Leonora's Journal Volume One

The Sequel to 'Ring of Stone' by Bronwen Welsh

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Wednesday 4th December
A letter arrived today with an invitation from Lady Elizabeth for Mama and me to visit on Monday next week if it was convenient, for tea and to view Marston House and meet the senior staff. After consulting Mama, I replied to Lady Elizabeth accepting her kind invitation, but I realised that I must confront Richard and seek his explanation for the scene which I had witnessed. The arrangements for our wedding had not yet reached a point where they could not be cancelled, although it would break my heart to do so.

Saturday 7th December.
Richard called at our house today. I confess my heart started to race in a most unpleasant manner when I heard the sound of his horse's hoofs on the gravel. On the one hand I dreaded the thought of confronting him with my knowledge of his assignation, but on the other hand I knew that I must have knowledge of the truth.

After Richard came into the house and politely greeted us, without a shadow of guilt on his face, I took the first opportunity to request that the two of us take a turn around the garden. Fortunately, it was a very pleasant day, but I still wore my pelise to avoid getting a chill, something I'm very careful about since my sickness.

We walked for some minutes in silence as I attempted to summon up my courage on what was occupying my mind.

“Is there some thing wrong, Leonora?” said Richard. “You seem very distracted.”

I could delay no longer. I turned to him: “I saw you,” I blurted out.

“Saw me? I'm sorry, but saw me where?” he looked puzzled.

“In Oxford last Monday, in the tea room with the pretty young woman!” I exclaimed, annoyed that he seemed to be trying to pretend it had not happened. Then Richard laughed which annoyed me even more.

“Yes, of course!” he replied. “That was my cousin Cecily. I saw her in the street and since I have not seen her for some time and we were outside the tea rooms, I invited her to take tea with me so that I could bring her up to date with my good fortune in becoming engaged to the sweetest girl in the world.”

“Your … cousin … Cecily?” I confess I have never been more embarrassed in my whole life, and my face undoubtedly showed it since I had no doubt that it was a deep crimson in colour.

“Yes indeed. We spent most of the time talking about you. She is very anxious to meet you and sends her sincere congratulations on our engagement.”

“Oh Richard, I am so sorry,” I could not hold back my tears. I have never felt more foolish, and my blushes revealed it. Is this what love does; makes people ridiculously jealous when not in possession of the facts?

Richard enveloped me in his arms and kissed my forehead. “My dearest Leonora, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. I should have told you about my meeting with Cecily as soon as I arrived this morning, so I must ask your forgiveness in being too slow with the news.”

“Oh no, Richard, the fault is entirely mine. Will you forgive me for doubting your constancy?”

“Of course my dear, let us talk no more of it.”

There. I have recorded the mistake a foolish jealous woman can make, as a reminder to me if ever I am tempted to do the same again.

There was one more thing I needed to discuss with Richard before we returned to the house.

“Richard, you know that although I attended school, I have forgotten all that I learned before my sickness. I have discussed this with Mama and she has suggested that Papa engage one of more tutors to refresh my memory of all I have forgotten. Does this meet with your approval?”

“Dearest, I love you exactly how you are, but if it will make you happy to do so, then I am in favour of it too.”

“Dearest,” I replied, “There is nothing that will make me happier than I am at this moment, except to be married to you of course, but I thank you for your kindness.”

Monday 9th December
Papa allowed Mama and me the use of the coach to visit Lady Elizabeth d'Anglais. I confess I felt quite nervous and took particular care with my toilette in order to look my best. Marston House is of two storeys and looked quite large as we drove up the driveway. Since it was close to the centre of Oxford, the grounds were not large but enough to permit privacy for the house's inhabitants.

When our coach drew up outside the front door, a liveried footman stepped forward to open the door, lower the steps and offered us his hand to alight. We thanked him, and then walked up the marble steps to the front door which was opened by another footman who showed us into a sitting room where Lady Elizabeth was waiting to receive us.

