Abigail's Cousin
Authors: Ron Pearse
Tags: #england, #historical, #18th century, #queen anne, #chambermaid, #duke of marlborough, #abigail masham, #john churchill, #war against france
ABIGAIL
By Ron
Pearse
“..the woman
who brought peace to Europe.”
Louis XIVth
1638-1715
“....the
lowliest person who ever decided the history of a continent.”
Winston
Churchill 1874-1965
ISBN
978-90-822741-2-7
Published by
Kingspawn at Smashwords
Copyright 2015
Ron Pearse
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Foreword
Part 1
: Servant
Part 2
: Wife
Part 3:
Nurse
Part 4:
Peacemaker
Part 5: Peer
There is talk today of a gulf between the
rich and the poor people of England. In contrast in the time of
this story there was a huge disparity between the lower and higher
classes, between commoners and the nobil
ity; that was as great a gulf. Yet, a pauper, a
woman named Abigail Hill managed to bridge that gulf. Through
misfortune she had lost her parents and thereby made the
acquaintance of a cousin, Sarah Jennings, some years her senior
whose parents were also dead but who had however met and married
John Churchill, later the famous Duke of Marlborough.
Sarah looked after Abigail and her three
siblings finding Abigail a position in the queen’s household, that
of bedchamber-woman, one of whose menial jobs was to
empty the queen’s chamber-pot.
Through diligence and kindness however Abigail became a warm
companion to her majesty, Queen Anne, who suffered, apart from
losing many children in childbirth, from dropsy, gout, rheumatism
and lack of sleep worrying about the plight of legless and armless
soldiers seen daily on the streets of London, England then being at
war with France in the War of the Spanish Succession.
In the
workplace she answered to ‘Hill’ and ended her working life as Lady
Abigail Masham: this is her story.
PART 1: SERVANT
Some half a
mile from the city centre of St Albans, off Cottonmill Lane,
situated in its own grounds, is a well-appointed, if modest house.
It is just after nine o'clock on a day in the year 1693, in the
month of September. It has been raining which has discouraged
Abigail from leaving the house to walk in the garden, although she
has been up and about many hours about the business of house
clearance preparatory to leaving her parents' home for good.
She looks
through an upstairs window as the gardener and his young helpers
pile more wood onto a blazing bonfire. The fierce crackling made as
the fire consumes the wood makes her wonder about its age and
dryness and how long her parents owned the cupboard, now broken up
with lusty strokes from the gardener's hatchet, shouting to his
children to keep well away from him as the pieces fly in all
directions. The panelling succumbs easily but the stout hardwood
frame resists the heavy blows from his axe yet finally the cupboard
is no more. Abigail watches as a little boy picks up the shattered
remnants hugging them to his chest before dropping them before the
fire and hurling the individual pieces into the flames.
Hugging the
frame of the window, Abigail looks speculatively to her left for
any signs of the woman directing the operations but Sarah Churchill
remains hidden, probably in a doorway, out of the rain, although
now there is a temporary lull in the downpour. Then she hears her
voice calling to Mistress Chudleigh and she directs her gaze to a
farm wagon. Abigail watches as the stout, grey haired woman walks
over and stands before her mistress, still hidden, with a
respectful: "Your ladyship!"
Abigail gently
releases the catch of the sash window and eases the bottom half of
the frame open in order better to overhear her cousin's next words:
"A word!" She strains to listen to the discourse but the women seem
to have moved away as Mrs Chudleigh is now out of sight. Yet it
seems she has missed nothing for she hears Chudleigh reply:
"Ma'am?" and listens intently, hardly daring to breathe, let alone
change her stance. Lady Churchill says: "We can safely leave the
gardener to burn the remainder. Discover where Mistress Abigail is
hiding herself." and just in time, Abigail retreats as the
housekeeper looks up, replying: "I'm sure she be above, ma'am."
Then L
ady Churchill's voice reaches Abigail clearly: "Tell her, I
would like to be on our way." And as the woman does her mistress'
bidding, Abigail is alerted again to Sarah's shrill command, this
time directed into the garden: "Tom! Take off the nosebags." the
rest is lost as Abigail hears the housekeeper on the stairs. She
picks up her bag, already packed pausing to take a final look
around the room occupied so many years by her parents and is
interrupted as Mrs Chudleigh appears on the landing outside the
room, and anxious to forestall the anticipated call, walks through
the door standing in front of the housekeeper whose mouth is
already open to speak, snapping shut to her annoyance but to
Abigail's inner satisfaction.
As she
descends the stairs she hears Sarah through the open back door
still reminding her gardener of something and his response: "Yes,
your ladyship!" followed by Sarah's peremptory command: "When
everything is burnt, Atkins, trample down the ashes. See no burning
embers are left. Water it, if the rain has stopped, and you think
it's necessary.”
