AN: Thanks for the comments. The studies do make me appreciate modern conveniences.
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Chapter 21
Anne started helping in an entirely new way shortly after they returned to South Park. One of the footmen became ill with a hacking cough and Anne was to assist in his care. She needed more experience in caring for the ill than her visits to tenants had provided.
Mrs. Craig called Anne to her sitting room for a discussion. “You may have very little ability to contact an apothecary or physician when you are at sea or in foreign lands, so you need to have some basic understanding of how to help in common illnesses. Now, Henry has a dry, hacking cough. We will start with the easiest treatment, which is to give him a spoonful of honey three times per day. That will help ease the coughing. You have probably had that at one time or other. Now, if his throat were also hurting, we would have him regularly gargle warm salted water in addition to swallowing the honey.”
Anne said, “Yes, I remember doing these things. Luckily, I am not often ill with a cough.”
“It is quite common in winter, so we want to treat it quickly before something worse develops. We will also have him drink thyme tea at his meals. That will also help him breathe more easily. Since we use thyme in our cooking, we always have it on hand.”
From that point on, Anne assisted in providing healing teas, learning to make mustard plasters, hot and cold compresses. Mrs. Craig and Mrs. Carlisle both spent time teaching Anne which herbs could provide some relief from a variety of ailments. However, for cases where an apothecary was necessary, Anne merely observed from a distance. They did not want her to take ill along with the patient. She eventually became proficient in caring for minor wounds and illnesses.
Throughout January and February, part of the time Anne and Agatha spent with Mrs. Carlisle was spent discussing the needs of the kitchen garden and how one planned for it. They learned just how much food was consumed in the dower house over the course of a year and how much of it came from its own gardens. From the menu planning, they had seen how meat might begin as a dinner for the family, then be refashioned into a stew which would constitute a tea, then be a soup that was served at dinner, and finally end up as soup that was served to staff. Almost nothing went to waste. There was always a way to repurpose it so that all was consumed. All of the fats were rendered for future use. Peels and scrapings from vegetables were not wasted either as these made their way into the compost bins unless they went directly to the pigs, chickens or goats first.
There was always an abundance of soup which would be shared with those who were ailing about the estate or in the nearby village, much as Anne had done with Kellynch’s surplus. These cooks all considered it a sin to waste food. Nourishing soups were always kept on hand to relieve someone’s illness or suffering.
By the beginning of February, Anne, Agatha, and Mrs. Carlisle were laying out the plans for the kitchen garden. Seed had been saved from the previous year which was a concept that fascinated the girls.
“You can purchase seed, but why waste the money when you can just save it from your own garden with just a little bit of effort. Of course, the first year, you must purchase. And if you are trying something new, you must also. Now, you see how small these seeds are? We must guess about how much produce we will get from these seeds as we plan. Do we have enough to cover the area we need to get the outcome we want? Generally, we use all you see here in order to fill our garden. As we lay it out, we look at the plan from last year. We never want to plant a particular crop in the same location two years running. That way, we keep diseases from claiming the crops.”
Agatha asked, “There are diseases that claim crops?”
Mrs. Carlisle answered, “Oh, yes. There are various different blights. They seem to hide in the soil and come back to get them the second year. So, if we do turnips in this area this year, we move them over here next. Also, there are some crops that do better when planted with companions. They seem to support each other just as friends do. Some we leave in for two years. These carrots here, “she pointed to a location on the map, “are still in the ground. These will provide seeds for next year. Carrots are a two year crop. You harvest half one year, leave the rest for seed for the next. So, we always have carrots in two different locations in the garden.”
She added, “We also have the hothouse to consider as well. This is what gives us fresh greens and some other things during the colder months. We decide what we want growing there in the winter and allow most of it to go fallow during the summer. We often keep the chickens in there for part of the summer in order to better fertilize it for the next winter. Chickens and rabbits are very important for your garden and your kitchen.”
Anne asked, “Rabbits? How so?”
Mrs. Carlisle said, “In many ways. For some of the left over bits, we don’t compost directly. Instead, we feed them to the chickens and rabbits. We then transfer that manure into the compost which makes it decompose faster. Of course, we have eggs from the chickens as well. And both end up on the table. Lady Rachel doesn’t care for a roast rabbit, which some do, but we do have it in stews, casseroles, and soups. These are part of the kitchen garden. The other livestock are also important, but we don’t manage them from the kitchen. Some households add geese. They may be part of the kitchen or just part of the farm, depending on the size of the home and staff. These also often include the sheep and goats as part of the kitchen tasks.”
Agatha asked, “How would they be part of the kitchen?”
