Author’s Comment: This little excerpt is from the very beginning of The Mudlark. You may be surprised at the changes in Lady Catherine De Bourgh, so you’ll want to be prepared. There’s an informative author’s note at the end. Comments are much-loved and appreciated . . .
Rosings, Kent
April 3, 1783
My Dearest Anne,
I am absolutely overjoyed to hear your news. George Darcy is a fine man. Since we have all known him since childhood, there can be no doubt of his decency, integrity, and kindness. And the love between you has been an open secret for years now, at least since your come-out. My dearest wish for you, my sister, is that you will find the same happiness with Mr. Darcy that Lewis and I have found together over this past year. There is a peace and satisfaction that comes from truly loving your partner in life. I cannot explain it, but I wish it for you as well. I pray daily to be blessed with a child to crown our love, and you, my dearest Anne, will be in my prayers as well.
I am wild with excitement over the wedding. How clever of you two to choose the late spring. Be assured, the de Bourghs will be at Matlock House in plenty of time to join in all of the celebrations. Will you take a wedding journey afterward?
Give my love to Andrew. He must be in alt at the prospect of uniting the Darcy fortune with the Fitzwilliam name. As for me, I am just happy that my beloved sister has found her true love.
Your devoted sister,
Catherine
Pemberley
March 17, 1784
Dearest Cathy,
You are the first to know of my happiness. I have not yet shared this news with George. I have a strong suspicion that our family may increase by one person several months from now. It is too soon yet to make an announcement, but the signs are decidedly present.
Mrs. Spurgeon is a very good midwife, and the women of this neighborhood have depended upon her for years. Some months ago, I asked her if she had any suggestions for those desiring to conceive a child. I have followed her suggestions, and I forward them to you in case they might be of any help. First, share a bed with your husband on as many nights as possible, thereby increasing your opportunities for what I will call “fruitful activities.” Do not make haste to get up after each encounter but rather rest quietly so that the seed has plenty of opportunity to make its way to the womb. It is obvious that you and Sir Lewis are truly in love, and so I will only say that Mrs. Spurgeon assures me that if you enjoy the process and achieve satisfaction, that can only help. I am certain the cradle at Rosings will soon have a precious, tiny occupant, a little cousin for the child who will occupy the cradle at Pemberley.
With all my love,
Anne
Rosings
May 1, 1785
My dear sister Anne,
I write to inform you that Catherine has been brought to bed of a beautiful, healthy daughter. Mother and child are doing well. Catherine is understandably tired, but she begged me to inform you by express of our happy news. The babe is a beautiful little blonde creature, and she will be named Anne in honor of her Mama’s favorite sister. As her doting father I can vouch not only for her beauty but for her voracious appetite. She is also blessed with a very healthy set of lungs which she exercises frequently.
I trust that you, brother George, and the young Fitzwilliam are getting on famously. I feel certain George will agree with me that fatherhood doubles one’s joys while at the same time cutting in half one’s opportunity for restful sleep.
Catherine joins me in sending you both our affectionate regards.
Your brother,
Lewis de Bourgh
Pemberley
January, 1786
My beloved Cathy,
I have no words. I wish only that I could fly to your side to offer you whatever poor comfort would be in my power. Instead, we are kept apart by two hundred cruel miles and the ravages of a disease that knows nothing of human love or compassion.
Know this, my dearest sister: Lewis de Bourgh loved you with all his heart and soul, and I am convinced that he loves you still. And the precious, dear life that you two created of your love is now in the arms of her Redeemer, who loves all the little children. My heart is too full to say more.
We are well here, though the disease is ravaging the countryside. You, Andrew, and I are fortunate that Papa had us variolated. George was also variolated, and he insisted that we do the same for baby Fitzwilliam. I agreed with the most dreadful trepidation. My poor babe was very ill for several days, but he has recovered well and now nurses, kicks, and moves as one would expect from a babe his age. He has also begun to smile. So, our immediate family, and much of our household, is safe. The same does not hold true for the countryside, and we understand the roads are growing less and less safe as the contagion spreads.
I have heard that Andrew is in London, and I know he will move Heaven and earth to come to you, even though I cannot. Allow him to take care of you, Cathy. Let him shoulder some of the burdens until you feel ready to take them up again. Though we may not always agree with our elder brother, he is certainly a capable man, and I have no doubt that he loves both of us. Cast your cares on him until you are stronger.
I must close and get this out for the post. There are no express riders to be had. Oh, Cathy, how I love and miss you!
Anne
/End of Excerpt
Author’s Notes:
Smallpox was, at the time this vignette takes place, still a dreaded scourge in the world. But progress was being made. I have relied on the excellent and touching article which appeared in the Washington Post when the U.S. was fighting another perplexing and dangerous disease, Covid-19. I was touched not only by the current struggles of my own world but by the particular struggles of Abigail, who referred to “all my treasure of children” as she placed her own brood in the hands of Providence and of the doctor who would see them through the dreaded “invariolation.”
A couple of facts that surprised me. First, the people of Africa were no strangers to smallpox and had developed a form of inoculation to deal with it. This was disseminated by enslaved persons in the Colonies and apparently from there back to England. Surprisingly, Onesimus, an African man enslaved to well-known preacher Cotton Mather, was largely responsible for passing this information along. And second, the American colonies endured an outbreak in 1775. George Washington, himself a survivor of the disease, ordered all of the troops at his command to be inoculated. This order was carried out.
By 1798, British scientist Edward Jenner would be finding a prevention for smallpox in the much milder form, cowpox. By the mid-1970’s, the smallpox vaccination would be universal, so successful that the disease was obliterated and the vaccine is no longer in use
The Washington Post. December 14, 2020. “A Fearsome Decision: Abigail Adams had her children inoculated against Smallpox.” Ronald G. Shafer.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/12/12/abigail-adams-smallpox-coronavirus-vaccine/
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