“Lady Bolton, Miss Bolton, how nice to see you again,” she said, and I curtseyed while Mama gave a slight bow, since they are now on an equal social footing. We accepted her invitation to sit down.

“Miss Bolton, I wish to thank you for agreeing to become mistress of this house once you are married. I confess we have not been present as much as I would like, and I'm sure that having a mistress present will help to keep things in good order. We do have a very good housekeeper in the person of Mrs Danvers, a very agreeable woman whom you shall meet shortly, and I'm sure you will find her an absolute treasure. The butler is Mr William Anderson, a very competent man. Nonetheless, I believe that a house is better run when a mistress is present.

“No doubt Richard has told you that we will be coming to Oxford from time to time, and will wish to stay here, but I want to assure you that you will remain the mistress of the house and we will be your guests.” No doubt she saw a pink tinge suffuse my cheeks and divined the reason for it for as she said, “There can only be one mistress in a house, and goodness knows I have sufficient duties to keep me occupied at the family seat in Grasmere which I hope you will visit one day, perhaps in Spring, when the countryside is particularly beautiful.”

“Thank you, Lady Elizabeth, I would like that very much indeed,” I replied.

“I will ring for Mrs Danvers, and she can take you and Lady Bolton on a tour of the house and introduce you to the staff,” said Lady Elizabeth, ringing a small gold- coloured bell on the table next to her. The name Danvers seemed familiar to me but I'm sure I never met the lady before. Perhaps it was a character in a novel?

To my surprise, Mama said “Perhaps it would be better for you to go by yourself, my dear, while I wait here with Lady Elizabeth if she is in agreement?”

“If you wish, Mama,” I replied. It seems that she is already treating me as a mature woman, soon to be a wife.

Mrs Danvers entered the room and curtseyed to her mistress. She was a lady in her forties at a guess and dressed in a rather severe black gown.

“Mrs Danvers, this is Miss Bolton who is engaged to marry my son, after which they will take up residence here. Would you be so kind as to give her a tour of the house and introduce her to the principal staff?”

Mrs Danvers curtsied again to Lady Elizabeth, and then a rather briefer curtsey to me.

“With pleasure, Lady Elizabeth . If you would like to come this way, Miss Bolton?”

I followed her out of the room and down a long corridor. I was determined to make a friend of Mrs Danvers, having seen how well Mama and our housekeeper, Mrs Bennet get on and how important it is to the harmonious running of the house. I was taken into a large dining room with a table which could easily seat twenty, then into a sitting room, a drawing room and a music room with a very fine-looking pianoforte, and a large pedal harp, which I viewed with interest.

“Do you play, Miss Bolton?” asked Mrs Danvers.

“I am learning the pianoforte but not the harp,” I replied. “However, I do enjoy its sound and perhaps I might take some lessons. Does it belong to anyone at present?”

“It belonged to a member of the family, now deceased, and is sometimes used in musical evenings if a player is present,” replied Mrs Danvers

.All the rooms were magnificently furnished as befitted people of the standing of Sir John and Lady d'Anglais. I decided it was time I was frank with the housekeeper.

“Mrs Danvers,” I began. “I am sure that you are aware that becoming mistress of a house of this size will require me to gain a great deal of education in its organisation, and I will find myself greatly indebted to you for advice.”

“I will help in any way I can, Miss Bolton,” she replied rather stiffly I thought. Still, we had only just met. “I’m sure I speak for Mr Anderson in that regard.”

Our next visit was to the bedrooms upstairs, of which there were six, all of a comfortable size and most beautifully furnished. Two had dressing rooms attached, and there was also three bathrooms..