Mentally
Abigail pictures Atkins touching the hair drooping over his
forehead in age-old subservience muttering resignedly: "Yes, your
ladyship." Her cousin never seems to tire hearing her title newly
acquired and Abigail wonders if Sarah Jennings ever existed. The
gardener speaks again: "Your ladyship, ma'am. Uhh! The
artefacts!"
Sarah replies:
"What artefacts?" To which Atkins answers: "The mortar and pestle;
the phials, bottles, and what-not." And she suddenly seems to
recall of what he speaks, saying: "Doctor Glanville says to smash
them and bury the pieces." At these words Abigail's heart sinks for
the artefacts are among her mother's prized possessions, the tools
of her calling. Despair rises in her breast because she wanted to
keep them so that one day she might take up where her mother had
left off, perforce by her death, but it was not to be. More
influential people such as Doctor Glanville representing the
medical establishment would not want them to survive; so much for
Sarah's professions of support for her cousin.
Abigail is
interrupted in these sad ruminations by the sight of a black-coated
man in a top hat entering the garden. She watches as her cousin
bristles drawing herself to her full five feet, five and a half
inches, and barks at the man: "You are late, bailiff, and I dare
say you have come now just to collect your fee. My gardener does
the work and you collect the fruits of his labour, without doing
anything. Your fee, I believe, was two guineas." Snob or not,
Abigail admired Sarah at this moment doing, saying what she would
not dare to say.
The bailiff
was not overly surprised and did not immediately reply but looked
about him and spotting the gardener holding the box of artefacts,
said to him: "I'll take that; Mister Atkins, is it not." Then
turning jauntily to Sarah, looking distinctly sour, he said: "The
box may safely be left with me ma'am. I believe the charge for my
services was agreed at three pounds, if you please."
Her ladyship
humphed speaking to her gardener: "Be sure you oversee its
destruction, Atkins!" and handed three coins over to him with the
added remonstrance: "Do not pay him a single piece until you see
with your own eyes its destruction. Come Tom, let's be on our
way."
As they moved
towards the wagon, Sarah suggested to the driver: "Tom, I shall sit
up front beside you." Then turning round to Abigail, asked: "Are
you ready cousin?"
Her peremptory
tone had impressed Tom, Mrs Chudleigh and they hurried to heed her
words, but when Abigail hung back, she turned to her with a puzzled
expression: "What ails you, cousin?"
"A want of
feeling, perhaps; my father dead just weeks ago and now poor
mother. Everything sold to pay our debts and the remains cleared
out and even burned." Then looking wistfully at her mother's box of
artefacts, added: "My mother's life's work about to be destroyed."
Then looking Sarah directly in the face said, disarmingly: "I'm
‘mazed by your coolness, your ladyship."
Mrs Chudleigh
shocked by Abigail's seeming reproof, said, out of Sarah's hearing:
"Be more respectful, mistress. Lady Churchill showing every mark of
respect to you and yours; ‘tis ingratitude. You should show some
respect!"
Her ladyship
was being helped into the seat by Tom and would have missed her
servant's rebuke, but she, irritated that she was ready to leave
and they were not, called over: "What be you playing at mistress!
Get into the wagon, at once, both of you!"
Abigail and
Mrs Chudleigh exchanged glances without words and heeding Sarah's
words, they got into the open wagon finding themselves makeshift
seats. Tom, meanwhile jumped down to secure the backboard to
Sarah's obvious chagrin, but Tom had another motive which he
hastened to demonstrate, addressing Abigail, sternly:
"Lady Churchill gave e ten guineas for
things just a week back. Ungrateful, I calls it." Abigail did not
reply to Tom but waited while he ascended to resume his seat
be
side Lady Churchill,
then said:
"Ten guineas,
eh! Two guineas for funeral and the rest in fees to Doctor
Glanville. Lady Churchill might as well have given him the money
and be done with it."
Sarah turned
and speaking directly to her cousin, said: "Lord! That don't make
sense. How mean you?"
Tom had
meanwhile turned round and exchanged silent if meaningful looks
with Mrs Chudleigh while Abigail responded to Sarah, thus:
"Doctor Glanville charged mother twice his
normal fee on account of her illness being the small pocks." She
looked softly at Sarah: "I'm not ungrateful cousin. Your ten
guineas was welcome, ve
ry welcome and very generous."
She paused and
then said almost wistfully: "Thanks be to you cousin and the Good
Lord, she got some very good meals afore she died. Otherwise your
money was well spent."
Mrs Chudleigh
spoke loudly wanting her mistress to hear: "See what Lady Churchill
did for thy brothers and sister. By the bye, where be they?"
Sarah smiled,
with satisfaction, answering: "Alice is entered into the household
of lady Davenport and young Jack and his brother are at
school."