Leonora's Journal Volume Two

The Sequel to 'Ring of Stone' and 'Leonora's Journal Volume One' by Bronwen Welsh

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Chapter 23 The Musical Evening

Monday 17th May
It is generally recognized that for a married lady of the ‘ton’, her first priority is to produce a son and heir for her husband, in order to ensure that the family property is secure. Indeed, the preference is to produce more than one male child in these times when life can often be short. An example is the case of my own Papa who became heir to his family after the unfortunate death of his elder brother. Her second priority is to oversee the running of her husband’s house, although the detailed workings are handled by her housekeeper and butler.

Otherwise, the life of a lady can be very pleasant indeed, consisting of visits to and from friends, walks in the countryside and such hobbies as music and needlework. Perhaps it is unfortunate for me that I seek to do more. I have yet to produce an heir for Richard and will be attempting to fulfil that duty in due time, but I do have other concerns. The war with Napoleon Bonaparte while thankfully not leading to battles on our own land, in nevertheless leading to a great deal of economic misery. In addition to the inevitable huge cost in terms of money and human lives, there is also the problem of the blockades of French ports by the British navy after blockades instituted by Napoleon himself to prevent trade with Britain while the war persists. In addition, there is a blockade of trade with America, and all this leads to considerable hardship particularly in the manufacturing industries who have goods stored against the resumption of trade, and many workmen laid off since there is no point in continuing to manufacture goods which can not find a market.

All this I have discovered from my daily perusal of the newspapers, and I hate to feel that I am living a luxurious lifestyle while rampant poverty exists only a short distance from Marston House. It can be said of course, that in employing around twenty staff, we are supporting not only our staff but their families too, but it is impractical to take on more staff who would find them selves with little to do.
With all this bearing on my mind, I have come up with a suggestion which I will put to Richard. In one of the many books that I read is an old Chinese proverb ‘it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness’. I cannot solve the problem of countrywide poverty, but perhaps I can do a little to alleviate it in the area of Oxford?

My feeling is that to contact all our friends and ask for money to alleviate poverty would not be so successful if we did not offer them something in return. The favourite entertainment amongst our friends is a ball, but this is closely followed by a musical evening, a much cheaper entertainment to organise. My thought is that if we were to organize such an evening and ask our friends to make a financial contribution to the poor of the neighbourhood, we might well raise a significant amount of money. I am pleased to say that this idea received Richard’s approbation.

“But how will you ensure that the funds raised are distributed to the most deserving of the poor?” he asked, and I had an answer ready.

“My suggestion is that we ask some of the local clergy to work together and see that the funds are well used, since as part of their pastoral duties, they visit poor families and are in a position to know those worst affected.”

“Well, I can see that you have thought this through,” Richard said, “And it has my enthusiastic support. Please tell me anything I can do to help.”

Tomorrow I will contact Mama, and my sisters-in-law, Lucy and Sarah, and invite them for tea and to discuss my proposal. I feel quite excited about it already.

Friday 21st May
It was a very pleasant Spring Day today, and in the morning I took a walk around our garden where flowers are appearing everywhere, stopping for a while to discuss its progress with our Head Gardener, Arthur Perkins, a tall man with grizzled hair and gnarled hands from spending a lifetime with them deep in the soil, who is totally devoted to his work. We are indeed lucky to have his services.

In the afternoon, I sat in the drawing room to receive my guests with a view to discussing the finer details of the musical evening. Mama arrived first, accompanied by Emma, and soon afterwards the coach from Studleigh Park arrived, bearing Lucy and Sarah.

I was very pleased that they were equally enthusiastic about my idea. I revealed to them that I had already approached my pianoforte and harp tutors, asking if they would be kind enough to play solo works and accompany the singing and they both agreed to do so. I did say that they were not expected to give their services ‘gratis’, but in view of the good cause, this they both agreed to do. Sarah said that she would approach her guitar tutor Señor Segovia and see if he too would favour us with his presence and a musical contribution.

I now informed them about my proposal for clergy to distribute the money. I have written to Mr Henry Irvine of the Church of England, who incidentally officiated at Richard and my wedding; and Father Seamus Maguire of ‘St Michael at the North Gate’ Roman Catholic church, and hope that they can set aside their theological differences in the common good. After all, we all worship the one God.
It was decided that we would hold the evening in a month’s time on Saturday 20th June. This will give us time to approach our friends and relatives and do our best to fill our hall. I feel quite excited about it.

The afternoon concluded with tea and the ‘star attraction’, the appearance of my daughter Elizabeth. Everyone wanted to nurse her, and she raised no objection, being a most placid child. I could not help noticing Emma when it came to her turn. I am sure that one day she will be a wonderful mother.

Monday 24th May
I received three letters today; from Rev Henry Irvine and also from Father Maguire, both containing similar messages saying that they would be pleased to work with the other clergyman in the distribution of funds to deserving households and congratulating me on the proposed fund-raising event. This later comment caused me no little embarrassment; I only wish I had thought of it before. The third letter came from Sarah informing me that Señor Segovia will be pleased to offer his services gratis. I do hope that the three music teachers are approached by some of our guests, requesting tuition either for themselves or some of their children, this rewarding them for their generosity.