Mrs Danvers pointed out the two adjacent rooms that were used by Sir John and Lady Elizabeth, with the dressing room located between them, the implication being that they should be left for their use. Another room was set up with two single beds which was shared by their daughters, Lucy and Sarah. Finally, there were three further bedrooms, one of which was used by Richard. The adjacent room being unused was sparsely furnished. Mrs Danvers suggested that if we wished, Richard could retain his room and my bedroom would be the one adjacent which incidentally had a dressing room next to it and would be suitably furnished before we took up residence. My feeling was that I hoped we would be sharing a room, but I am aware that Mama and Papa have separate but adjacent bedrooms, so I assume that this is common occurrence amongst married couples.

Returning to the ground floor, Mrs Danvers indicated the location of the staff bedrooms, and our final visit was to the kitchen to meet the head cook, Mrs Walker who bobbed a curtsey when she was introduced to me. I know that the cook is a very important staff member since elegant dinners and receptions are expected in the 'ton' of which we were certainly members.

(Note: the 'ton' as in bon-ton refers to Britain's high society in Regency times. Members of the ton came from the aristocracy, gentry, and royalty. JD)

Finally, Mrs Danvers escorted me back to the sitting room where Mama and Lady Elizabeth were sitting, other wise I would surely have lost my way.

“Well, my dear, what do you think of the house?” asked Lady Elizabeth.

“It is a very fine house and beautifully furnished, ma'am and it is very kind of you to entrust it to me and Richard while you are not present.”

Lady Elizabeth smiled: “I'm sure you will have many happy times here,” she said.

Wednesday 25th December – Christmas Day
My first Christmas Day since my sickness. We attended the Christmas service at St Nicholas' Church where a beautiful choral service was sung. The Reverend Henry Irvine kindly confined his sermon to about fifteen minutes, aware of the fact that most of the families present had their Christmas lunch in mind and even the adults might be distracted should he preach for a longer time. The interior of the church was very beautiful in the soft glow of many candles. When we left the church, we discovered that it was snowing gently which added to the magic of the day. The d'Anglais family were also present and we exchanged Christmas greetings before leaving for our respective homes. Next year will be very different.

At home, we repaired to the sitting room where we were to exchange presents. Since the only money I have is the generous 'pin money' allowance which Papa gives me, and which I understand I will receive from Richard once we are married, I had been saving as much as I could for the last few months in order to buy appropriate gifts. To Mama I gave a lovely silk scarf and to Papa some new quill pens and an ink pot since I know he does a considerable amount of writing. For John, I had purchased a new riding crop, and for Emma, a new doll wearing a beautiful silk dress. I also gave my personal maid Marie some silk gloves. I am happy to say that all my gifts were well received.

By pure chance, Mama gave me a new silk scarf and gloves; my brother John presented me with a new sketch book and pencils, a most useful gift since I spend a lot of time sketching and was running short on materials. Papa gave me an envelope which he told me to open when I was on my own. I did as he asked and later was astounded to find that he had made me a gift of two hundred pounds to be drawn on his bankers in Oxford. There was a note enclosed, saying that as a woman about to enter upon matrimony, he realised that there were items I would need to purchase, and he did not think it appropriate that I should have to come to him to approve every purchase since he had great confidence in my responsibility. I shall see that his confidence is not misplaced.

I must not forget sweet little Emma, who had drawn me a picture of Northbridge House. For a young girl of ten years, she shows great promise as an artist and I did not have to fabricate my enthusiasm for the quality of the gift which has been beautifully framed, no doubt by arrangement with Mama. I have asked permission for it to be displayed on the wall of my bedroom, which pleased Emma greatly, and I will take it with me when I am married.

Papa had another gift for us all as a family and it was quite a surprise. It seems that recently he had reason to visit one of the other deans of the university who had an instrument called a 'magic lantern'. This instrument shines a beam of light through a glass plate on which is painted pictures or drawings, some in colour. The beam is directed through a convex lens and onto a white sheet or board some feet away where the image on the plate is displayed greatly enlarged for everyone present to see and enjoy. The lantern has a wooden holder to hold the glass plates and normally two are placed into slots, so that after one is viewed, the other can be moved into its place and the first one removed and replaced by another image.

