss

From

His Aunt Effie x

Nursey Wife


Brunswick Square January 27th 1851

Josiah has the Gout. The Doctors say it is due to living too well but Josiah will not have it and thinks he is not long for the world. I am having to tend to his feet with the foulest poultices and each evening I sit with him to ensure he only has sugared water and oatcakes, not the livers and clarets he is used to. Cook may have served us royally over the festive season but I fear she has brought misery upon the household...

Josiah is short with me too often and he speaks to the Old Girl with less good temper than he would to a dog. She seems not to notice, though. The other Girl would have wept a sea of tears had he spoken to her that way. I must send word home to see how she and her infant are keeping. We are not planning a return to Blindingham until the Spring and I do want to know what sort of welcome awaits us then.

I told Boo of my decision to open a school in the village when we return. I have long been feeling too silly in the company of her friends and I am tired of discussing bonnets whenever we meet. Boo said she thought it a fine plan but that Josiah will be hard to persuade. She says he will think it unwomanly for me to oversee a business. How well she knows him.

A New Year Resolution

My Dear Darling Boo

We have had the most cosy time at home, Mr Hatherwick and I. He was not required to see to any business for a good four days and he decided to concentrate all his attentions on me - his grateful, lucky and very spoiled wife!

Cook surpassed herself with the meals she provided and the Old Girl proved very helpful when dressing me and bringing me hot water when I wanted to wash. She is much more attentive than the Girl was and I find that she is able to be with me for almost the whole day, such that I have clean forgotten where the servants' bell is.

The Girl used to spend a good part of her time seeing to Mr Hatherwick's needs, but this one doesn't spend half so much time with him. Bless him, he says he can well do without her and that if I want her I should feel welcome to her. God love him.

May I call next Tuesday? I have something secret to tell you that I dare not commit to paper. I have made a decision! A proper, grown up decision!

Yrs

E x

Replacement

December 22nd 1850 Brunswick Square

We have a new Girl. Well, she is to undertake the duties of a Girl but I should think it is along time since the word girl has been used to describe her. She is personable enough and comes with exemplary references and I am greatly relieved to have someone to dress me again at last, but somehow I do not see me exchanging confidences with her. There is something dingy about her, as if she washes infrequently. I have counted fewer teeth in her head than in Boo's baby. She sports hairs in places she should not and her voice reminds me of the man who tends the cattle at home. Still I think she will do well here. Josiah was not impressed with her, but he did give me sole responsibility for finding someone. He has said he probably will not need her services much. I should feel I have failed him in appointing her, but I do not.

Seasons Greetings



To

Boo, Bradstone and Little Bradstone

Season's Greetings

your first as a family!

With all our love

Effie and Josiah xx

p.s I shall call in the New Year if I may

My first tea party


December 19th Brunswick Square

This new fashion for having trees and whatnot in your house is a tremendous fag but it does make the rooms look very cosy. Today I had my first proper tea party and Cook went to great lengths to make festive tidbits for us to eat. She served a sort of warm wine with fruit in it and an array of small sandwiches, pastries and cured meats. I could tell that everyone was most impressed. I must remember to give Cook a little something as a special reward - she has been very helpful in recent weeks.

Sitting in my parlour were Mrs Cooper, Miss Cooper, Mrs Doughty and Miss Rowena Guiser. She is very pretty and amusing, I think we shall make firm friends. I do need someone else to talk to now that Boo is so occupied with the baby - Mrs Doughty appears to be a bottomless source of new company.

Word from the butler at Blindingham - the Girl has calved. So she also now has a baby boy to call her own - heaven knows who else's it may be. And that horrible small man from Clacton cannot find my brooch. No doubt he has pawned it or given it to a sweetheart, the crook.

Remind Cook to ask around and discover what the best households will be serving over Christmas.

Fruitless search

Mrs Euphemia Hatherwick
34 Brunswick Square
London

December 12th 1850


Madam

I am afraid I am writing with news which will not please you. Having conducted a thorough and rigorous investigation of my staff and public quarters, I can state without a doubt that your brooch is not anywhere under my roof.

