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.