Leonora's Journal Volume Two

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

---

Chapter 4 A curious vision, a visit to Bath and a rescue

Tuesday 29th June
I have received a letter from Mama. She, Papa and Emma are travelling to Bath for a while. It seems that Papa has been suffering from gout for some time, something of which I was unaware, and like so many men, he refused to do anything about it, but Mama finally persuaded him to consult a physician who has recommended a reduction of certain foods and alcohol, plus bathing and taking the waters at Bath. They have rented a house for a month and have plenty of room if we would like to visit and stay with them for as long as we like, I showed Richard the letter and he gave it his approbation.

“We have seen nothing but Oxford for some time and I think a change of scenery would do us good,” was his comment.

This will be the first time we have travelled anywhere since Elizabeth was born, but she is a sturdy child and I anticipate no problems in taking her in the coach. Anna will come with us as well as Marie, Robert, a general maid and footman in addition to the coach driver. Now that the weather is warm, I anticipate no problems in travel. Anna will have to travel within the coach to look after Elizabeth, which means that Marie should also travel in like manner so that there will be no jealousy.
I have spoken to Mrs Danvers and Mr Anderson, explaining that we will be away for a short while and giving the address of Mama and Papa’s rented house in Bath should there be anything of importance about which they will need to contact us. Otherwise, Richard and I have great confidence in their ability to manage the running of Marston House while we are away. Mr Anderson will also issue more tranches of the money to the clergymen as required.

Monday 12th July.
This morning, which was a fine day, we set off from Oxford. We took the main road south-west and eventually reached Swindon, where, after pausing for a light meal, we turned south and upon reaching Marlborough, Richard announced that this would be our stop for the night. We were put up at a very pleasant inn with comfortable beds and good food.

Tuesday 13th July
Anyone reading this journal in the future may well choose to consider the events recorded on this day as a flight of fantasy, and that of course is their prerogative. I merely record that if it was, then I can only say that everything that happened to me this day appeared so real that I would be prepared to take an oath on the Bible that it is not the invention of an overheated mind.

A fine sunny day greeted us, and after breakfasting, we entered the coach and to my surprise instead of heading west, we continued to travel south. When I asked Richard politely if this was not out of our way, he smiled mysteriously and said that there was a reason for travelling this way and all would be revealed in good time. The sign posts were indicating that we were travelling towards Salisbury and I thought that Richard must want to show me the famous cathedral which I was not averse to viewing. I had read that the spire is the tallest in Britain. However, to my surprise, some miles short of the expected destination we took a road travelling west which was signposted towards Salisbury Plain, and eventually, our destination revealed itself on the horizon – Stonehenge!

I gasped, and Richard’s face broke out into a broad smile of satisfaction.

“My dear, since we first met in a Druid’s circle in Cumberland, I thought you would like to see the most famous Druid’s circle of them all.”

“You are so thoughtful my dear,” I replied. “I have read about it and seen many illustrations, but to see the actual monument will be most interesting.”

As we drew closer, the size of the stone pillars became apparent and the fact that some still bear stone lintels, makes me wonder how the ancients who constructed it managed to achieve such a feat while lacking any of the modern tools we use.

Our coach drew up a short distance from the circle and Richard suggested that everyone alight and stretch their legs. I took up my sketch pad, and Richard took my hand and we walked to the stones which now towered above us. Here we parted company for a moment and began to wander amongst them, marvelling at their size. It was then that I started to feel somewhat faint. I reached out to a nearby sarsen. placing my palm against it to steady myself. A thrill like static electricity seemed to grow in my hand and began to move slowly up my arm, which disturbed me. I could see Richard a short distance away and decided not to call and disturb him, sure that it was my imagination.