Papa explained that the images could only be viewed at night when the room was dark. Intrigued, I asked Papa what was the nature of light source used and he explained that it was an oil lamp called an Argand lamp with a concave mirror at the rear which directed its beam of light forward to the glass picture which he told us was called a slide because the holder allows them to slide in and out of the beam of light. He opened the door to the lamp house that showed us the interior. We all looked forward to viewing the instrument in operation.

This evening, after a magnificent Christmas dinner, Papa led us into the drawing room where the magic lantern had been set up and a white sheet attached to the wall as a ‘screen’. Since it was Christmas, all the servants were invited to join us in viewing the pictures. I was not surprised to see that the first pictures Papa showed were illustrations of the ancient monuments of Egypt, and these were followed by some images of notable scenes of England. It was wonderful to see them presented in such an impressive way. I'm sure we will have many happy hours watching the pictures.

Thursday 26th December Boxing Day
It is a tradition today to give servants gifts known as 'boxes', and allow those who have a nearby family to visit them, since they had to work on Christmas Day.. Most of the servants took advantage of this but our cook, Mrs Chambers, whose family lives in Glasgow insisted on staying although Papa in turn insisted that we could subsist very comfortably on the cold meats left from yesterday, and no cooking was required. I suspect she considers us almost as her family since she has been in Papa's employ for about twenty years, and I hope she never leaves since she is an excellent cook. I do hope that Mrs Walker is as good when I am married and mistress of my own house. I'm sure Papa expressed our thanks to her in a pecuniary way but discretely.

The d'Anglais family had accepted our invitation to visit for tea in the afternoon, and I hope that this will be the first Christmas of many when we can combine our families. Thank goodness I had purchased Richard a pair of fine leather gloves as he presented me with a fine pearl necklace which is truly beautiful. I am still wearing it although it is close to the time for me to retire. Our parents also exchanged gifts, the gentlemen, by coincidence, in the form of some fine wine, and silk shawls for the two ladies, and also Lucy and Sarah. All the ladies were wearing beautiful gowns and Emma a very pretty dress. I do wish there was a way of instantly recording such an elegant scene. Perhaps one day this will be possible? I intend to sketch the scene from memory and perhaps colour it too.

Tuesday 31st December New Year’s Eve.
This evening, Papa and Mama hosted a New Year's Eve Ball in Northbridge House. Our ballroom is not very large but has sufficient room for five and twenty couples. There was a small orchestra of some twelve musicians. As part of the hosting parties, I stood next to John who was on the side of Mama and Papa. John kindly whispered names of people that I had forgotten, and I committed them to memory, greeting them by name and bowing to the ladies and curtseying to the gentlemen.

The ladies were wearing beautiful gowns and the gentlemen looked so handsome in their evening dress. The Guests of Honour were Sir John and Lady d'Anglais, Richard and his sisters Lucy and Sarah. Both these young ladies have yet to have an offer made to them which surprises me. We had some single gentlemen of good fortune present and I hope that something may come of it, as during the evening I saw both young ladies dancing with young men and believe that John or Richard had affected the introductions.

Richard danced with me many times and it felt so wonderful to touch his hands even momentarily, although the country dance and cotillion are not particularly intimate dances. I have heard that there is a new dance called the waltz which is popular in France and Germany, but it is not yet considered sociably acceptable here as the man and woman are too close. Maybe things will change.

I should mention that little Emma was present, wearing a pretty dress and was allowed to stay up until about nine o'clock. I danced with her several times, and she is already becoming quite experienced and light on her feet. Then Richard approached and asked if he might take a turn around the floor with Emma. She curtseyed low to him as he bowed to her, and I'm sure she felt very grown up. It was indeed a wonderful evening. When we are married, I hope we hold balls quite frequently. All young ladies love them.

To be continued.

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