“Well. They are able to help with the trimming about the house. If you keep a close eye on them, the goats can eat down the shrubbery in the woods and keep it well cleaned up and easier to manage. They all do a cutting job on the grass. If you manage it correctly, you rarely have to scythe the lawn around a home. Just stake out the sheep or goats where you want it cut or let the geese wander. Just keep them away from the flowers and you’re all set. However, you do have to watch where you walk as they leave droppings around. These are regularly scooped up and added to the compost bins.”
“Homes like that also include the pigs in the kitchen as they eat slop that would just end up in the compost. Between the pigs and the goats, you can have a lot of the trimmings from bushes and shrubs eaten instead of burned as rubbish. It is a cycle of co-dependence that has been used for eons. If you manage it correctly, it costs very little to supply almost all of the food at the table, only time. On the estate, we even raise much of the grain that creates our breads. We keep bees, so we sweeten with honey more than any other sweet. Those that cannot do all this must pay hard cash for it. You won’t have to worry about this at sea, but you might in a foreign port.”
Anne said, “So that is why it may be part of the kitchen. It all has to do with how you are managing the food supply and how large an estate.”
“Yes. In town, almost all is purchased although you might have a small garden to supplement. In country, almost all is home grown. It is one of the reasons many choose not to spend a great deal of time in London if they have a decent estate. London has the parties. Country has the more comfortable food supply. If you do a good job with managing the estate, you can use it to supply your London residence as well. That way you know the quality of all the food on the table. Of course, at sea, you will just have to make do with what is supplied.”
Within a few days, the ladies had planned the kitchen gardens for the dower house for 1807. Agatha had asked about this up at the main house and been shown a similar plan for it, only on a larger scale. This was a different level of planning that neither had seen before and both found it fun and fascinating. Some of the crops would be planted as seed in the hothouse in February. If they waited to plant the seeds out in the garden after the frost, there would not be time enough for them to grow for harvest before frost caught them again in the fall. This was a way to extend the growing season.
As Anne and Agatha were discussing this one afternoon, Agatha said, “Do you think you will ever need to do these things you are learning?”
Anne considered for a moment. “I think it likely the laundry, mending, sewing, and other needlework will be used. I don’t like doing laundry, but I suspect that Nell and I will be doing it together on ship. On land, it will likely be her with other maids. If I am to cook, it won’t be at sea. If Captain Wentworth continues to be successful, I probably won’t do any cooking, only overseeing it. I expect knowing how to nurse someone and repair minor injuries will be used. Of course, I won’t garden at sea. However, even if I never use these skills, it has been fun to learn and I have much greater understanding and appreciation. That is never wasted.”
Agatha added, “I think you are probably correct. I hope you can learn about life on ship from your correspondence with his sister. She has a better idea of what you will need than we have.”
“We have only just begun, but I think you are correct. She should be of great help in determining what else I should try to learn.”
Soon spring was coming and it was time to think about heading to town for the Season. Lady Rachel and Anne decided that they had no interest in spending part of the Season in London this year. They would prefer to remain at South Park, so they did not accompany the others when they went to town. Anne, in particular, had no desire to see her father and sister when they went for their annual trip in April. From Lady Russell’s letters, she understood that once again, no offer of marriage had been forthcoming during the autumn shooting parties, and Elizabeth was becoming quite peevish. Agatha wanted the opportunity to visit with Joshua and Millicent and have one more fun season before they married.
After Agatha left for town, Anne had another fun learning opportunity. Mrs. Craig found that they were getting short on candles and it was time to make more. Anne and Nell would learn to make tallow candles.
“We use beeswax candles in the family rooms. They burn brighter and have a sweeter scent. However, in the servant rooms and in the kitchen, we use tallow candles. We are running low, so it is time to make more. They are very easy and this could be very handy for you to know.”
Anne smiled and said, “I cannot believe how many new things there are to learn. Is this one I can do myself or must someone stronger help me like with the laundry?”
“Oh, this is quite easy. Maybe a little tedious, but easy. I steal Susie away from Mrs. Carlisle for the morning when I make candles. This time, it will be just the three of us.” As she said this, Mrs. Craig led Anne and Nell to the kitchen. They found a large pot of tallow melting on the stove.
Mrs. Craig said, “Thank you Mrs. Carlisle. I think Miss Anne will have an interesting morning.”
Mrs. Carlisle laughed and said, “That she will.” She then left to enjoy a late breakfast of her own in the housekeeper’s sitting room.
There was a rack standing on the table. Next to the rack was a large kettle of water. On the rack was a rod with a number of strings draped over it spaced evenly across. At the end of each string a small weight was tied. Mrs. Craig said, “Watch. Then you can try.”
