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This is the thread to discuss The First Countess of Wessex from A Group of Noble Dames

Pamela will be hosting this read for us, between July 28th and August 3rd

**PLEASE ALLOW PAMELA TO COMMENT FIRST!

Thanks everyone

Welcome to the discussion of Hardy's The First Countess of Wessex. The image above, the 'Headpiece," for the version of the tale that was published in the December 1889 Harper's Magazine.

This image was created by English artist Alfred Parsons following a visit he made with Hardy to the home and grounds of the Horners, Melbury House, near Evershot, Dorset. Four of his illustrations were selected to run in Harper's.

The First Countess of Wessex would be modified and then published as the first of 10 stories in the 1891 book A Group of Noble Dames and that is the version we will be reading.

A Group of Noble Dames is available on Amazon for a minimum price (at least on the Amazon US site) but is also available at these web sites:

Hardy Society site:


Darlyn Thomas's site:


Project Gutenberg:

The First Countess of Wessex, as published in A Group of Noble Dames doesn't have chapter markers, so I'll divide this into six sections.

Reading Schedule

July 28 �� beginning of story to "... at the nearest church within half an hour."

July 29 �� "A day or two later ...." to " ...She was as pale as a sheet."

July 30 �� "You must do your best ... to "...what these movements might portend."

July 31 �� extra day for discussion

Aug 1 �� "They rode on through ...." to "To leave a verbal message for Betty was now impossible."

Aug 2 �� "The court servants desired him ..." to "withdrew the ladder, and went away."

Aug 3 �� "Alone in her chamber ... to "... such was Betty Dornell."

The rest of the copy was included as part of the overall book as framing narrative in which 10 members of a club each tell one story about a noble dame in the 17th and 18th century.

I'm planning on reading the story with you, Pamela.

Me too!

image:

The picture above is Melbury House, that Hardy used as the model for King's-Hintock Court. Sorry I couldn't get it up earlier �� all this uploading of art is new to me �� thanks for your patience. It is getting easier!

I was not intending to get into Wessex, the semi-fictional region Hardy made as the setting for many of his works, beginning with Far From the Madding Crowd. According to Wikipedia, "Hardy's Wessex would eventually include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire in southwest and south-central England."

The First Countess of Wessex

FIRST SEGMENT READ SUMMARY

Good morning, everyone! Let’s dig in!

Hardy begins the story in the winter season at King’s-Hinton Court. A young girl leaning over the sill of an open window. But instead of looking outward, she has her eyes covered with her hands.

Too close by, her parents are arguing, about the 12-year-old girl’s future �� and as any child of that age, she would love to escape the discussion but can’t.

The parental arguments are heating up �� the mother is promoting a betrothal to a much older man; father says the age difference is much too great �� and the man is poor.

“But his father and elder brothers are made much of at Court �� none so constantly at the palace as they: and with her fortune, who knows? He may be able to get a barony.��

Mother also argues that her husband would set her up with a country “bumpkin.��

The argument continues until father leaves the house, and the girl closes her window and gets into bed, where she cries herself to sleep, wretched by “such episodes as this.��

The next day she learns that that her father has gone to his estate at Falls-Park, where he plans to take his daughter to visit his estate, perhaps detaining her there until Reynard, the suitor his wife favors, has gone abroad.

So he returns to King’s-Hintock, only to discover he is late �� Mistress Dornell has taken her to London and taken the daughter with her. No word on how long they will be gone.

When friends come over, they tease him about being out maneuvered �� his daughter has been married off to Reynard! The couple parted “at once and are not to meet for five or six years.��

Squire Dornell collapses and a doctor pronounces that he has suffered an apoplectic fit.

Wow! What a beginning!

What do you think of the main characters?
�� When I first read this, I thought it was very dramatic to begin at this point in the lives of the Dornells. It clearly shows them as not quite a happy couple.

