Lady of Milkweed Manor (56 page)

T T Then Edmund Harris found me in my office and asked permission to marry my daughter Anne, I was at first astounded, then utterly amazed. The poor lad took my expression as hesitance and looked quite miserable. For one flicker of a moment I saw Charles Harris in the young man’s face and thought of disappointing him in some sort of belated revenge for the obstacles his father had placed between Charlotte and me. But I quickly banished the petty thought. Thinking instead of Charlotte, as well as Anne, I warmly assured him of my blessing.

I follow behind now as Edmund goes to find Charlotte to tell her the news himself. I want to witness this moment from afar, so as not to intrude on their reunion.

I see them in the garden, standing close in conversation. Stepping nearer, I am just in time to hear Edmund’s words to Charlotte.

“May I call you Mother now?”

She looks at him, stilled. Then her face blooms into a radiant smile. “Nothing would please me more.”

Anne comes out of the house, and I blink away unexpected tears, stunned all over again at what a lovely young woman our daughter has become. She walks, tall and graceful, to join Charlotte and Edmund in the garden. She laces her arm through Edmund’s, and Edmund offers his other arm to Charlotte.

“He’s told you our news, then, Mother?” Anne asks.

Smiling, Charlotte nods. She links her arm through Edmund’s, placing her free hand on his, as if drawing as much physical contact as possible deep into her healed but forever scarred soul.

Lucy, our youngest, comes up behind me and puts her hand in mine. “Why is Mummy crying?” she asks.

“Those are happy tears.”

“She is happy?”

“Yes, she is soon to be the mother of the bride.” To myself I add, and groom….

So we are to be related to the Harrises after all. Not the relationship any of us anticipated all those years ago, but the one God saw, designed even.

Charlotte Taylor is my wife, my dearest friend. And as I stand here at the edge of the garden she has helped me tend so beautifully here in Kent, watching her bright eyes flit from daughter to son, son to daughter, I see joy transform her countenance, her spirit soar to heights beyond earlier imaginings. I see her lift her face to heaven and I know she is thanking God. From where I stand I join her prayer, thankful that He has transformed all the pain and sacrifice of the past into something so beautiful. I leave my solitary post and step into the garden, into the sunlight. Thankful, especially, that I am here with Charlotte, to watch her, finally, fly free.

AUTHORS NOTE

‘hen I first began researching Lady of Milkweed Manor, I had never been to England. Through Web sites and old maps, I chose Doddington (Kent) as my character’s birthplace-charmed by what I’d read about the place and how relatively unchanged it seemed (compared to say, London or Crawley). The old vicarage, however, had fallen out of church use by then and into private ownership. Even if I visited Doddington someday, I reasoned, I could do no more than look upon its exterior and try to imagine its rooms and what it might have been like to live there.

Two years later, when the book was finished and I learned it would be published, I decided I could finally justify my long desire to travel to England to see the places I’d written about. How serendipitous to discover that the old vicarage had just become a bed-and-breakfast! I could barely believe I would be able to stay in “Charlotte’s childhood home.” Nick and Claire Finley were wonderful hosts, and our stay with them was a highlight of our trip.

The people of Doddington were so kind and welcoming. Many thanks to you all-and especially to Pier Vousden, my first contact in the village, and the Rev. George Baisley, who graced us with a warm and inspiring Easter Sunday service that will long live in our memories.

Please note that while Chequers Inn, the Parish Church of Doddington (Dedicated to the Beheading of St. John the Baptist), and the old vicarage are real places, most of the other settings in the book are not. There are two fine manor houses in Doddington, but fictional Fawnwell is not among them. Nor are the book’s characters based on real people.

There were several lying-in and foundling hospitals in London in the early 1800s, but Milkweed Manor is only a fictionalized composite of those real institutions. For those readers shocked by details like babies left in “the turn,” and goats nursing syphilitic babies, be assured those details are all-too-real pieces of history. I found them fascinating and moving, and I hope you did as well.

In fact, I found the entire wet-nursing profession fascinating. The practice seems foreign to most of us now, but it was very common in the 1700s for infants to be sent away to be nursed, and in the 1800s for wet nurses to be brought into one’s own home. Jane Austen herself was sent to live with (and be nursed by) a woman in the country for most of the first two years of her life!

While I enjoyed researching and writing about life in early 19thcentury England, I no doubt made my share of errors. I am indebted to my talented editors, Rachelle Gardner and Karen Schurrer, for limiting these to as few as possible. Please forgive any remaining inaccuracies. One I am aware of is that the lambing season is actually earlier than I have it here, but I hope you will indulge the liberties I took to include it in the book’s timeline. If you would like to read more about (and see photos of) the research and settings of Lady of Milkweed Manor, please visit my Web site at www.julieklassen.com.

In closing, I would like to thank my families-my husband and sons, and my Bethany House family, for all the support and encouragement that have made this book possible.

READING GROUP
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. After reading Lady of Milkweed Manor, do you view the foundling hospital “turn” as a compassionate practice, or one that was too easy on fallen ladies?

2. Was the topic of wet-nursing new to you? What surprised you about its history and practice? How would you have felt about having a stranger living in your home, nursing your infant for you?

3. Did you learn anything new about milkweeds or monarch butterflies? How did you feel about the imagery in this novel and epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter?

4. Reverend Lamb remained unforgiving, but did you notice a possible act of compassion toward Charlotte? How would it feel to grow up without a father’s love and approval? How did Charlotte’s relationship with Daniel’s father serve to fill this hole in her life?

5. How is the historical “puerperal insanity” Daniel’s wife suffered from similar to or different from modern postpartum depression? Have you or someone you know suffered from this very real condition?

6. In the early 1800s there was much competition among medical practitioners for the delivery of infants (physicians, midwives, accoucheurs). Does this same competition exist today? Is competition in this field beneficial, or not?

7. It is much more common (and economically feasible) for a single mother to raise a child on her own today than it was in the 1800s. Faced with Charlotte’s decision for the future of her infant son, what do you think you would you have done?

8. Which of Charlotte’s various suitors throughout the novel did you like most? Would you have made the same choice Charlotte did?

9. Did the revelations about the character’s lives in the final chapter and epilogue surprise you? Were you satisfied with the ending?

10. How would you describe the book’s theme or message? What effect did the book have on you?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JULIE KLASSEN is a fiction editor with a background in advertising. She has worked in Christian publishing for more than twelve years, in both marketing and editorial capacities. This is her first novel.

Julie is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She enjoys travel, research, books, BBC period dramas, long hikes, short naps, and coffee with friends.

She and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota.

For more information about Julie, Lady of Milkweed Manor, and her upcoming books, visit www.julieklassen.com.