She picked up the rod. Anne could see that the strings were not just draped. They had been wrapped once so they would not slide across the rod. There also seemed to be small grooves in the rod to keep the strings steady. Mrs. Craig took the rod across to the pot of liquid tallow and dipped it in coating the strings. She then stepped back to the pot on the table, and dipped again. This colder water solidified the tallow. She repeated the process and said, “There are really two choices here. When you dip the strings in the tallow, it coats them. You solidify the fat on the strings either by letting them sit and harden, or by dipping them in cold water. You want multiple layers of fat to create the candles. If you let them sit, it will take longer, but not be quite as messy. When you are completely done dipping, you let them harden on the rack. Then we will cut the strings in half. We will cut the string and trim some from the top, leaving string showing for the wick, and trim the candle bottom flat to sit in the candlestick. Candles like this are why we have spikes in so many of the candlesticks. With the spike, we do not need to trim them too carefully nor make them a specific width to fit in the stick. Now, you try.”
Anne carefully picked up the rod and dipped the candles. Nell tried too. They continued in this way until there were enough layers built up to form sturdy candles. Anne asked, “So, if I don’t want the popping when I return the wet candles to the fat, I can just dip, wait, and dip again?”
“Yes. It just takes longer but isn’t so messy.”
Anne said thoughtfully, “I can see how that might be better if I don’t want to clean up the dripping water afterwards.”
By the end of the morning, the candles were hardening on the rack. Before they got too hard, they removed the weight from the bottom. The next morning, they trimmed and stored them away. As they were storing them, Mrs. Craig said, “You can also make these with a candle mold. However, I think the dipping method will probably be easier for you in your travels. The mold method requires a number of molds. You place the wick in the mold and pour in the tallow. It is easier and cleaner, but if you are traveling with your captain, you are not likely to take a bunch of candle molds with you.
Anne smiled and said, “That is good to know. I can see how I might use that method too, but you are probably right that this is more likely.”
Mrs. Craig said, “We use both here. Dipped are usually for the servants’ quarters, molded for the kitchen and other service rooms as we can get a fatter candle that way.”
“I continue to be amazed at how much there is to learn for even the simple everyday things I have always taken for granted.”
Mrs. Craig replied, “You grandmother is a wise woman to help you learn all this that those of the lower classes take for granted. Although you might not need it, you might also be entering a completely different world. At least this way, you can cope with the new world.”
During the winter, Anne had received another letter from Sophie Croft, a letter from Frederick, occasional letters from Mary, and regular correspondence from Mrs. Musgrove, Lady Russell, and Edward Wentworth. She thus had a pretty clear picture of what was going on around Kellynch, of the changes in Mary’s attitude, and of life at sea in the Indies. The Asp was not a very large ship, but Captain Wentworth was enjoying his command. He shared abbreviated descriptions of his various adventures. She had a very full and satisfying season in spite of the cold and weather.
Chapter 22
Mary was growing into adolescence with the uncertainty that brings, and Anne was able to provide reassurance in her letters. The letters from South Park were far more comforting and frequent than those from Kellynch, enabling Mary to learn more about how to discern people’s feelings and needs, which she realized Elizabeth had never bothered to learn. Mary also realized that she greatly preferred Anne to Elizabeth, which she thought was surprising given how beautiful Elizabeth was.
During this school term, she came to realize that who people were inside was more important than how they looked. Given what her father had always said, this was a shocking realization, but it was confirmation of what she had discerned about friends at Christmas. She also understood that her mother had always known this, as had Anne, and it was what they had tried to teach her. She had finally matured enough to comprehend the teaching. The result of these realizations, and the ones from Christmas, was that Mary finally started developing some true friends. Her relationships with the Musgrove girls deepened and were far more satisfying than in the past. Even though they were a few years younger than Mary, she knew they would remain life-long friends. In addition, two or three other girls also became good friends. These friendships also helped Mary become more sure of herself and much happier.
Lady Russell was still somewhat concerned about the choice Anne was making to marry Captain Wentworth. She did not have a great respect for sailors, not really considering them gentlemen, and she shared more of Sir Walter’s opinions than Anne had realized. It was apparent that Lady Rachel had not really convinced her Anne was making a prudent choice as her letters often suggested that Anne reconsider her choice and return to her family at Kellynch. Anne was sad to recognize that she was drawing further and further away from her godmother as she became more confident in herself. Anne regretted what she was losing in the relationship but relished her new-found strength. She hoped that when Lady Russell visited later in the spring they could draw closer again.
While the Stevensons were in town for their two months of the season, Joshua Ackerman suggested a wedding date to Agatha. He had come into his inheritance and was now in a position to support a wife. Agatha was pleased to accept. They planned for a late April wedding. Anne and Lady Rachel would join them in town in mid-April.
While the family was away in March, spring thaw arrived at South Park. Anne now learned all that went into actually creating the kitchen garden that she and Mrs. Carlisle had planned. John was the main gardener at the dower house, and she now spent her mornings with him watching him turn the plan into actuality. Like Mrs. Carlisle had when Anne was merely observing, John explained what he was doing as he did it.