Because I'm a relative new reader of Hardy, can anyone think of another story with this sense of two women diametrically opposite in their thoughts/beliefs/actions?

What do you think of the arrangements being done behind the father’s back, including the marriage?
�� During the period when this story was written, “some fathers arranged marriages for a son or a daughter before he or she reached the age of maturity, but consummation would not take place until the age of maturity" �� which the Offense Against the Persons Act had raised to the age of 13 in England in 1875, according to what I found in Wikipedia.
—This marriage is not an arrangement to strengthen a court or territory. Although, Squire Dornell calls the groom "poor," Stephen Reynard does have property "near Melchester, through which city their journey lay." How large a property and how much business is not expressed.
Mistress Dornell seems to focus her attention on the potential of a future title and his family relationships at court.

What do you think about the bride and groom not seeing each other until five to six years have passed?
�� It wouldn't surprise me if this was a royal marriage but this is not at that level.

Do you think the mother coached the girl to ask if the man wished to marry her?

Pamela, the picture you posted of Melbury House shows that this family is very wealthy on the mother's side. The father is also a landowner with some wealth. The groom would be getting access to wealth, while the bride would be marrying someone with influence in the court and who might acquire a title.

The young bride probably did not have a voice in the arrangements, and just went along with what her mother wished. I had the feeling that the mother also wanted to socialize with the people who were in favor with the court, and this was a means for both the mother and the daughter to enter into that society.

I think you are probably right, Connie. I just remember my first reading of the story and imagining my daughter at 11-12 years old. How would you know if someone would be right for her when she is 18? How would Reynard know what he was getting himself into?

And from the parent's relationship, wouldn't that be important for the mother? I hate to say it, but it felt almost as if the mother was selling the daughter. But in that era, these relationships were guided by parents who looked at wealth and position and opportunities for the child, not whether there were common interests, an affinity between the two.

The First Countess of Wessex
SECOND SEGMENT SUMMARY

The deed is done: at 12 years old, Betty Dornell is married.

Her father has been struck down with an apoplectic fit, a general term used from the 14-19th century, which today we would know as either strokes, aneurysms or even heart attacks. Interestingly, Hardy calls it a stroke in this segment of the story.

Mrs. Dornell returns and attempts a reconciliation, but the Squire remains firm.

Time passes. At the age of 17, Betty’s schooling ends and she returns home.

Having missed her father, she and her mother travel to see him at his estate. Betty has developed into quite a young woman and seems to almost have forgotten her early marriage contract. When Betty’s father asks about her husband, the girl winces, and her mother looks appealingly at her husband. Concerned what he would say that would harm a position which they could not alter, Mrs. Dornell has a private conversation, where they continue to argue about the situation. Dornell stresses how much better suited would have been a young man of his choice.

Their argument has been heard by Betty, and her actions on the way home concern Mrs. Dornell.

Shortly afterwards, Dornell visits, bringing a young man with him, his friend Phelipson of Elm-Cranlynch. When Betty greets her father, he encourages her to act as if she were struck with Phelipson.

She didn’t need the encouragement. And Mrs. Dornell is alarmed. “What mischief will you do? How will it end?�� she argues with her husband.

The Dornells continue to live separately and Betty travels between them. The Squire’s health declines, and soon Betty again travels to his estate with her mother. With Betty out of the room, Mrs. Dornell reminds her husband that time has passed and that soon Reynard will soon wish to claim Betty as his own. But he is still resistant to send Betty to her husband.

Indeed, Betty is out in the grounds with young Phelipson, his arm around her waist. And her mother has seen.

It is a very quiet return trip back to King’s-Hinton, where there is a letter to the Dornells from Reynard. He hopes to come in a few days to claim his bride. Betty receives a similar message and blanches.

Years have passed and the situation doesn't seem to have resolved itself with any of the Dornells. What are your thoughts at this situation and what is coming.

