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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.