The Disgrace of Kitty Grey (29 page)

We carried on and tried to get a lift on a farm cart, but the first two we stopped weren't going in the right direction. The next one slowed right down, making us hopeful, but its driver looked us over then flicked his whip for the horse to trot on.

I knew I must look terrible, for it had been some time since I'd washed myself properly, and I could not remember when I'd last pulled a comb through my hair. My gown was stained and torn, my face and hands grimy, my feet bloody through chilblains and blisters – and Betsy looked like the most neglected of street urchins.

Will, as disappointed as I, said nothing, but moved Betsy to his other shoulder. We walked on, choosing our way by the direction of the watery sun and by the milestones at the sides of the roads.

The closer we came the more I felt apprehensive about the welcome we might receive when we arrived. Lord Baysmith was known to be a strict authoritarian: how would he feel about harbouring an escaped criminal under his roof? Suppose Mrs Bonny preferred Patience as a milkmaid and didn't wish to employ me any longer, or Miss Alice didn't believe my tale of robbery and called the constables?

We did not approach Bridgeford by way of the river, but went over the bridge in Thorndyke, Will saying that he would accompany me to the hall first to help me tell my story, then go down to the river and see how it stood with his boat and hut.

When, at last, the gravelled drive of Bridgeford Hall came into view, I felt almost as sick and terrified as I'd done on entering Newgate. A bunch of five or six children I recognised as belonging to the estate workers were playing on the wrought-iron gate, swinging it to and fro, and as we passed through they stared at us open-mouthed.

Betsy struggled to get out of Will's arms. ‘It's
me
!' she said, jumping up and down in front of them. ‘I've been to London and been in a prison and been in a ship and gone to Australia!'

Despite my anxiety I managed to smile, but the children, looking dumbfounded, ran helter-skelter back along the drive towards the house and disappeared through the side door.

Will and I exchanged glances. ‘Do I look
very
disreputable?' he asked.

‘Yes,' I said. ‘Do I?'

‘Worse than ever,' he said, but his eyes smiled into mine most tenderly.

Seeing that the chippings on the driveway were hurting Betsy's toes, Will stopped to lift her up on to his shoulders again. He and I then walked together towards Bridgeford Hall, both of us too overwrought to say a word.

When we were twenty yards away from the hall a surprising thing happened: the kitchen door crashed open and all the children ran out of the house, swiftly followed by Mrs Bonny, wiping her hands on her apron, and Mr Griffin just seconds behind her. Prudence and Patience came next, and then, from down the front steps of the hall ran Christina, Miss Sophia's maid, followed by Miss Alice and Miss Sophia themselves, both looking startled but elegant in different shades of blue velvet. All stood thus, smiling and waiting for us. As we drew near Mrs Bonny began clapping and then held out her arms, and Mr Griffin waved, and the others cheered and called, ‘Welcome home!'

I looked at Will, and he looked at me. We would both have to tell our stories, of course, but it seemed, by all that was wonderful, that we were still wanted at the house.

We glanced at each other, linked our hands together tightly, and then stepped through the door into the welcoming warmth of Bridgeford Hall.

What Happened Next

 

 

The whole family – even Lord Baysmith – were called in to hear Kitty and Will's story, and the young couple were embarrassed to find themselves the centre of attention for several days. Kitty's story seemed barely credible, but it so happened that the landlady of the guest house where Kitty had been due to stay was so worried when her guest failed to arrive that she wrote to Miss Alice to inform her. The letter also mentioned that there had been a spate of robberies in the Charing Cross area, the thieves targeting those newly arrived in the city. As regards to the ship, Lord Baysmith had heard of the
Juanita
and her cargo of women, so Kitty's story was believed absolutely and everyone at Bridgeford Hall vowed to say that, if a police constable should enquire, she had never even been to London. Luckily Miss Alice had managed to obtain a copy of
Pride and Prejudice
from her literary gentleman friend.

The letter that Kitty sent from gaol never reached her parents so, having been told by Mrs Bonny that she hadn't returned to the hall, they were thrilled to know that she was safe and well, and Kitty was given two days off to visit them.

Patience had not proved a great success with the cows, who, whether milked by her or one of the cowhands, were not giving the yield that they had with Kitty. Mrs Bonny was only too pleased, therefore, to give Kitty her old job back in the dairy.

No Navy men came looking for Will, and at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 the practice of pressing men into service was outlawed. As a result of his experiences, however, he had lost the urge to go to work in London. Sadly, Will's boat had been stolen in his absence, but Lord Baysmith was so moved by the story of what he had been through that he lent him the money to buy a new one. Lord Baysmith also sent some of the estate workers down to make improvements to Will's hut on the riverbank, though it was understood that Kitty hoped for something more substantial on their marriage.