I agree with you, Pamela, that Hardy has started in the thick of the conflict in a very effective opening. In the first few pages, he tells us many details about the relationships and characters. He also brings the characters (other than Betty, so far) to life by highlighting their mixed motivations and conflicts:

-Susan Dornell is strategic and hopes to attach Betty to a titled family. The title is more important to her than wealth, age, or love. Her own independent fortune eclipses Thomas's and allows her to treat him with disdain. While she may be thinking of Betty's future on one level, she craves social approval as well. She no longer brings Thomas into polite society because she is ashamed of what he has become. Susan sees him as both impractical and weak. She is headstrong and wants her way, even to the extent of deception, for which she finds justifications.

-Thomas Dornell, on the surface, wants to protect Betty from a loveless marriage to a man so much her senior. However, that impulse also hides a secret wish to unite Betty with young Phelipson, the son of his deceased good friend. He resents his wife for her wealth, her overbearing attitude, and her social aspirations, but he knows that those qualities give her power over Betty and him as well. He is warmhearted and sensitive, and because he feels trapped in his unhappiness he has allowed himself to go to seed through excessive drinking and eating.

Bloodletting as a treatment seems so nonsensical to us now, but according to Wikipedia it was the most common medical procedure for over 2,000 years. Many times, bloodletting (and other surgeries) was done by barber-surgeons, who possessed cutting tools. I was interested to learn that the red and white striped barber poles are based on the colors of blood and bandages!

Bloodletting:

Erich, I thought the same when I first read the beginning of this book �� after, of course, I was thoroughly angry about their behavior.

You caught the inflection about Susan's wealth that I didn't for quite a while, but I do believe that she seems to treat him the way she does because she sees him as a bit inferior to herself.

Thanks also, Erich, for the information about the bloodletting. I'd forgotten that part. It is so interesting about barber-surgeons and the barber poles!

It looks to me like Betty is starting to have her own thoughts about what her mother has done, and I don’t think she’s happy about it.

I don’t know anything about the rules of marriage at this time, but since the marriage wasn’t consummated, couldn’t it have been annulled? I’m guessing not, or Hardy would have made that a plot point.

One thing I noticed about the writing……Hardy starts us off mainly with Squire Dornells point of view. And that made me dislike Mrs Dornell, and feel afraid for young Betty. Then towards the end of todays section, we start to see Mrs Dornell’s viewpoint with “For the first time since her strategic marriage of the child, Susan Dornell doubted the wisdom of that step.�� And I find myself softening a little towards Mrs Darnell. I suspect, through all her conniving, she’s been motivated by thinking she was acting in Betty’s best interest. Trying to create for her the best life possible. And now she’s seeing she was wrong. That’s interesting.

You picked up something important, Betty, and I didn't get that the first two times I've read this tale. I can see her being concerned about her daughter's future but marrying her off to basically a stranger just feels so wrong. Why didn't they arrange for visits where she would see Reynard throughout her growing up?

My overall feeling is that both parents were acting in their best interests in their choices for their daughter, and are now paying for their actions.

The First Countess of Wessex
THIRD SEGMENT SUMMARY

Reynard has made his claim for his bride and Mrs. Dornell is wondering if she made a mistake in her “strategic marriage�� for Betty.

In this segment, Betty begs her mother to put off Reynard for another year. The appeal goes to her heart and her for a moment, she reconsiders here plan, which was to give Reynard approval to come to King’s-Hintock and somehow convince Betty to go with him, all the while keeping her husband in ignorance.

But now with Betty threatens to send a letter to her father and may even flee to Dornell’s estate. Mrs. Dornell tells Betty she will send a letter to the Squire ‘instantly.�� "He shall act entirely as he chooses, and you know that will not be in opposition to your wishes. He would ruin you rather than thwart you. I only hope he may be well enough to bear the agitation of this news. Do you agree to this?"

Mrs. Dornell does as she promises, but she also writes to Reynard and tells him about here husband’s continuing objection.