“As you can see, there are green plants all over the garden. That is a winter cover crop. It helps keep the soil in place and adds good things to it over the winter. Now that the thaw is here and the ground not too wet, we must plow it all under to get the good things into the soil. We must bury it deep beneath the crops we will plant.” He and two boys spent the entire week getting all of the cover crop dug up, the ground turned, and the cover crop well buried. As they did this, they also incorporated compost from the bins maturing next to the garden.
The next week, it had warmed enough that they removed the mulch from many of the crops such as the strawberries and the asparagus. The mulch was thriftily divided between the chickens, the goats, the pigs, and the rabbits. A bit of compost was worked into the ground above the asparagus and around the strawberries. “We covered both with compost last fall. Some of it worked itself in. Now, we do what we can without hurting the plants. It helps feed them.”
Then, it was time to plant those that could withstand any freeze that might take place. This meant some things such as cabbage, lettuce, chard, spinach, broccoli, and peas. These could take a freeze or late snow and keep on growing. Root crops would go in within a few weeks, and those requiring summer’s heat would wait until danger of frost was past.
Anne asked, “How do you know how long you must wait for those that are sensitive to frost and cold?”
John answered, “We keep track of it from year to year. Some years we guess wrong, or like the year when there was no summer, something changes the weather and there is nothing we can do. But, with our history of it, most times, we know about when in May we can safely plant.”
“What happens if a frost comes then?”
“Have you noticed the plants that turn dark and wither up? That is frost damage. It usually kills those sensitive to it. That’s why we wait. If frost threatens after we’ve planted, we are up early and cover all the plants with cloth. That will protect them if we don’t get a really deep freeze. It means we constantly watch what is going on with the weather. If we get a real cold snap and it freezes hard, we lose all the warm weather plants. The cool weather ones can even stand to have it snow on them. They’re quite different from one another.”
By the time Anne and Lady Rachel were ready to travel to London for Agatha’s wedding, all of the cool weather crops were in. Anne would observe the rest of the planting in May when the warm weather ones went in, including those that were already growing from seed in the hothouse such as cucumbers.
Anne and Lady Rachel enjoyed their travel to town. They found they were always able to entertain one another through the long, tedious days of the journey. This was a complete contrast to travel with Sir Walter and Elizabeth. Nell and Sally traveled with them but the carriage was not overly full. It was still with relief that they saw the grey stone buildings indicating London in the distance. So, once again they found themselves at the home of Hugh and Margaret for a family wedding. At least this time, Sir Walter and Elizabeth were already in town in their own establishment. They had been invited to attend and would be there because it would look odd not to do so.
Shortly after Lady Rachel and Anne arrived, the Ackermans hosted a dinner for the extended family. The Stanleys were in town for the Season, so everyone was there to welcome Joshua to the family. The extended Ackerman family was there too, so there were a great many people at the dinner, so many that both Sir Walter and Elizabeth were essentially ignored. They were of far less importance than many of lower rank who were closer friends and family. Sir Walter was amazed that a barrister could be of more importance than himself. He thought, “What is the world coming to that these people do not realize the importance of rank? Only Lord Derby and Lord Stanley outrank me. I should be given much more deference.”
Elizabeth spent the dinner trying to determine if any of the friends of the Ackermans or her cousins were of sufficient rank to interest her. When she thought she might have found one, she found herself unable to capture his attention. It was really quite frustrating. To make matters worse, Anne was constantly attended to by one cousin or another, while few even bothered to speak to her. Neither she nor her father enjoyed the meal in spite of the fine food that was served.
As long as they were in town, Lady Rachel insisted that she and Anne obtain at least one new gown in the latest fashion. They could wear it to the wedding and add it to their wardrobe for events in the spring and summer this year. Their first day in town found them at the modiste, with a return trip to pick up the finished items two days later.
When the long awaited day arrived, Agatha was both nervous and excited. Her mother did her best to calm her and offered all the usual advice a bride receives before her wedding. Agatha heard nothing of it. However, she trusted and she and Joshua would be able to make everything work out all right. Her nerves miraculously left her as she placed her hand on her father’s arm and began to pace down the aisle toward Joshua.
Once the ceremony was complete, all retired to the Ackerman home for a lovely wedding breakfast. After a couple of hours, Joshua and Agatha entered his carriage and headed off to his townhouse to start their life together. Everyone joined together to wish them well and send them on their way. The Stevensons and Stanleys returned to the Stanley’s home to spend the rest of the day together. Lady Matilda felt a little empty that all of her children were now gone. Her only worry was from Percy serving on the continent.
After the wedding, none of them felt like lingering in a town that was beginning to give hints of the heat of summer to come although it was still only late April. They returned to South Park as swiftly as they were able.