Kitty spent a lot of time deep in private conversations with Miss Sophia and Miss Alice, speaking about Lieutenant Warwick, and there was much weeping and running up and down the stairs during this period. Between them, the three girls were able to convince Lord and Lady Baysmith that Lieutenant Warwick was a very decent fellow and worthy of Miss Sophia's love. Miss Sophia was permitted to write to him care of his ship, her letter being despatched swiftly by a Russian steamship to await the arrival of the
Juanita
in Cape Town. Their mutual fondness being restored, the romance between them blossomed.

Will's sister, Kate, and her family returned to the village in the spring. On George showing great contrition, Mr Cox allowed them to move back into their old cottage. Kate – who was feeling very guilty at ever having left her – took Betsy back into their household, but Betsy always spent the summer by the river with Will.

And as for Kitty and her ferryman, one very fine May morning, when the meadow buttercups were just beginning to reveal their yellow faces to the sun, they made their wedding vows, and Mr and Mrs Villiers stepped over the threshold of their new home.

Some Historical Notes from the Author

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen's novels were published in the Regency period, during which George III was declared insane and his son appointed Prince Regent.

Pride and Prejudice
is now considered a literary masterpiece, and is widely known across the world through numerous television and film adaptations too.

But it was not always so.
Pride and Prejudice
began its life in 1796 with the title
First Impressions
and, turned down by the bookseller to whom it was offered, was renamed, rewritten several times and eventually sold for just £110. In January 1813 it was published in three hardcover volumes by Thomas Egerton of Whitehall, London, priced at 18 shillings. Its author was named merely as ‘A Lady', and there was much speculation as to who this lady might be.

It is thought that only 700 copies were printed but, due to several favourable reviews and acclaim from Britain's reading public (a much smaller, more elite group than today, of course), it sold out and was reprinted in November that same year.

The author died in 1817 and during the 1820s her work went through a period of obscurity when her books were out of print and she was hardly talked about. In 1833,
Pride and Prejudice
, along with several other of her novels, came out in a cheaper edition, and this helped to make her more widely known. When the copyright of
Pride and Prejudice
expired in 1841, however, there was no rush by other publishers to obtain the text.

Jane Austen's fame gradually increased, and now
Pride and Prejudice
consistently reaches the top three in votes for ‘Britain's favourite book'.

Newgate Prison

The first prison on the Newgate site was built in 1188. It burned down several times over the years, including in the Great Fire of London in 1666. Conditions were either bad or terrible, depending on how much money you had to help you pay your way through prison. Women were allowed to take their dependant children into gaol with them, and there were several tragic cases of women being taken to the scaffold with their babies in their arms.

Public executions were held outside the prison until 1868 and always drew large crowds, especially if the person being hanged was popular with the people. It was usual, with a popular criminal, to exhibit his or her clothes and effects, sometimes with an accompanying coffin, in one of the London taverns.

A major problem with both Newgate and the other London prisons was overcrowding, but the Royal Navy produced a regular flow of
hulks
– decommissioned ships too battered and no longer seaworthy enough to be used in combat, but ideal for housing the overflow of prisoners. Sited on the Medway and the Thames, they were often used as holding bays for those prisoners who were awaiting transportation.

Early in the nineteenth century, the Quaker reformer Elizabeth Fry became very concerned about the conditions in which female prisoners and their children lived. She lobbied Parliament, formed education classes and supplied clothes to women in prison, hoping to increase their self
-
esteem. Despite her intervention, it wasn't until 1858 that the interior of Newgate was improved, remodelled and formed into individual cells, thus enabling prisoners a little more privacy.

The prison was demolished in 1904. The Central Criminal Court, also known as the Old Bailey, now stands on the site.

All the information about Newgate has been taken from books on the topic (see
Bibliography
) and research of various records in the Guildhall Library. The crimes committed and spoken o
f
by the girls Kitty met in prison are based on real cases.

 

 

The Law

During the Regency period the law was harsh, there were no proper provisions for the poor and many offences carried the death penalty.

The Bow Street Runners, set up in the 1740s and so called because they operated from Bow Street in Covent Garden, were one of the earliest groups of thief-takers, hired by the Bow Street magistrates' office to apprehend felons. This, the authorities hoped, would make it more likely that criminals would be caught and so deter them from committing crimes in the first place.

By the end of the eighteenth century, London had seven police centres and a substantial body of watchmen employed to prevent and detect crime. In 1829 the Metropolitan Police was formed – a centralised force of some 3,000 men under the control of the home secretary.

Most of the information on the law and criminal trials was taken from the records at www.oldbaileyonline.org.