Loss

B'grave Square
January 29th 1852


Disaster has struck. I cannot find my jewel case. I know I had it my dressing room when we first arrived here, and then Josiah moved it when that horrible man showed his face again, but it is nowhere to be found now! It has everything I brought with me - mama's earrings, my bracelets, rings - where on earth can it be? I shall cancel all Villiers domestic duties for the whole day and put him to searching for it.

I can not imagine what Josiah will say - it must be found before he comes home!

Working Classes

Boo!

I had no idea you did such remarkable and unsung work - I am in awe of you, I truly am. When you asked me to accompany you to see the results of your charitable actions I expected to be taking buns to the poor, or blankets to the homeless. I could never have imagined that you and Mrs Doughty had established such a thriving business, with all those girls saved from the streets and taken into employment. And how hard they work! I am all the more proud that you have taken me into your confidence and shall of course do all I can to help. I only hope that I may be able to contribute from afar, since we will be returning to Blindingham in April, as usual.

Fear not, Boo, I shall never let Josiah know of this. He dismissed my dreams of opening a school with such vehemence that I could not bear him to scorn this, too. I feel that the Highgate Press (I trust it is not indiscreet to write the name in a letter to you of all people) is as worthy as the school I planned. Oh, I am so excited at the thought of what we could do! Perhaps there would be a chance to add some schooling to the working day of our employees?

I shall be at the Press on Tuesday afternoon to meet you and Miss Doughty. You must feel such a freedom of movement now that LB is being cared for by a Nanny. I did tell Josiah that you had taken a servant experienced in caring for infants and he showed great interest. He wishes me to pass on his hope that the servant in question will guard LB with her life. I thought that a little over-emotional for him but it is a measure of the high regard in which he holds you.

As, of course, do I

Effie xx

Coup de cuisine

More worries back at Blindingham. Cook has become increasingly frail and erratic, so Mrs Everdown has taken to calling up each day to see to the kitchens and give instruction to the gardener and stable boys. It is kind of her, I suppose, but I feel powerless to prevent her making changes I would not make myself. If she is half as incompetent as her daughter it will be a wonder the kitchen is still standing when we return. I do hope she does not discover our hiding places - for her to have the keys to every cupboard and chest would be more than Josiah could bear.

Giving and Taking

B'grave Square January 15th 1852

I have finally been accepted into London Society - how proud Papa will be when I tell him that I have been invited to join a secret society of Lady Financiers! Mrs Doughty and Boo sent for me with such a curt little note that I was quite frightened of what they might have to say. After some delightful cakes and a jolly dandle with LB, they asked outright if I wanted to become a member of the Worshipful Society for the Relief of the Distressed. I am to sit at meetings, apparently, and determine whether or no some poor fallen soul should receive our help. I am convinced that my appearance at such honourable and worthy meetings will increase the number and quality of social invitations I receive, since it is in the way of things that powerful and generous people attract each other's company. I shall write to Papa immediately and tell him his little Eff has become a bountiful Lady.

I have not told Josiah of my new inroads into London Life. He would not be happy at the prospect of my furnishing persons other than himself with funds, I am sure, even though they may be more deserving.

No Clue

Cranford Wives

Belgrave Square
December 20th 1851

I have received an annoying little letter from one of The Wives. Full of polite praise and pledges to stay in touch. I wanted to tear it up the moment I had read it. Those women are nearly as dull as their menfolk, if such a thing were possible. The one who wrote the letter was the sharper of the two, which does not say much in all honesty, and the other one was barely conscious. She looked at Josiah as if she had never seen him before and when I asked if he behaved himself with propriety when under her roof she professed to know nothing of his residence with them! What a strange and alternative world she must inhabit if she cannot recognise her own house guest.

They both did their best to charm Mrs Doughty, with no success as far as I could see, and now they wish to become better acquainted with Boo and me. I should rather drive needles into my eyes. A more tiresome pair of prattling simpletons I could not imagine. No wonder Josiah had never spoken of them to me. When I asked whether Mrs Waterhouse was inattentive to his needs when he stays there he waved me away with a grumpy little snort. I can't say I blame him. An afternoon in their company makes it clear to me why their husbands would rather spend most of their time underground.

Thank you letter

Dear Mrs Hatherwick


Mr Price and I wish to thank you for the delightful tea party you hosted so gracefully yesterday afternoon. We enjoyed ourselves royally and must congratulate you on contriving such a convivial atmosphere. Please pass on our warmest regards to your friend Mrs Doughty, a lady I hope henceforth to be able to call my friend, too.

I do hope you were not too troubled by Mrs Waterhouse's rather vague answers in relation to your husband's conduct in her home. I gathered from your demeanour that you were making a humourous reference to his fondness for walking around late at night. I urge you not to think anything of her inability to recall seeing him in her house at such a time. She has suffered nervous troubles ever since the Winter of '45, poor lady, and uses sleeping draughts now, so she would most likely be unaware of any movements in her home after 9 o'clock.

Congratulate your cook for the most sumptuous spread and please reassure your Mr Villiers that we found him most entertaining - he could surely find a career in the music halls if he ever tires of being in service.

We must meet again in the New Year. Since our husbands are so thick with each other, I am sure there will be ample opportunity for further relaxation in your delightful company.