Now that everything seems to be assembling in a most satisfactory way, I will discuss the arrangements with Mrs Danvers and Mr Anderson at our regular weekly meeting. They made a number of helpful suggestions including requesting Mrs Walker, the cook, to attend a meeting so that we could arrange the refreshments to be served. Once we know the number of visitors attending, this will help Mrs Walker with the amount of items to be served. There is never any wastage as the staff will always be happy to consume whatever is left over.

Monday 7th June
I am very pleased to record that we have had a wonderful response to our invitations and can expect about fifty people to attend the musical evening. Perhaps the only person not delighted with this number is Mrs Walker and her staff since it will involve a considerable amount of work for her in producing tarts, cakes and breads to accompany the cups of tea. Mrs Danvers assured me that Mrs Walker will cope very well, she just likes to give the impression that she will be overwhelmed. Nevertheless, I have suggested to Richard that we give her and her staff some monetary compensation for the extra work.

Tuesday 8th June
Today is a year and a day since Sir Frederick Fanshaw died, so his family is now officially out of mourning. I’m sure the young women in particular will be glad to be relieved of their black attire.

Saturday 19th June
A truly wonderful and successful evening has been held to raise money for the poor. Our hall was beautifully decorated and a small dais built at one end for the performers. The pianoforte and the pedal harp were installed , and a third seat provided for the guitarist. Three further seats towards the rear of the dais were provided for the three singers, Sarah, Lucy and myself. This would be the largest audience before which we have performed.

Richard and I as the hosts, stood at the entrance to the hall to greet our guests. I now know many of them, but not the ones who are friends of friends

Fifty seats had been set up in the hall, and I’m pleased to say that they were all filled and a few extra were added at the rear of the hall. This was very gratifying. Sarah, Lucy and I felt a little nervous when the time came for us to take our places on the dais. Our accompanists, being professional musicians all looked very calm, having no doubt performed before much larger audiences. When all was ready, Richard stepped up onto the dais to introduce the evening. He is an accomplished public speaker, and I am pleased that he was making the introductions and not me.

First, he introduced us all and explained the reason for the evening as a fund-raiser for the poor. Then he explained how the funds would be distributed by the two reverend gentlemen who had honoured us with their presence. Then it was time for the first item. Sarah was to sing the first song, which was ‘Greensleeves’, where she was accompanied by Señor Segovia on the guitar. While there is a persistent rumour that it was written by King Henry VIII to serenade Anne Boleyn, in fact it did not appear in England until the reign of his daughter Elizabeth. Sarah sang it very well indeed and received appropriately enthusiastic applause.

My pianoforte tutor, Signor Clementi played a charming piece of his own composition which was very well received, and following this I sang ‘The Soldier’s Widow, or Return from Waterloo’, most appropriate in the circumstances, since many of the poorest people in the country are widows of soldiers killed at Waterloo, some with more than one small child, who find living extremely hard since they do not receive a pension and have to make money where they can. Signor Clementi accompanied me on the pianoforte. I did my best to infuse my performance with as much pathos as possible and was rewarded by several of the ladies dabbing their eyes.

Next on the program was a Welsh air played by Mr Thomas Evans, my harp tutor, who then accompanied Lucy singing ‘No one Shall Govern Me’, a song with a moral for young ladies.

Several more pieces were played, including the three of us singing ‘Every Valley Shall be Exalted’ from Mr Handel’s oratorio ‘Messiah’.

The final piece was also by Mr Handel, his famous harp concerto. This is usually played by a solo harp accompanied by a string orchestra, but our three musicians had worked together to provide the accompaniment by the pianoforte and guitar, and it was surprisingly effective and received rapturous applause.

At the conclusion of the concert, Richard announced that supper was served in the dining room and that he and Mr Anderson, our butler, would be available in a small room off the dining room to receive donations and issue receipts. While they were busy doing this, I was circulating amongst our guests and thanking them for their attendance.

When the last of our guests had left, Richard and Mr Anderson had collated and checked the amount collected.

“How much do you think we have raised, Leonora?” Richard asked.

“Perhaps two hundred pounds?” I suggested, while thinking that that might be overly optimistic.

Richard smiled. “You are going to be pleasantly surprised; we have four hundred and twenty pounds!”

I confess I was amazed, never expecting such generosity.

“That is wonderful news, Richard. We will be able to relieve much poverty with such a sum.”

I confess I was feeling very tired after such an exciting day, and after telling Lucy and Sarah the good news before they returned to Studleigh Park, I decided to record the evening in my journal on Sunday, and was soon in bed.

Continuing on Sunday: today I discussed with Richard how such a large sum of money will be distributed. He is concerned that if half of the sum is given to each of the ministers, word may circulate and they might be robbed. Instead, his feeling is that the money should be given out in tranches of fifty pounds so that if it is stolen, not all will be lost. He has written to both the clergymen suggesting this for their own safety. I think it is an excellent idea.

Tuesday 22nd June.
Richard has received a letter from both clergymen agreeing to his proposal, and they will be calling in tomorrow, each to receive the first tranche. We look forward to receiving reports on how well the distribution of money has improved lives.

To be continued