The air started to quiver like a heat haze, and it seemed to me that there were other people walking amongst the stones. Although their outlines were slightly indistinct, their attire seemed quite incongruous with the time in which I live. Indeed, the women seemed almost dressed as men, all wearing britches instead of gowns. I began to feel frightened as this drew up a long-buried memory from my visit to the Cumberland stone circle. I tried to detach my hand from the stone, but it appeared to be glued to it. Now I was really frightened, and I found my voice and called out to Richard. He heard my anguished cry and came running and caught me in his arms as I felt I was about to faint. Suddenly the grip the stone seemed to have on my hand was broken.

“What is it my dear?” Richard cried. “You look as white as a sheet.”

“Oh my darling!” I gasped. “Please do not think me mad, but I think there is some strange power in stone circles to which I react badly.”

Richard looked at me seriously. “I do not think you mad, my darling. I remember how you nearly fainted in Cumberland. You are a sensitive person, and I can well believe that you are susceptible to things which others are not. I am indeed truly sorry I brought you here.”

“Please do not castigate yourself my dear; you were not to know, and you did it kindly to give me pleasure. Even I did not know until this moment that I would react so. I wonder why the circles are built where they are. Is there some mysterious power present? Perhaps the ancients knew things that are mysteries to us. If you keep hold of me now and lead me from the circle, I’m sure I will be alright.”
I said nothing about the mysteriously dressed figures I had seen for fear he would really think me mentally deranged.

There was a wooden seat outside the circle and Richard led me to it and plied me with his hip flask once more which soon had me restored. I still clung to his hand but now I smiled at him: “You are my saviour once more, my darling.”

Richard leaned over and kissed me. “I will always be here for you my darling,” he said.

When I was fully restored and my colour returned, we walked back to the coach, hand in hand, having decided that we would say nothing of this to the others, although I did see Marie give me a curious look. She misses very little. Tonight we are staying in Warminster, and tomorrow it will be a relatively short distance to Bath. In my prayers tonight, I will thank God for sending me Richard and for his actions in saving me from a fate which I dare not even think about.

Wednesday 14th July
We arrived in Bath in the early afternoon. We had the address of the house which Papa has rented but no idea where it was located. Ronald, our coachman, being resourceful, drew up alongside a horse and cart and enquired of the driver the street’s location, which being given, Richard threw the man a coin, and soon we were drawing up outside the house. I suspect Emma had been watching out for us as the coach had barely stopped when the front door opened and there she was on the front step, waving to us.

We all alighted and were shown into the house. The housekeeper, a Mrs Barclay curtseyed and introduced herself, informing us that Mama and Papa were awaiting us in the drawing room, so we proceeded there. As is my custom, I curtseyed to my parents out of respect for them, and Richard bowed. They welcomed us very cordially. It is true that I do not see them so often now that I am a married woman, and I do miss them and Emma. Tonight will be the first night we have all slept under the same roof since I was married.

I was a little concerned to see that Papa was resting his right foot on a low footstool and that it was bandaged. He saw me looking and smiled.

“One of the trials of old age, my dear. I am suffering from gout just like the ancient Egyptians did, and my physician has advised me to come here and take the waters for my health’s sake.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Papa. Has your physician suggested any other way of curing it?”

“Yes he has but I will explain it to you later. I’m sure you wish to change after your journey.”

That is my Papa, always concerned with other people’s comfort.

After I had changed and came down to the drawing room, I found Papa on his own, reading a book, but he was quite willing to tell me of his physician’s recommendations.

“He is a young man and was recommended to me by some of my fellow Deans. I think some of the older medical men are rather set in their ways and seem to suggest blood letting as a ‘cure-all’ which I frankly don’t believe. I had to restrain them from bleeding you when you were sick as I felt you needed all your blood to aid your recovery.”

“I am indeed grateful for that, Papa. I’m sure you made the right decision.”