Yours most sincerely


Agatha Price

Party planning

Belgrave Square
Dec 15th 1851


Josiah has agreed to me having a small party here to mark the festive season. I shall ask Mrs Doughty, Boo, Miss Guiser and some other acquaintances I have made since we arrived. I will not invite Mr Pitt, after his behaviour towards me at Boo's house last time I visited. I had only asked whether he might wish to invest in Josiah's new venture and he flew into a rage, shouting that his life was bound up enough with my husband's and he wanted no deeper involvement than that. The Lord alone knows what he meant, but Boo went white as he said it. He has always been an angry sort of man, so I shall give it no further thought - but neither will I give him an opportunity to speak to me that way again.

That has made me think - I suppose I should approach the wives of Josiah's business partners, too. I have never met them, not even in the Summer since they did not accompany their husbands to our Ball, but I am informed that they exist, so I shall make an effort to include them. Perhaps they will make their way here in another outlandish form of travel. If they have tired of hearing about underground transportation, is it possible they might fly?

In Fear of the Unknown

Belgrave Square
December 14th 1851

I have become quite the engineering widow. Josiah has taken to staying out all night at least three nights each week, at the home of Mr Waterhouse with whom he is now deeply involved in business. I do not like him being away but if I am to profit from his enterprises I suppose it must cost me somewhere in the process. He is quite loving when he is with me, after all.

But this business with that awful man has troubled me more than I like to admit. I am sure he is waiting outside this house, watching our movements and choosing Josiah's time away from here to commit his nefarious practices. He is deliberately trying to cause us harm by behaving appallingly and claiming to be Josiah whenever he is challenged. It is exactly what he did in Clacton. Josiah told me that he did indeed go to Bow Street almost as soon as I told him what the policeman had said the other day. Nothing came of it, I gather, and no further action is to be taken. I know Josiah is more bothered by this than he claims. He has moved my jewellery box to a safer position and I am to ask him for whichever pieces I need a day or so in advance. It is very solicitous of him but I am beginning to be afraid for my safety when Josiah is away at night. I am not convinced that Villiers would behave with the same protective instinct that a man would for his wife.

An Inspector Calls

Dear Boo

The strangest thing has happened. There was a tremendous clanging at the street door yesterday morning and outside was a policeman asking for Josiah. I did not know what on earth to do.

He said that a man answering Josiah's description had been witnessed behaving strangely in Leicester Square. Well, Boo, it can only mean that that dreadful man has returned to prey on us! I informed the policeman of Papa's connections with the legal profession and said that I was in no doubt that the man concerned was not my husband. I began to tell him of the imposter we have had to suffer, but he couldn't have been less interested. In fact, he was extremely short with me on the matter and said that if and when Josiah returned home I was to make sure he presented himself at Bow Street without delay.

What did he mean by the words 'if' and 'when' ? Who was behaving strangely and why did the police think it was Josiah? Honestly, Boo, I am quite concerned. Josiah did not return home last night - although that is nothing strange these days as he is so wrapped up with the underground transport project he is working on - so I have not had chance to tell him what he must do. I am sure he will walk in soon with a perfectly sensible explanation about it all.

In the meantime, I must do what I can to prevent Villiers from presenting himself at Bow Street instead. He was keen to go and see what he could do to help them in their enquiries, he said, but I am sure his attendance there is not necessary at this stage.

I will call soon and tell you the outcome of this story, as soon as I know what it is myself!

Yrs

Effie x

Chinaman

Belgrave Square
Dec 3rd 1851

Josiah has become very attentive of late. Ever since I told him how gorgeous Little Bradstone was and how much Boo was enjoying motherhood. I wonder what is on his mind.He coos and twits over me if I so much as cough and he is constantly asking me if I have everything I need. He leaps up and runs to my dressing room when I mention looking for a new comb or pin for my hair and this morning he even laid out my clothes for me as I was washing at the stand! I laughed so hard to watch him doing servant girls' work that I knocked over the water jug and drenched myself. I cracked the jug a little on my chair. Josiah ran to my aid and would not hear of me going to fetch another nightgown. Instead he raced to the dressing room and came straight back with a dry one. He seems not to want me to exert myself at all where my own toilet is concerned.

I suppose I shall have to inform the landlord about the jug. I may ask Villiers if he can repair it or seek a replacement on his London walkabouts. Heaven only knows where he goes, but the other day he came back with a Chinese silk kimono. I thought it was a gift to me from Josiah at first, but then I saw Villiers wearing it late one night as I went to look for some water. I must ask him where he bought it.

Going Underground

My Dear Boo


I am the lady wife of an Entrepreneur! Josiah has gone into business with some of those boring men you met. I confess I do not fully understand the nature of the enterprise but he tells me he is a founding father of a new travel system, whereby people will be able to move around London - honestly, Boo this is incredible - below the surface of the roads. People will sit in carts inside huge tunnels, some of which will be dug even lower than the Thames itself! They will walk down great flights of stairs to reach these tunnels and then climb back out and find themselves in a completely different part of the city. Truly, it is a thing of the future.

Josiah has asked me to suggest that Mr Pitt might like to invest in this as well. I cannot in all truth explain the details or answer any of the sensible questions that might be asked of me, but I should like the chance to mention it when I next see you. Do you think we might both become wives of famous businessmen?

I will be coming to celebrate the anniversary of your becoming a mother as soon as I have completed the gift I am embroidering for you. Might I spend a few moments then trying to help you both conceive of the idea of travelling under the ground? It does sound exciting.

Till we meet, which will be soon,

Kisses to LB and to you my dear

Yrs

Effie x