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Chapter 21
Anne started helping in an entirely new way shortly after they returned to South Park. One of the footmen became ill with a hacking cough and Anne was to assist in his care. She needed more experience in caring for the ill than her visits to tenants had provided.
Mrs. Craig called Anne to her sitting room for a discussion. “You may have very little ability to contact an apothecary or physician when you are at sea or in foreign lands, so you need to have some basic understanding of how to help in common illnesses. Now, Henry has a dry, hacking cough. We will start with the easiest treatment, which is to give him a spoonful of honey three times per day. That will help ease the coughing. You have probably had that at one time or other. Now, if his throat were also hurting, we would have him regularly gargle warm salted water in addition to swallowing the honey.”
Anne said, “Yes, I remember doing these things. Luckily, I am not often ill with a cough.”
“It is quite common in winter, so we want to treat it quickly before something worse develops. We will also have him drink thyme tea at his meals. That will also help him breathe more easily. Since we use thyme in our cooking, we always have it on hand.”
From that point on, Anne assisted in providing healing teas, learning to make mustard plasters, hot and cold compresses. Mrs. Craig and Mrs. Carlisle both spent time teaching Anne which herbs could provide some relief from a variety of ailments. However, for cases where an apothecary was necessary, Anne merely observed from a distance. They did not want her to take ill along with the patient. She eventually became proficient in caring for minor wounds and illnesses.
Throughout January and February, part of the time Anne and Agatha spent with Mrs. Carlisle was spent discussing the needs of the kitchen garden and how one planned for it. They learned just how much food was consumed in the dower house over the course of a year and how much of it came from its own gardens. From the menu planning, they had seen how meat might begin as a dinner for the family, then be refashioned into a stew which would constitute a tea, then be a soup that was served at dinner, and finally end up as soup that was served to staff. Almost nothing went to waste. There was always a way to repurpose it so that all was consumed. All of the fats were rendered for future use. Peels and scrapings from vegetables were not wasted either as these made their way into the compost bins unless they went directly to the pigs, chickens or goats first.
There was always an abundance of soup which would be shared with those who were ailing about the estate or in the nearby village, much as Anne had done with Kellynch’s surplus. These cooks all considered it a sin to waste food. Nourishing soups were always kept on hand to relieve someone’s illness or suffering.
By the beginning of February, Anne, Agatha, and Mrs. Carlisle were laying out the plans for the kitchen garden. Seed had been saved from the previous year which was a concept that fascinated the girls.
“You can purchase seed, but why waste the money when you can just save it from your own garden with just a little bit of effort. Of course, the first year, you must purchase. And if you are trying something new, you must also. Now, you see how small these seeds are? We must guess about how much produce we will get from these seeds as we plan. Do we have enough to cover the area we need to get the outcome we want? Generally, we use all you see here in order to fill our garden. As we lay it out, we look at the plan from last year. We never want to plant a particular crop in the same location two years running. That way, we keep diseases from claiming the crops.”
Agatha asked, “There are diseases that claim crops?”
Mrs. Carlisle answered, “Oh, yes. There are various different blights. They seem to hide in the soil and come back to get them the second year. So, if we do turnips in this area this year, we move them over here next. Also, there are some crops that do better when planted with companions. They seem to support each other just as friends do. Some we leave in for two years. These carrots here, “she pointed to a location on the map, “are still in the ground. These will provide seeds for next year. Carrots are a two year crop. You harvest half one year, leave the rest for seed for the next. So, we always have carrots in two different locations in the garden.”
She added, “We also have the hothouse to consider as well. This is what gives us fresh greens and some other things during the colder months. We decide what we want growing there in the winter and allow most of it to go fallow during the summer. We often keep the chickens in there for part of the summer in order to better fertilize it for the next winter. Chickens and rabbits are very important for your garden and your kitchen.”
Anne asked, “Rabbits? How so?”
Mrs. Carlisle said, “In many ways. For some of the left over bits, we don’t compost directly. Instead, we feed them to the chickens and rabbits. We then transfer that manure into the compost which makes it decompose faster. Of course, we have eggs from the chickens as well. And both end up on the table. Lady Rachel doesn’t care for a roast rabbit, which some do, but we do have it in stews, casseroles, and soups. These are part of the kitchen garden. The other livestock are also important, but we don’t manage them from the kitchen. Some households add geese. They may be part of the kitchen or just part of the farm, depending on the size of the home and staff. These also often include the sheep and goats as part of the kitchen tasks.”
Agatha asked, “How would they be part of the kitchen?”