I quizzed the chamber maids, the night porter and any staff who may have had access to your room during your stay. Despite hearing some very clear and verifiable accounts of Mr Hatherwick's movements and your own, I can find nothing which relates to the mislaying or otherwise of any brooch.

I hope this letter is redundant and that the brooch has appeared amongst your belongings as you unpacked. I hope also to be able to welcome you again to this establishment in the future. To that end, may I take this opportunity of offering you and Mr Hatherwick one evening's accommodation without charge, in recognition of your distress. This in no way points to any liability on our part for the loss of your brooch, of course.

Yours faithfully

Ogden Browne

Public face

My Dearest Boo

What a sweet little bundle you have produced! I swear I can still smell his adorable head under my nose. Please accept the mittens I enclose. I knitted them myself and put a kiss in every other stitch!

Mr Hatherwick is as delighted as I am to hear of Bradstone's appearance in the world and has asked me to pass on his best to you and Mr Pitt. Indeed I do detect a hint of envy in him. At least, when I told him your happy news he said that he wished he could have shared in it with you. If your new baby has unleashed something in my husband, as I dearly hope it has, it may not be long before I have some news of my own....

Pardon my prattle, Boo and give that boy a cuddle

From

His Aunt Effie xx

Spreading the Word

Dear Mrs and Miss Cooper

I am excited and delighted to tell you that my dear friend Mrs Pitt has been safely delivered of a boy. He is a bonny thing and since it was not so long ago that you were giving Mrs Pitt the benefit of your experience in childbirth I am sure she will not mind me telling you of the outcome.

The infant is to be named Bradstone, after his father. I am sure there are a hundred other things to say about him but the main facts of the matter are that he is safely arrived, has his eyes and ears and will be at home for viewing after Christmas.

I hope that you and I will find time to take tea before long. There are some aspects of Mrs Pitt's recent experience that I feel cannot be shared except in person.

Yours

Effie Hatherwick

Envy


Thursday December 7th 1850 Brunswick Square

Boo and her husband called this afternoon - not Wednesday, when we are ready to receive callers. Brought Baby Pitt with them. For a reason I cannot fathom they have called him Bradstone Josiah Pitt. I coo'd and twitted about of course but the moment she said the infant's name I was struck like stone. Why has she given him the name Josiah?

He is a pretty enough child, I suppose. They have already had his image recorded and he does seem a bright and chubby thing. But Josiah? What can they be thinking of? She knows I am anxious for a child of my own. Does it not strike her that I might have a son and want to name him Josiah? I cannot name my child after hers, I should look as though I am a sheep.

No, I am disappointed in Boo. I can say it here if nowhere else. She shall never know it - when she brings him on our walks and I give him flapdoodle about how clever he is or some such. But I shall never call him Josiah, not even in a letter. Never.


Re Brooch

Mrs Euphemia Hatherwick
34 Brunswick Square
London

December 4th 1850



Dear Mrs Hatherwick

I received your letter of the 27th ult. with great regret. I shall, of course, investigate the loss of your brooch thoroughly and shall inform you without delay of my findings.

In the meantime I thank you for your kind comments about your stay here are trust that you will feel able to recommend The Excelsior to any friends or acquaintances considering a stay in this fine town.

Yours faithfully

Ogden Browne
Proprietor
Excelsior Hotel

Another little mouth

Boo! A Boy! Oh, Boo - I can hardly write for excitement!

Tell me everything, Boo, what was it like? How is he? How are you? Mr Pitt must be ten feet tall with pride....

I shall come to visit you in your nursery as soon as you send word that I may.

Oh, Boo - you are such a clever goose! Well done!

E xxxxxxx

How to improve your hospitality

The Proprietor
Excelsior Hotel
Esplanade
Clacton-by-Sea


November 27th 1850


Dear Sir

I write with regret, having enjoyed a brief but refreshing stay at your establishment last week. My husband, Mr Josiah Hatherwick, and I were delighted with the accommodation you offer and took great pleasure in sampling the best from your fine menu.

The beds were comfortable, the water nicely warmed by your staff and you yourself showed us genuine welcome.

However, I feel I must write this letter - in the best of faith that you will receive it in the spirit in which it is sent. That is, as a warning from a friend, not a barb from your enemy.