“My advice is, if you get such a letter, to take no notice of it, but to come on hither as you had proposed, letting me know the day and hour (after dark, if possible) at which we may expect you. Dear Betty is with me, and I warrant ye that she shall be in the house when you arrive."

Somehow, Betty gets a sense that Reynard is coming �� which Mrs. Dornell confirms �� and retreats to her room. Thinking that she will simply lock Betty into her room and wait for Reynard to show and take his bride away. But when she goes to lock Betty’s door, she finds the girl has done so herself.

Mrs. Dornell urges Betty to come out of her room for a drive. Betty joins her and they drive for a while when Betty spots a cottage window where she sees a young girl who is recovering from small-pox.

Betty gets an idea and tells her mother that she wishes to speak to the girl. Betty runs into the cottage for a short while and when she returns announces “I have done it now.�� When her mother asks what, Betty admits that she kissed the sick girl and is now contaminated by the illness so that Reynard won’t be able to come near her.

Mrs. Dornell drives home as soon as possible, treats her every way that could be thought to ward off the malady.

Meanwhile, the still ailing Squire has received his wife’s message. Dornell immediately acts, taking a double, then a triple dose of his medication before riding off to King’s-Hinton.

Betty's parents are fighting each other, and she's caught in the middle of their dispute. She's so upset that she's exposed herself to small pox so she won't have to see Reynard. Small pox can leave terrible scars and even cause death.

I agree with Pamela that Betty's parents should have arranged for her to see Reynard as she was growing up so she would not be so fearful. But I imagine her father would not have allowed it.

Thank you for your excellent summaries, Pamela.

Great summaries and images, thanks Pamela 😊 I'll add a little about Melstock House which you have correctly identified as the original of Thomas Hardy's "King's Hintock Court".

It is 16th century, with 17th century extensions, and was considerably enlarged in 1872 and 1884-5.

And a little more ...

The characters in the historical sketches which form A Group of Noble Dames are all based on the pedigrees which Thomas Hardy found in John Hutchins's A View of the Principal Towns, Seats, Antiquities, and Other Remarkable Particulars in Dorset. Compiled from Mr. Hutchins's History of That County. of 1774.

Susan and Thomas Dornell and their daughter Betty are apparently identifiable as Susannah Strangways (1690-1758) of Melbury Sampford, and Thomas is based on Thomas Horner (d.1741) of Mells Park, Somerset.

The name Strangways made me pursue this and do a bit more sleuthing ...

The nearest small village to my caravan is Abbotsbury (Thomas Hardy's "Abbotsea"). You might remember that I said there is a great barn there which was probably the original of the one where Gabriel Oak did his sheep shearing, in Far From the Madding Crowd. There is also a village hall called Strangways Hall - a very memorable name!

Nearby there is a swannery and some subtropical gardens, which were established by the Countess of Ilchester. I've often wondered about her, and it turns out that the next generation are also based on this Fox-Strangways family!

Stephen Reynard is based on Stephen Fox (1706-1776) who became Lord Ilchester and the Earl of Ilchester, and "Betty" is based on Elizabeth Strangways Horner (b. 1723, m.1736 - i.e. when she was 13 - d. 1792)

Thomas Hardy's story is fiction, but it's based on tradition, and I found this fascinating! 😁 (Please excuse the diversion, Pamela!)

That's fascinating historical information Jean. Thank you for sharing that. By the way . . . "reynard" is the French word for "fox", very clever of Hardy to do that.

Just like in "The Melancholy Hussar" from last week, once again Thomas Hardy is finding inspiration from history. I am really enjoying the twists, turns and drama he is creating in these stories.

Thank you, Pamela, for the excellent summaries. I agree with Connie that Betty is truly caught in the middle of her parents. Trying to contract smallpox is a very desperate action. It's probably not a smart thing to attempt, but it does paint Betty as a clever and resourceful girl.

I was thinking today, we really don't know anything about Reynard. Perhaps he is a nice man??