“Well. They are able to help with the trimming about the house. If you keep a close eye on them, the goats can eat down the shrubbery in the woods and keep it well cleaned up and easier to manage. They all do a cutting job on the grass. If you manage it correctly, you rarely have to scythe the lawn around a home. Just stake out the sheep or goats where you want it cut or let the geese wander. Just keep them away from the flowers and you’re all set. However, you do have to watch where you walk as they leave droppings around. These are regularly scooped up and added to the compost bins.”
“Homes like that also include the pigs in the kitchen as they eat slop that would just end up in the compost. Between the pigs and the goats, you can have a lot of the trimmings from bushes and shrubs eaten instead of burned as rubbish. It is a cycle of co-dependence that has been used for eons. If you manage it correctly, it costs very little to supply almost all of the food at the table, only time. On the estate, we even raise much of the grain that creates our breads. We keep bees, so we sweeten with honey more than any other sweet. Those that cannot do all this must pay hard cash for it. You won’t have to worry about this at sea, but you might in a foreign port.”
Anne said, “So that is why it may be part of the kitchen. It all has to do with how you are managing the food supply and how large an estate.”
“Yes. In town, almost all is purchased although you might have a small garden to supplement. In country, almost all is home grown. It is one of the reasons many choose not to spend a great deal of time in London if they have a decent estate. London has the parties. Country has the more comfortable food supply. If you do a good job with managing the estate, you can use it to supply your London residence as well. That way you know the quality of all the food on the table. Of course, at sea, you will just have to make do with what is supplied.”
Within a few days, the ladies had planned the kitchen gardens for the dower house for 1807. Agatha had asked about this up at the main house and been shown a similar plan for it, only on a larger scale. This was a different level of planning that neither had seen before and both found it fun and fascinating. Some of the crops would be planted as seed in the hothouse in February. If they waited to plant the seeds out in the garden after the frost, there would not be time enough for them to grow for harvest before frost caught them again in the fall. This was a way to extend the growing season.
As Anne and Agatha were discussing this one afternoon, Agatha said, “Do you think you will ever need to do these things you are learning?”
Anne considered for a moment. “I think it likely the laundry, mending, sewing, and other needlework will be used. I don’t like doing laundry, but I suspect that Nell and I will be doing it together on ship. On land, it will likely be her with other maids. If I am to cook, it won’t be at sea. If Captain Wentworth continues to be successful, I probably won’t do any cooking, only overseeing it. I expect knowing how to nurse someone and repair minor injuries will be used. Of course, I won’t garden at sea. However, even if I never use these skills, it has been fun to learn and I have much greater understanding and appreciation. That is never wasted.”
Agatha added, “I think you are probably correct. I hope you can learn about life on ship from your correspondence with his sister. She has a better idea of what you will need than we have.”
“We have only just begun, but I think you are correct. She should be of great help in determining what else I should try to learn.”
Soon spring was coming and it was time to think about heading to town for the Season. Lady Rachel and Anne decided that they had no interest in spending part of the Season in London this year. They would prefer to remain at South Park, so they did not accompany the others when they went to town. Anne, in particular, had no desire to see her father and sister when they went for their annual trip in April. From Lady Russell’s letters, she understood that once again, no offer of marriage had been forthcoming during the autumn shooting parties, and Elizabeth was becoming quite peevish. Agatha wanted the opportunity to visit with Joshua and Millicent and have one more fun season before they married.
After Agatha left for town, Anne had another fun learning opportunity. Mrs. Craig found that they were getting short on candles and it was time to make more. Anne and Nell would learn to make tallow candles.
“We use beeswax candles in the family rooms. They burn brighter and have a sweeter scent. However, in the servant rooms and in the kitchen, we use tallow candles. We are running low, so it is time to make more. They are very easy and this could be very handy for you to know.”
Anne smiled and said, “I cannot believe how many new things there are to learn. Is this one I can do myself or must someone stronger help me like with the laundry?”
“Oh, this is quite easy. Maybe a little tedious, but easy. I steal Susie away from Mrs. Carlisle for the morning when I make candles. This time, it will be just the three of us.” As she said this, Mrs. Craig led Anne and Nell to the kitchen. They found a large pot of tallow melting on the stove.
Mrs. Craig said, “Thank you Mrs. Carlisle. I think Miss Anne will have an interesting morning.”
Mrs. Carlisle laughed and said, “That she will.” She then left to enjoy a late breakfast of her own in the housekeeper’s sitting room.
There was a rack standing on the table. Next to the rack was a large kettle of water. On the rack was a rod with a number of strings draped over it spaced evenly across. At the end of each string a small weight was tied. Mrs. Craig said, “Watch. Then you can try.”