I have arrived back in London without an item that is most precious to me. I am assiduous in the care of my belongings and it would be quite out of character for me to mislay such an item. My husband has no knowledge of its whereabouts and I am forced to conclude that it has been taken from me whilst I was in your hotel.

The item in question is a brooch. It contains an amethyst set in a double row of seed pearls. The brooch was a wedding gift to me from my Mother and I am distressed to be without it.

I fear your staff are not all as trustworthy as you would hope. Please carry out a search of your premises and room-tending staff at your earliest convenience. I am sure that my brooch will be found in the temporary possession of one of them.

I await your reply

Yours in anticipation

Euphemia Hatherwick (Mrs)

Counting the Days

My Dear, Brave Boo

When I saw you last I felt sure you would produce your child on the very rug in front of me! Surely it cannot be long now? Just think, you may be in the depths of childbirth even as I write. I stand at the window a great deal at the moment watching for your boy to come with a note telling me I am an honorary Aunt...

I cannot imagine what you will have gone through, Boo. Only that it will have been worth every moment.

Please let me know as soon as you can. Send word whatever the time, day or night. I am not going to settle til I know you are safely delivered of your child.

Yrs

Effie xxx

p.s. Mr Hatherwick asks me to send his best. He is pacing the floor with me, bless him. He has such empathy - for a mere male!

Day Trip


Oh Boo!

Mr Hatherwick and I have been to Clacton!

A day or two ago he came to me after breakfast and said

"Effie, now the Girl is no longer with us I cannot help but notice you are more tired. Until we engage the services of another Girl, perhaps an older one this time, I do not wish you to become worn out."

I am such a lucky wife. We took an open carriage and were on the beach by mid-day. Oh, it was glorious, Boo. So wide, so open and so so blue. We walked up and down the front and stopped for a cup of tea and some cake. The people of Clacton are very jolly, on the whole, and we were approached more than once in the afternoon by men wanting us to buy eels and the like. We said no.

Mr Hatherwick then walked me up to quite the grandest hotel, straight across from the seafront and said "Say hello to our lodgings, Effie." I have never seen such a place! You might think that someone used to the grandeur of Blindingham would not care for white stucco and swirls, but I thought it was delightful.

We spent an hour or so in our room before dinner. Mr Hatherwick took a nap and I read a little. Then we ate the loveliest local food - those eels again, I expect - and I drank a glass or two of brandy I don't mind admitting it.

Clacton by night is a very different place!

After dinner we went for another stroll along the Front. There were no families or nurses with their charges. They were all safely tucked in their rooms by then. So the people we met were much more lively. We saw men singing and rolling along, laughing at the slightest joke and calling out to their friends. They must know each other very well in a small town, I suppose, to be able to shout across the street like that.

And Boo, the women were a sight to behold. So colourful and gay, I felt positively dowdy amongst them. They wandered about in twos or threes, smiling at us as we passed. Mr Hatherwick is a sociable man when at play and he took his hat off to any woman who caught his eye. Most of the women seemed very happy to be out after dark, although I did wonder where their husbands were at such an hour. I am sure I would not want to walk the streets of Clacton in a red dress without Mr Hatherwick beside me.

The rest of our night was quiet and we were back in Brunswick Square by 11 o'clock the next morning. What memories I have!

Mr Hatherwick declared himself to be so taken with Clacton that he will take me again next year. He said he will go there alone beforehand to settle upon the very best Hotel. I shall be treated like a Queen, I can tell.

Mrs Cooper asked me to pass on her best wishes for your imminent event. May I call soon and see you - it may be the last time I see you without an infant on your knee!

Effie x

Dismissal

Dearest Boo

I have informed Mr Hatherwick of the Girl's predicament. He looked as astonished as anyone could.

He flew to her quarters and I heard an ungodly amount of raging from him, followed by her coming down the stairs at greater speed than she has managed for a month. She is to be sent back to Blindingham and kept there until her confinement, which I think, my own sweet Boo, is to be at a similar time as your own.

I am to be surrounded by dandling babies in the New Year, evidently.

I will not write more now. The Girl is making the most awful wailing noises and sniffling and I cannot think to set down my own thoughts. I must compose a note for the hapless booby's poor mother to explain why she will not be receiving her daughter's wage for a few months.