Thank you so much Jean, I didn't find any of that detail and its wonderful to read it.

Bridget wrote: "By the way . . . "reynard" is the French word for "fox", very clever of Hardy to do that..."

Oh yes! Well spotted Bridget - that completely passed me by 😁So he was giving his readers a clue.

Pamela it was the name Strangways really that started me off 😊

I would like to add a little to the information that Jean has given us about the family. Elizabeth (Betty) and Stephen Fox, the first Earl of Ilchester (Reynard) had seven children. One child was named Susannah Sarah Louisa (named after her grandmother), and was known as Lady Susan. She married a handsome Irish actor named William O'Brien.

Hardy wrote two poems where Lady Susan is mentioned. According to Walter Peirce in the Colby College Library Quarterly:

"In his poem 'The Noble Lady Speaks," Hardy tells the story of Lady Susan and her actor husband, how after years of marriage the latter wished to return for one night to the London stage, how he did so and met with failure, and how he saw, or thought he saw, his wife watching him from the wings, though she was supposed to be at home in Mellstock. The noble lady protests that she had not left home, but the author characteristically leaves us in doubt as to whether the figure in the wings was reality or hallucination."

"The Noble Lady's Tale":


The other poem, "Friends Beyond," refers to Lady Susan and other friends speaking from a graveyard.

"Friends Beyond":


Peirce, Walter. Hardy's Lady Susan and the First Countess of Wessex. Colby Quarterly, Volume 2, Issue 5, February 1948.

This is our extra day for this read. Thank you all for adding to the back story of this tale.

At this juncture Betty has exposed herself to smallpox and in this era, it was nothing to take lightly, as Connie noted.

According to gideononline.com, smallpox is one of the oldest and deadliest infectious diseases. It traveled around the world via wars with a fatality rate as high as 30 percent.

It began to show up in Europe as early as the 11th century. By the 18th century, around 400,000 people died each year from the disease.

In 1768, British physician John Fewster discovered that people infected with cowpox were immune to smallpox and successfully tested a cowpox vaccine with humans. But widespread success came with the work of Dr. Edward Jenner.

According to Wikipedia: "Jenner postulated that the pus in the blisters that affected individuals affected by cowpox (a disease similar to smallpox, but much less virulent) protected them from smallpox.

image:

"On 14 May 1796, Jenner tested his hypothesis by inoculating James Phipps, an eight-year-old boy who was the son of Jenner's gardener. He scraped pus from cowpox blisters on the hands of Sarah Nelmes, a milkmaid who had caught cowpox from a cow called Blossom, whose hide now hangs on the wall of the St. George's Medical School library (now in Tooting)."

The inoculation was given to the boy in both arms and produced a fever but no full-blown infection. He was later inoculated with smallpox but retained immunity.

And, of course, Jenner was not the only one to come up with the idea. In 1774, Benjamin Jesty, a farmer in Dorset, introduced cowpox to his family to induce smallpox immunity. He used a knitting needle and the pus from an infected cow, according to "The White Lie at the Heart of Vaccine History" by Jonathan Jarry and posted at .

Thanks Connie!

I love that illustration, Pamela. I remember hearing the story of Dr. Jenner and his gardener's son before and thinking how scary that must have been for the boy. The boy in your painting reminds me of that. I take for granted all the antibiotics and vaccines available in our modern world. We owe a debt of gratitude to people like Dr. Jenner's gardener for taking a leap of faith and allowing experiments to be done on his son.

I hope Betty will be okay.

Connie wrote: "I would like to add a little to the information that Jean has given us about the family. Elizabeth (Betty) and Stephen Fox, the first Earl of Ilchester (Reynard) had seven children. One child was n..."

I had no idea Hardy's imagination went so deep into this family we are meeting in this story.

The second poem you shared mentions "Tranter Reubuen", who I think was mentioned in "The Fiddler of the Reels" which we read last summer. And I think he's in one of the early novels, maybe Under the Greenwood Tree? Do any of you remember?