“Dr Clarke has some interest in gout and has undertaken research as to the cause of it, which he deems to be a noxious chemical developed within the blood. He has observed that it is more frequent in the upper classes than working classes, except for those who consume a great deal of beer. Thus, the affliction is least experienced with women of the working classes, who drink little beer and can also not afford to eat much red meat. From this he has recommended that I not eat red meat more than twice a week and restrict my intake of wine and spirits. He also recommends that I drink plenty of water which might flush the causative agent out of my blood. It was at his recommendation that I decided to come to Bath to drink the waters and also bathe in the pools.”

“And have you been here long enough to experience any improvement in the condition?” I asked.

Papa smiled, “If I said that I do it might only be wishful thinking, but what I can say is that I feel no worse than before we arrive here. Anyway, enough about me, my dear, how are you? It looks as if married life agrees with you.”

I confess I blushed as I replied, “It is indeed very agreeable, Papa, and of course becoming a mother as well as a wife is a wonderful experience.”

“Indeed! I may be biased but I do feel that my granddaughter is the most beautiful baby I have seen since you and your brother and sister were born. I hope your Mama and I can see her soon.”

“Of course. I have a very capable young nursery maid who dotes on her which relieves me of a lot of duties.” I very nearly commented about me feeding Elizabeth, but stopped myself in time. A Papa does not need to hear about such things!
Shortly afterwards, Anna brought Elizabeth down to see her grandparents, who confirmed that she is the most beautiful baby they have seen since we, their children were born. Mama naturally wanted to nurse her and she seemed to smile at Mama which pleased her greatly.

Thursday 15th July
Today was a day for rest and relaxation after our trip, but I confess I felt a little restless, so after I fed Elizabeth, Mama suggested that she, I and Emma walk down to the Roman Baths which are a sight that everyone visiting Bath must see. We invited Richard to accompany us, but he elected to stay and keep Papa company rather than leave him on his own. Knowing Papa as I do, I am sure that once he has some of his books, he is never lonely, but he was too polite to reject Richard’s offer. They do get on very well and I am grateful for that.

The Baths are only about ten minutes’ walk from the house, so we decided not to take the carriage. Bath is such a beautiful town, I would happily live here if I did not live in Oxford. If a single word was required to describe it, that word would be ‘elegant’. I could not but help admiring the houses, many of which are built in terraces and are elegance personified, and so are the ladies and gentlemen that we saw promenading past us, the gentlemen gallantly raising their hats to us, and the ladies beautifully dressed in the latest fashions nodding their heads as we exchanged greetings. I exchanged glances with Mama and I suspect we will both be visiting our dressmakers when we return to Oxford.

Arriving at the Baths, Mama informed me that the buildings I could see were by no means Roman as the baths had fallen into disuse after the Romans left Britain in the fourth century and were not restored until many years later. Upon entering the building, I was surprised to see a flight of steps leading down to the baths. Ground level has certainly risen many feet since the time of the Romans. We walked along the side of the main pool, as Mama informed me of some of the history she had learned.

“The Romans called this site ‘Aquae Sulis’ – the ‘waters of Sulis’ after the name of the local god whom they identified with Minerva. This is called the ‘Great Bath’, and as you can see, there are people bathing in it, which we can do on another day if you are interested?”

“I would indeed, since it is supposed to be good for the health,” I replied. It was at that moment that I observed a young girl in the middle of the pool who appeared to be in distress. She was waving her arms around, splashing the water, and then her head disappeared below the surface. I looked at the other bathers, but nobody seemed to be taking any notice. Presumably they thought she was just enjoying herself, but I was quite sure she wasn’t.

I called out, “That young lady is in trouble; somebody help her!” but nobody took any notice. I’m really not sure what happened next but suddenly I found myself in the pool and swimming towards where her head had again disappeared below the surface. Yes, I was swimming, but how could that be since I had never received instruction in the exercise? There was no time to think as I reached the point at which the girl had disappeared and putting my head down to look below the surface, I fortunately found her a few feet away, and slowly sinking through the water.
I reached down and took hold of her arm, and suddenly she came to life as our heads broke the surface of the water and she clung to my neck, nearly choking me.
“Do not be afraid!” I gasped “I will save you!”