She picked up the rod. Anne could see that the strings were not just draped. They had been wrapped once so they would not slide across the rod. There also seemed to be small grooves in the rod to keep the strings steady. Mrs. Craig took the rod across to the pot of liquid tallow and dipped it in coating the strings. She then stepped back to the pot on the table, and dipped again. This colder water solidified the tallow. She repeated the process and said, “There are really two choices here. When you dip the strings in the tallow, it coats them. You solidify the fat on the strings either by letting them sit and harden, or by dipping them in cold water. You want multiple layers of fat to create the candles. If you let them sit, it will take longer, but not be quite as messy. When you are completely done dipping, you let them harden on the rack. Then we will cut the strings in half. We will cut the string and trim some from the top, leaving string showing for the wick, and trim the candle bottom flat to sit in the candlestick. Candles like this are why we have spikes in so many of the candlesticks. With the spike, we do not need to trim them too carefully nor make them a specific width to fit in the stick. Now, you try.”
Anne carefully picked up the rod and dipped the candles. Nell tried too. They continued in this way until there were enough layers built up to form sturdy candles. Anne asked, “So, if I don’t want the popping when I return the wet candles to the fat, I can just dip, wait, and dip again?”
“Yes. It just takes longer but isn’t so messy.”
Anne said thoughtfully, “I can see how that might be better if I don’t want to clean up the dripping water afterwards.”
By the end of the morning, the candles were hardening on the rack. Before they got too hard, they removed the weight from the bottom. The next morning, they trimmed and stored them away. As they were storing them, Mrs. Craig said, “You can also make these with a candle mold. However, I think the dipping method will probably be easier for you in your travels. The mold method requires a number of molds. You place the wick in the mold and pour in the tallow. It is easier and cleaner, but if you are traveling with your captain, you are not likely to take a bunch of candle molds with you.
Anne smiled and said, “That is good to know. I can see how I might use that method too, but you are probably right that this is more likely.”
Mrs. Craig said, “We use both here. Dipped are usually for the servants’ quarters, molded for the kitchen and other service rooms as we can get a fatter candle that way.”
“I continue to be amazed at how much there is to learn for even the simple everyday things I have always taken for granted.”
Mrs. Craig replied, “You grandmother is a wise woman to help you learn all this that those of the lower classes take for granted. Although you might not need it, you might also be entering a completely different world. At least this way, you can cope with the new world.”
During the winter, Anne had received another letter from Sophie Croft, a letter from Frederick, occasional letters from Mary, and regular correspondence from Mrs. Musgrove, Lady Russell, and Edward Wentworth. She thus had a pretty clear picture of what was going on around Kellynch, of the changes in Mary’s attitude, and of life at sea in the Indies. The Asp was not a very large ship, but Captain Wentworth was enjoying his command. He shared abbreviated descriptions of his various adventures. She had a very full and satisfying season in spite of the cold and weather.
Chapter 22
Mary was growing into adolescence with the uncertainty that brings, and Anne was able to provide reassurance in her letters. The letters from South Park were far more comforting and frequent than those from Kellynch, enabling Mary to learn more about how to discern people’s feelings and needs, which she realized Elizabeth had never bothered to learn. Mary also realized that she greatly preferred Anne to Elizabeth, which she thought was surprising given how beautiful Elizabeth was.
During this school term, she came to realize that who people were inside was more important than how they looked. Given what her father had always said, this was a shocking realization, but it was confirmation of what she had discerned about friends at Christmas. She also understood that her mother had always known this, as had Anne, and it was what they had tried to teach her. She had finally matured enough to comprehend the teaching. The result of these realizations, and the ones from Christmas, was that Mary finally started developing some true friends. Her relationships with the Musgrove girls deepened and were far more satisfying than in the past. Even though they were a few years younger than Mary, she knew they would remain life-long friends. In addition, two or three other girls also became good friends. These friendships also helped Mary become more sure of herself and much happier.
Lady Russell was still somewhat concerned about the choice Anne was making to marry Captain Wentworth. She did not have a great respect for sailors, not really considering them gentlemen, and she shared more of Sir Walter’s opinions than Anne had realized. It was apparent that Lady Rachel had not really convinced her Anne was making a prudent choice as her letters often suggested that Anne reconsider her choice and return to her family at Kellynch. Anne was sad to recognize that she was drawing further and further away from her godmother as she became more confident in herself. Anne regretted what she was losing in the relationship but relished her new-found strength. She hoped that when Lady Russell visited later in the spring they could draw closer again.
While the Stevensons were in town for their two months of the season, Joshua Ackerman suggested a wedding date to Agatha. He had come into his inheritance and was now in a position to support a wife. Agatha was pleased to accept. They planned for a late April wedding. Anne and Lady Rachel would join them in town in mid-April.
While the family was away in March, spring thaw arrived at South Park. Anne now learned all that went into actually creating the kitchen garden that she and Mrs. Carlisle had planned. John was the main gardener at the dower house, and she now spent her mornings with him watching him turn the plan into actuality. Like Mrs. Carlisle had when Anne was merely observing, John explained what he was doing as he did it.