Bridget, you're right that some of the names in "Friends Beyond" are in Under the Greenwood Tree. I can't go directly to the site, but if you google "Friends Beyond" and The Thomas Hardy Society, someone has identified the names in the poem and the books where they make an appearance.

Pamela, thanks for the detailed information about smallpox.

I'm enjoying the story so far. Thank you for the extra context and information about the historical models for the characters!

Yes, thanks, everyone! This additional detail is great. I never considered that Hardy would base his characters on real people. Wow!

And I'm glad that you enjoy the illustration of Jenner giving that inoculation. Who would have thought it would be memorialized in paint?

The First Countess of Wessex
FOURTH SEGMENT SUMMARY


He Rode Away in the Direction of Bristol by Alfred Parsons. Scanned image by Philip Allingham, posted on the victorianweb.org.

After taking more of his medicine than prescribed, Squire Dornell is on his feet and begins traveling. Traveling with him is his faithful and concerned servant Tupcombe.

They head toward Bristol (my bad, I mistakenly said Dornell was heading to King's-Hintock in the last summary) and after 15 miles, the Squire begins to show signs of tiring. The reach Bristol and put up at an inn, which Reynard had given in his correspondence as his residence. He had received Mrs. Dornell’s letter and was heading to King’s-Hintock but was waiting at the inn an extra day to give Betty’s father time to write to him “if so minded.��

And here we learn a bit about Reynard. He desired to obtain the Squire’s approval and did not want to do anything “that might seem harsh or forced�� in claiming his bride. He did not expect to see the ailing father, but is polite to the man.

The Squire argues for more time before relinquishing his daughter. Reynard was courteous but was also a bit obstinate. She had been promised by her 18th birthday at latest, sooner if she was in robust health. And it was Mrs. Dornell who set the time as now, not himself. He “firmly�� told the Squire that he had been willing to waive his rights to a reasonable extent but must now insist on the agreement made. He would proceed to King’s-Hintock in a few days to fetch her.


So He Stormed on till Tupcombe Entered Suddenly by Charles S. Reinhart. Image scanned and text by Philip Allingham. From victorianweb.org

The announcement set Dornell off, and the two continue arguing for a while. Tupcombe, who had been in an adjacent room, rushes in declaring to Reynard that his master’s life was in danger. Reynard leaves the room.

Everything seems to be settled down for the evening, Tupcombe urging that the Squire to go to bed. Instead, he insists upon mounting and getting back as far as Falls-Park to continue the journey to King’s-Hintock on the following day. As the evening grows dark, Tupcombe notices that Dornell’s strength was giving way. The Squire admits that he feels bad and can hardly keep his seat.

Somehow they reach Falls-Park. The next day, it is obvious that Dornell can’t possible go to King’s-Hintock.

Fourth Segment Summary - Part 2

The Squire’s physical condition continues to be bad and Tupcombe was fearful for him. The doctor treating Dornell has decided that Dornell is in great danger and someone should take a message on his condition to Mrs. Dornell.

Tupcombe is chosen to take the message but before he leaves, Dornell urges him to urge Betty to come �� after her mother has already left. Tupcombe is to bring Betty by a different route, so that mother and daughter arrive separately. Tupcombe leaves five minutes later.


The Drive, King's-Hintock Park by Alfred Parsons. Scanned image by Philip V. Allingham and posted on victorianweb.org

As Tupcombe gets closer to Kings-Hintock, he makes sure that there are not any tracks of an earlier visitor. The house appears dark as if they do not expect the bridegroom.

But behind him, Tupcombe hears another traveler behind him. He pulls up lose to a dense tree and waits. He spots young Phelipson, who passes round to the east angle where Betty’s apartments are situated. Dismounting, Tupcombe walks to the house and he discovers that Betty has made her own plans �� she is running away with Phelipson!

Sorry guys �� this segment is an important one, so there is a lot of detail and events to discuss.