For a moment I was seriously concerned that we would both drown. Fortunately, she drew confidence from my voice, she relaxed her grip and I managed to start heading for the pool side, one hand holding her and the other paddling. By now other swimmers had realised the situation and came over to help me with the rescue. When we arrived at the poolside, willing hands helped to pull both of us out of the pool and we sat on the stone edge, gasping for air.

An elegantly dressed lady rushed towards us and immediately put her arms around the young girl who was coughing up water, crying out ‘Oh my darling, I thought you were about to die!”. Then turning to me she said, “I cannot begin to thank you enough madam, you have saved my daughter from certain death. I ran to seek help since I am unable to swim, but fortunately you were there to assist her before I could obtain help.”

“I was happy to assist her, madam,” I replied while still coughing up some pool water. “Thank the Lord I was present at the right time.”

By now Mama was present together with Emma who looked quite frightened.

“My darling, I am so proud of you,” she said. “I had no idea that you could swim.”

“Neither did I, Mama,” I said. “Perhaps it is instinctive, just like a dog dropped into a pool would know how to swim.”

Fortunately, someone from the pool’s staff had now appeared with blankets for me and the young girl, since now that we were out of the warm water and in the slightly chilly air, we were both shivering.

“We must take you home to divest yourself of those wet clothes, darling,” said Mama. “We certainly don’t want a repetition of the last time you caught a chill.”

“That is good advice,” said the mother of the little girl. “I shall follow it too, but please let me thank you again for your rescue of my only daughter. I will never forget it.”

I managed a smile through chattering teeth, and we parted company. Mama asked a staff member to arrange a coach for us since it was not practical for me to walk to the house, and a few minutes later, one pulled up at the front door and we were swiftly conveyed back to the rented house.

During the few minutes travel, Mama suddenly said “My goodness! In all the excitement, I’ve just realized that I did not introduce myself to the lady whose daughter you saved, but I am sure she is upper class, maybe even of the nobility.”

“I think you can be forgiven for that, Mama,” I said. “It was a most unusual situation.”

When Richard saw my condition, he looked quite shocked, but Mama explained what had happened in a few words and I was swiftly conveyed to my bedroom where Marie assisted me to undress and thoroughly dried me with large towels. I felt a lot better. Once in my nightgown, Mama insisted that I retire to bed, and she notified Richard who came up to see me.

“My darling, you will be the talk of the town! What a wonderful thing you did in rescuing the little girl. I am so proud of you.”

I managed a smile. “Dearest, it all seems like a dream. Nobody has ever taught me to swim, and yet it was such an emergency that I found myself in the water before I realized, and swimming to rescue her.”

“Thank goodness you didn’t realise that you didn’t know how to swim or there might have been a double tragedy. It doesn’t bear thinking about,” he said.

“Well, ‘all’s well that ends well’ as Mr Shakespeare says,” I replied.

At that moment, Anna appeared and after excusing herself said that Elizabeth was in want of some nourishment, so she was brought to me to assuage her hunger pangs, with Richard looking on fondly..

Afterwards I suddenly felt very tired and was soon asleep so soundly, I’m sure I did not stir when Richard joined me in bed.

Friday 16th July
Today really was to be a day of rest after yesterday’s dramatic rescue. In the morning I was sitting near the window of the drawing room, and idly looking upon the passing parade in the street below, when a fine-looking coach and four proceeded down the street and stopped outside our house. There was a coat of arms on the door, and a footman in livery stepped down and disappeared from view as he walked up to the front door and rang the bell.

A moment later, the house footman knocked on the door, entered and bowed.
“Excuse me sir, madam; a coach has arrived with a Lady Pendragon who is enquiring if Mrs d’Anglais might be ‘at home’.”