“As you can see, there are green plants all over the garden. That is a winter cover crop. It helps keep the soil in place and adds good things to it over the winter. Now that the thaw is here and the ground not too wet, we must plow it all under to get the good things into the soil. We must bury it deep beneath the crops we will plant.” He and two boys spent the entire week getting all of the cover crop dug up, the ground turned, and the cover crop well buried. As they did this, they also incorporated compost from the bins maturing next to the garden.
The next week, it had warmed enough that they removed the mulch from many of the crops such as the strawberries and the asparagus. The mulch was thriftily divided between the chickens, the goats, the pigs, and the rabbits. A bit of compost was worked into the ground above the asparagus and around the strawberries. “We covered both with compost last fall. Some of it worked itself in. Now, we do what we can without hurting the plants. It helps feed them.”
Then, it was time to plant those that could withstand any freeze that might take place. This meant some things such as cabbage, lettuce, chard, spinach, broccoli, and peas. These could take a freeze or late snow and keep on growing. Root crops would go in within a few weeks, and those requiring summer’s heat would wait until danger of frost was past.
Anne asked, “How do you know how long you must wait for those that are sensitive to frost and cold?”
John answered, “We keep track of it from year to year. Some years we guess wrong, or like the year when there was no summer, something changes the weather and there is nothing we can do. But, with our history of it, most times, we know about when in May we can safely plant.”
“What happens if a frost comes then?”
“Have you noticed the plants that turn dark and wither up? That is frost damage. It usually kills those sensitive to it. That’s why we wait. If frost threatens after we’ve planted, we are up early and cover all the plants with cloth. That will protect them if we don’t get a really deep freeze. It means we constantly watch what is going on with the weather. If we get a real cold snap and it freezes hard, we lose all the warm weather plants. The cool weather ones can even stand to have it snow on them. They’re quite different from one another.”
By the time Anne and Lady Rachel were ready to travel to London for Agatha’s wedding, all of the cool weather crops were in. Anne would observe the rest of the planting in May when the warm weather ones went in, including those that were already growing from seed in the hothouse such as cucumbers.
Anne and Lady Rachel enjoyed their travel to town. They found they were always able to entertain one another through the long, tedious days of the journey. This was a complete contrast to travel with Sir Walter and Elizabeth. Nell and Sally traveled with them but the carriage was not overly full. It was still with relief that they saw the grey stone buildings indicating London in the distance. So, once again they found themselves at the home of Hugh and Margaret for a family wedding. At least this time, Sir Walter and Elizabeth were already in town in their own establishment. They had been invited to attend and would be there because it would look odd not to do so.
Shortly after Lady Rachel and Anne arrived, the Ackermans hosted a dinner for the extended family. The Stanleys were in town for the Season, so everyone was there to welcome Joshua to the family. The extended Ackerman family was there too, so there were a great many people at the dinner, so many that both Sir Walter and Elizabeth were essentially ignored. They were of far less importance than many of lower rank who were closer friends and family. Sir Walter was amazed that a barrister could be of more importance than himself. He thought, “What is the world coming to that these people do not realize the importance of rank? Only Lord Derby and Lord Stanley outrank me. I should be given much more deference.”
Elizabeth spent the dinner trying to determine if any of the friends of the Ackermans or her cousins were of sufficient rank to interest her. When she thought she might have found one, she found herself unable to capture his attention. It was really quite frustrating. To make matters worse, Anne was constantly attended to by one cousin or another, while few even bothered to speak to her. Neither she nor her father enjoyed the meal in spite of the fine food that was served.
As long as they were in town, Lady Rachel insisted that she and Anne obtain at least one new gown in the latest fashion. They could wear it to the wedding and add it to their wardrobe for events in the spring and summer this year. Their first day in town found them at the modiste, with a return trip to pick up the finished items two days later.
When the long awaited day arrived, Agatha was both nervous and excited. Her mother did her best to calm her and offered all the usual advice a bride receives before her wedding. Agatha heard nothing of it. However, she trusted and she and Joshua would be able to make everything work out all right. Her nerves miraculously left her as she placed her hand on her father’s arm and began to pace down the aisle toward Joshua.
Once the ceremony was complete, all retired to the Ackerman home for a lovely wedding breakfast. After a couple of hours, Joshua and Agatha entered his carriage and headed off to his townhouse to start their life together. Everyone joined together to wish them well and send them on their way. The Stevensons and Stanleys returned to the Stanley’s home to spend the rest of the day together. Lady Matilda felt a little empty that all of her children were now gone. Her only worry was from Percy serving on the continent.
After the wedding, none of them felt like lingering in a town that was beginning to give hints of the heat of summer to come although it was still only late April. They returned to South Park as swiftly as they were able.