But look! I think I've finally gotten a firm grip on how to add images. And I think the last two are very interesting. The one of the argument between Dornell and Reynard says so much of the two men's opinions, and then we see Tupcombe, so worried about the condition of his master.

I didn't include the details about Tupcombe's background with the family, but I think you will find that interesting, along with his knowledge about the attraction between Betty and Phelipson and what it all means.

The image just above I really am interested in, mainly because we just don't see such entrances as intricate as this in America. And I'm very curious about what looks like a tramp on the right. Wonder why he is there?

Betty is legally married so it is quite scandalous to be running away with Phelipson!

Thanks for posting Parson's illustrations. I especially like the last illustration which has such a Gothic feeling to it, Pamela.

That's true, the illustration does have a gothic feel. Good spotting of the tramp at the right side, Pamela. I would have missed that if you hadn't mentioned it.

I quite like Tupcombe. First off, it's a great name, not that it means anything significant, I just rather like the sound of it. Adding minor characters with flushed out backgrounds, and emotions really adds color to this story.

Hardy is creating some suspense by repeatedly saying that the Squire wishes something would happen to Reynard within the hearing of Tupcombe and the other servant. My little brain in spinning on the possibilities here.

I love that brooding illustration.

I was afraid that Tupcombe might take matters into his own hands should he meet Reynard on the road. Instead, Betty eloped before he could get involved.

That Betty has indeed developed smallpox caught me by surprise. I can't really blame Phelipson for his reaction, even though his rejection must be painful for Betty. Returning Betty to her window, un-absconded, her father dead, and her husband arrived. How will this all end?

Dornell refuses a priest on his deathbed, which tells us something more about his character. He dies cheering Betty's flight, and "People said there had not been such an ungenteel death in a good family for years." He cares more about his daughter's happiness than legal marriage, duty, or social status.

So sorry, folks! I completely forgot!

The First Countess of Wessex
FIFTH SEGMENT SUMMARY

Tupcombe, thwarted in his efforts to give Betty a message, is encouraged to spend the night at King's-Hinton, but instead travels back to his master.

during his travels he comes across a hired coach and a stranger's face �� he doesn't realize that it is Reynard.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Dornell �� having received Tupcombe's note on the state of husband's illness �� hastens to her daughter's room to tell her the news. But there is no answer to her knocks. She quickly calls the house-steward and has him burst open the door. When he does so �� as we should all know �� Betty has flown.

Her first thought is that somehow Tupcombe has notified Betty of her father's condition and makes ready to leave to be at her husband's bedside. As she travels, she meets Reynard's coach and tells him of part of the facts concerning Betty attraction to another man. And based on her assumption, she tells Reynard that Betty has " 'rushed off to her father to avoid you. ... But, if you wait, she will soon forget this young man, and you will have nothing to fear.' "

So Reynard goes forward to King's-Hinton, planning on writing a missive to Betty, while Mrs. Dornell continues to her husband.

Mrs. Dornell reaches Falls-Park early in the morning and discovers Betty is not there. She goes to the bedside of her husband and finds that the Squire is sinking. He sobs at the sight of his wife and asks for Betty, forcing his wife to admit that Betty fled, apparently with Phelipson. He is cheered but soon dies.

Betty and Phelipson are traveling away from King's-Hinton, leaving by an obscure gate and eventually make it to an old Roman road called Long-Ash Lane. A bit alarmed at their own actions, they proceed and and come to a roadside inn shill open.

Poor Betty is starting to feel unwell and dismounts from the horse. They are shown into a parlor and when a light is brought Phelipson discovers signs that Betty has small-pox!

She explains what she did in an effort to avoid meeting with Reynard. Phelipson is now frightened. "'And you've been holding on to me!' he said. 'And Suppose you get worse, and we both have it, what shall we do? Won't you be a fright in a month or two, poor, poor Betty!'"