Call on Wednesday, Boo. Mrs Cooper and her daughter have promised to take tea with me and I should love to show you off to them. You are the most sophisticated of my friends and I know they will love you every bit as much as I do.

Effie x

My worst fears




B

I cannot believe it! I simply do not understand how this could have happened! The silly child must have been meeting in secret, but with whom? The gardener's boy at Blindingham? The herdsman? She must have been well advanced in her condition before we arrived in Town.

I had thought her to have been too busy for romantic assignations whilst in the Country. Indeed I know that when she was not tending to me she was kept hard at it by Mr Hatherwick, who brooks no laziness.

What shall I tell her Mother?

Oh, it is too tiresome to have to deal with! I shall walk in the Square and ponder my next actions.

Yrs in botheration

E

Taking Care

Dearest Boo

I'm sending yr gloves back with the Girl, as arranged. What a clever Boo you are to have hatched such a plot - let her wait a while in yr lobby and watch how she behaves. Then send her back to me carrying your handwritten verdict. She will be judged, and none the wiser for it.

If motherhood doesn't suit, you might want to offer your services to the police!

Mr Hatherwick took a step back when he saw yr gloves on the hall stand. He asked most anxiously if you had called at Brunswick Square. I was surprised he knew them immediately to be yrs. He's a man who notices such things, Boo, I am indeed blessed with such a husband.

I did not tell him of our fiendish plot, though. He seems quite blinkered when it comes to the Girl and is more lenient with her than I would like. It would vex him to know you were planning to assess her.

Here she comes, the lumpen booby, with her outdoor coat and her miserable face.

I shall hand her this note and despatch her to yrs straight away.

I am quite alive with the intrigue of it all!

Yr thoughts by return

Effie (of The Yard) x

An Arrangement

Boo

The boy has just come to the door with your message. Tomorrow it shall be. I will call at 3 o'clock with my stoutest walking shoes on!

I confess there is a matter concerning the Girl that I wish to consult you about. She is becoming surly and is slow to help me in the mornings. She is vague until gone lunchtime and then she spends the rest of her day yawning and sighing. I have told her that she must buck herself up when Mr Hatherwick returns and that she is lucky I am a tolerant mistress. She gave me a look I could not quite decipher, Boo, but it was not one of gratitude I must say.

Tomorrow at 3

E x

A Quiet Start to the Season

Dearest Boo

How lovely it was to meet your friend Mrs Doughty yesterday. You are quite the best hostess and you have so many interesting friends. I found the afternoon went too quickly and am laughing to myself remembering some of the intimacies she was good enough to share! It has certainly eased the boredom of being in Town without Mr Hatherwick, who has been called back to the Hall on some matter of the estate. Tiresome business, running a large house in the Country, but it must be done, I suppose.

I have been walking much around the City. How quickly people move here and how occupied they seem to be. In Blindingham it is a matter for remark if one meets another soul at all on one's walk. There, if you happen upon another person engaged in outdoor exercise it is expected that you should pause a while and exchange a pleasantry or two. In London, although there are many people about I cannot imagine even one of them smiling as they hurry by.

I was perhaps hasty in expecting my time here to be full of social event. Save for your darling self I should be quite devoid of company. I know that your condition prevents you from dancing - you are to be spared the spectacle of my parochial pavane for a good while yet, Boo - but I wonder whether you could walk with me a little. Tomorrow afternoon? Or the day after?

Do send word by return if you can find energy enough to stroll with me. I am strong and can be relied upon to take your arm should you need rest!

I shall stand by the window and watch for the boy with the mail.

Yrs

E x

Such Happy News

My Darling Boo

It is true then what they say about the bloom of impending motherhood. You looked positively ripened when you called to see me yesterday. Full as a melon!

But why ever did you keep the secret from me, Boo, you silly goose? I am beside myself with joy for you and Mr Pitt. I told Mr Hatherwick your news the very second he came home and his face was a picture to behold. I declare I have never seen him lost for words before. He enquired as to the date of your expected confinement and when I told him it would be near to Christmas he stood stock still for a full minute. He is such a sensitive man, my husband. Do you know, I am convinced that he had been preparing to surprise me with a party, at which you and Mr Pitt would have been guests of honour. His shock upon hearing your news was because he will not now be able to entertain you as he would wish. I am sure of it.

