Note by J. Porringer: Mrs Brittle advised to use only one small drop for each child, since hyssop known to cause convulsions or epileptic seizures if administered in larger quantities.
Note by Mrs Maria Porringer: Mrs Brittle told she would do better to feed her children on good wholesome food, not rubbishing pies from cookshop, with no nourishment in them, not to mention filling probably being made from all the unwholesome parts of the animal.
‘She doesn’t flinch from dishing out advice, does she?’ murmured Nell. ‘I’ll bet the customers in this shop used to pray she wasn’t around when they went in.’
‘It’s in her writing,’ said Michael, touching the page with a fingertip. ‘I recognize it from the letters in the Archives Office – and the papers Professor Rosendale had from Willow Bank Farm. The odd thing is that each time I’ve seen it, I’ve had a half-memory of having seen the same writing somewhere else.’
‘In Maria’s day most people would have written in very similar kinds of hands,’ said Nell. ‘All those pot-hooks and hangers they had to practise in copybooks. You’ve probably seen this style of writing quite often.’
‘I know. I wish I could pin down the precise memory, though.’
ITEM: Valve pump syringe purchased by Mrs Trubb.
PURPOSE OF PURCHASE: Administration of enema for Sir George Buckle (glycerin solution also purchased).
ITEM: Half teaspoon of ergot and rye, purchased by Polly Mabbley.
PURPOSE OF PURCHASE: Miss Mabbley refused to state the purpose, saying it was nothing to do with interfering old besoms, since her private life was her own affair, and what folks chose to write down in some silly book was up to them.
‘Ergot?’ said Michael, looking questioningly at Nell.
‘It was used to bring on a miscarriage, I think. Agonizingly painful though, and not necessarily effective. And it could be dangerous.’
‘There were a couple of girls called Mabbley mentioned in those statements,’ said Michael, opening his notebook again. ‘I remember the name. Yes, here it is – it’s the two girls who vanished from Deadlight Hall. Polly’s daughters?’
‘They might have been. Maybe she didn’t take the ergot and rye, or it wasn’t successful,’ said Nell. ‘And she produced a couple of bastards who were placed in Deadlight Hall. As for vanishing, it sounded more to me as if they’d simply run away. But whatever happened, this is a remarkable thumbnail sketch of village life, isn’t it? And I see Maria’s contributed to flighty Polly’s predicament again.’ She pointed to a further entry on the page.
‘That sounds like the title of a girls’ school story from the 1930s,’ said Michael. ‘“The Predicament of Promiscuous Polly – A Cautionary Tale”.’
‘Whatever she was, Maria seems to have given her short shrift.’
‘I wonder if Mr Porringer ever had a say in anything,’ said Michael. ‘Maria seems to have dispensed advice and disapproval in about equal measure, and she’s made sure it’s all recorded, as well.’
‘She’s even noted down some arsenic she had for her own use,’ said Nell, pointing to an entry on the next page.
‘“Half grain of arsenic for proprietor’s use. Purpose: rats and mice in cellars.” Half a grain sounds quite a lot,’ said Michael.
‘We can check on quantities – we might even ask Mr Trussell. Oh, look at this,’ said Nell eagerly, and read the next entry. ‘“November 1877. To supply tincture of opium for use as soporific. Quantities: opium, two ounces.” A few other ingredients, as well – oh, and a half pint of sherry wine, “if permitted”, and a note about macerating and filtering. Then it says, “Account presented to H M Prison, The Governor.” Probably Porringer had a standing arrangement with some local gaol to supply sedatives for the poor condemned wretches destined for the noose,’ said Nell. ‘Are we at the end of the book? Oh, yes, what a pity – no, wait, there’s a loose sheet of paper tucked between the last two pages.’