At the same time, looking out of the window, I saw the face of a lady in the carriage, and it was the mother of the little girl I rescued yesterday. I conveyed this information to my parents.

“Oh my goodness, and here we are in Undress,” said Mama. “We cannot keep her waiting while we change so we will just have to excuse ourselves. Please show her in Giles, and ask cook to prepare tea and some cakes in case they are needed.”

(Note: the term ‘Undress’ in Regency times indicated a simpler form of dress worn by many ladies in the morning when they were not expecting visitors. They would change in the afternoon prior to receiving guests or visiting them. J.D.)

Papa hurriedly removed his foot from the small stool where he rested it and slipped on his shoe.

A few minutes later, Lady Pendragon and her daughter were shown into the drawing room. I hardly recognised her daughter from the bedraggled young girl I had rescued. Now she was wearing a pretty dress, and her golden hair was in ringlets surrounding a sweet face. I curtseyed and took it upon myself to make the introductions.

“Lady Pendragon, may I introduce my parents, Professor Sir Robert Bolton of Oxford University, my Mama, Lady Bolton, and my husband Richard d’Anglais?”

Lady Pendragon smiled and acknowledged my mother’s curtsey and my father’s and Richard’s bow, with a smile and a nod of her head.

“May I in turn introduce my daughter Emily?”

We all smiled at Emily and she gave a pretty curtsey.

“Please be seated, Lady Pendragon,” I said, and she and her daughter took a seat on the sofa, and we all sat down.

Mama said. “Lady Pendragon, please excuse us appearing in Undress, but we were not expecting callers since we are visitors here.”

Lady Pendragon responded, “It is I who should apologise for arriving unannounced in the morning, but I hope you will forgive me when I explain the reason why. I am expecting my husband, Lord Pendragon, about noon and we will be travelling to London. I could not possibly leave without thanking you properly, Mrs d’Anglais, for saving my daughter’s life.”

“I am very happy that I was present and saw that Emily was in distress,” I replied.

“Well, other people were present, but you were the only one who realised that she was in desperate need of assistance. Emily has brought you a small gift as a token of appreciation for what you did, although nothing can really express our gratitude.”

She looked at Emily, whom I now saw for the first time was holding a small box. She arose, walked over to me, curtseyed again and handed the box to me. When I unwrapped it, I had to stifle a gasp. It was a beautiful lady’s watch with a gold case and chain for hanging around my neck.

“Oh, this is beautiful, Lady Pendragon. Thank you very much. I will certainly think of you and Emily every time I wear it.”

She smiled. “I am glad it is to your taste.”

Mama said, “Would you like to take a cup of tea with us, Lady Pendragon?”

“Yes indeed, thank you for offering,” she said. Mama rang the bell, and the maid and footman entered with the crockery, cutlery and a plate of small cakes. I’m not sure whether Lady Pendragon really wanted tea, but she has perfect manners so did not refuse the offer.

As the conversation proceeded during tea, it transpired that her husband Lord Pendragon is the Duke of Cornwall, so she is in fact a Duchess. Mama managed to include in the conversation that Papa is Dean of -------- College at Oxford.
“Our family seat, Pendragon Castle, is near Launceston (which she pronounced ‘Laun-stan’),” said Lady Pendragon, “If you ever visit the area, I hope you will write and let us know as we would greatly enjoy meeting you again.”

“It would be a great pleasure to meet you, and also Lord Pendragon if he is at home,” said Papa.

Soon afterwards Lady and Miss Pendragon took their leave in order to return to their house in the Royal Crescent Bath to await the arrival of Lord Pendragon. The family gathered around to examine my watch which is really beautiful, and I will certainly treasure it.

(Note: While the first woman’s wristwatch or ‘wristlet’ was made for the Queen of Naples in 1810, at this time if a Regency lady wore a watch at all then they were mounted on a chain to be worn around her neck, often as a piece of jewelry. J.D.)

To be continue