I am quite envious of you, Boo, I cannot tell untruths. I do so long for a baby of my own - a little Effie or Josiah. I quicken at the thought of it. Seeing you look so well and knowing what delights await you I feel certain that I wish to join you in maternal bliss.

Thinking this way has given me an idea. I shall put away my pen for today and ask the Girl to draw my bath early. Mr Hatherwick is expected home before eight this evening and I think it timely for me to make myself available to him after dinner.

Til next we meet, Boo - goodness, I am so excited for you and for us both!

Give my best to Mr Pitt. Or should I call him Pitter-patter now? Oh, see how giddy I am with my new adventure!

Yrs

Effie x

We have arrived!


Dearest Boo

Pray don't wait til Wednesday but come as soon as Mr Pitt can spare you......

E x

We are 'At Home' at last



The Times Monday September 17th 1850




Til Monday


My Dearest Boo

Thank you for your note, which the Boy brought up this morning. How exciting that you are to be Wintering so close by! I am delighted with your plans for us and will be sure to bring my finest dresses so that I may attend as many parties as I can. I have been so short of intelligent company here and will devour every piece of gossip that passes before me. How clever you are to have sought out the most fashionable people and how excited I am to be meeting them with you!

Mr Hatherwick has declared himself delighted with the services of the Girl and is keen to take her to London in advance of our planned arrival so that she may prepare the rooms for me. How thoughtful he is. I am so fortunate to have married a man who takes notice of domestic arrangements. He is most anxious that I am to concentrate on my own interests and not to concern myself with household duties. Lord bless him, he has even instructed the staff here not to bother me with news of his comings and goings.

"Effie," he said to me only yesterday, "You must not tire yourself with watching out for me to arrive home. Go through your day as if it matters not whether I am present." How many wives can claim to enjoy such solicitous attention from their husbands, Boo? Not many, I would venture.

Oh, Boo it will not be long now before you and I are arm in arm together in Town. I wish to hear everything and anything of your life in London. Are you and Mr Pitt still enjoying married life? I should not ask such an intimate question, I know, but I am keen to know that you are happy.

So, til Monday next, Dear Boo. I see from my window that Mr Hatherwick and the Girl are setting my cases onto the carriage and I must go down to ensure that they are strapped tight. The Girl is strong-bodied but a bit simple, I fear. She was engaged in our employ whilst I was away visiting Mother, so I do not know where she was in service prior to that. Mr Hatherwick says he had to spend a goodly amount of time with her before she understood exactly what he wanted her to do.

Boo! I must leave off writing this minute! The Girl must have fallen from the mounting plate! I can see that Mr Hatherwick has her in his arms and she seems fainted dead away! How fortuitous that he was so close by when she fell.

Monday, Boo, Monday!

Yrs

Effie x

What City, Friends, Is This?

My Dearest Boo,


We have taken rooms in Town for the Winter and you and I are to be neighbours! Soon the Hatherwicks shall be 'at home' to the very best visitors London can provide - I cannot wait for the day you and I can walk on the Heath and talk about old times. Dear Boo.

We are closing the Hall down, leaving only the necessary staff, and shall bring with us the very best servants in all of the County. We have a Man for the carriages, a Cook for the kitchen and a Girl for everything else. I asked for a Lady's maid as well, but Mr Hatherwick thinks a Girl should suffice. No matter.

Boo, what of your plans for the Winter? Will you be dancing? Do you know all the best places to be seen, I am sure that you do. Oh, Boo - I can hardly breathe for the anticipation of it all!

This will be a short letter - the lad is already on our approach and I wish him to take it away with him, the sooner that you can start to plan our adventure!

Do write back, Boo, as soon as you can. We shall be leaving here on Saturday and arriving in London the day after. I shall want to see you immediately. As soon as Mr Hatherwick has established us in the rooms. He says he wants to settle the Girl in to her duties without delay and that I am to busy myself by filling up the social calendar. I am such a lucky wife!

Yrs

Effie x

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