Phelipson doesn't help his situation by laughing a bit, and then argues that they should go back to King's-Hinton. After all, she really is Reynard's as long as Reynard is alive.

"'Is this your love?'"Betty says and picks up her cloak and heads outside, remounting the horse. She urges him to lead the horse back to her home, "'so that if you've not caught anything already, you'll not catch it going back. After all, what keeps off you may keep off him.'"

Back they went back the way they had come, and Betty climbs the latter once again. When she faces him for a kiss, he backs away. She heads up the ladder and steps back into her room without looking behind her.

So sorry once again for posting the last segment so late in the day. I completely went into my morning routine instead of getting right to the thread before anything else.

So I'm hoping that we can give some attention to this segment where Betty seems to have decided that instead of waiting for Reynard, she chooses o run away with Phelipson.

Do you think she realizes what that action could do to her reputation? To any future with her lawful husband?

And then, there is Phelipson's reaction to her condition �� first he is frightened, seemingly just about himself, and then he makes fun of what Betty will look like as she suffers the illness.

Its a telling point about Phelipson and forces Betty to realize that just because she has known him for a while (and not Reynard), that doesn't make him a reliable individual. He sounds shallow, doesn't he?

Hardy does point out his age �� let's hope that maturity and this experience helps him in the future.

Meanwhile, Betty has returned to King's-Hinton, ill but defeated. At her age, she probably believes that Reynard will react in a similar way.

What are your feelings?

Phelipson isn't tactful about the chance of smallpox scarring. However, this is a disease that can cause death. I can understand how he would be fearful, and think that Betty was not being careful by purposely exposing herself to smallpox. How would we have felt if someone with Covid (before vaccines) exposed us to Covid and wanted to be kissed?

They both are coming across as immature, but Betty is 18 and Phelipson is not much older. Since Betty is legally married to Reynard, they haven't thought about what running away would do to her reputation. They really haven't worked out whether they could have a future together.

I too think it is their youth that causes them to be so impetuous. Betty has now acted rashly twice. Once with smallpox exposure and second running away with Phelipson.

Going back home, and avoiding contagion with anyone else is a good choice. You are right Connie, that in early Covid days we all avoided exposure, in a similar way. I don’t find fault with Phelipson wanting to stay away from smallpox, but laughing about Betty having it was not nice.

We haven't had very long on this story, so we will leave it current for a few days, for more comments. Thank you so much Pamela, for starting off our closer look at A Group of Noble Dames. It's not a collection I know, although a couple of stories from it have been dramatised (not this one though).

It's proving very interesting, especially with all the extra pictures etc. you've found. Thank you 😊

Will post the final segment summary shortly. I’m having internet issues at home so will be going to my daughters to post using her computer. Sigh.

Aw Pamela! I'm so sorry - don't panic if it isn't convenient, as the thread will still be here 😊

(My internet fell over yesterday too, but fortunately only for about an hour. I was just glad I wasn't in the middle of a long, complicated post!)

THE FIRST COUNTESS OF WESSEX
FINAL SEGMENT SUMMARY

Betty is home in her room, feeling unwell and shaking with sobs. She realizes her rash act was indeed that and can't blame her lover's conduct.

She eventually opens her bedroom door and cautiously moves downstairs. In the dining-parlor, she is startled to see, not her mother, but a man.

Reynard starts to tell her that she has gone to Betty's father but stops �� aghast at her appearance but he shows compassion and offers to take her upstairs and call a doctor.

But Betty rushes to tell him all, about the other man and how he deserted her. He offers to kiss her and follows up his offer. But instead of letting him carry her upstairs, she drags herself there, while Reynard summons servants and goes off to get a doctor.

The next morning, he learns that her attack "promises to be a light one." He sends up a note to Betty, telling her he promised her mother not to see her and may be upset when she discovers that he is in the house. He is therefore leaving but asks her to promise to see him as soon as she is well.

He realizes that within 12 months her former infatuation may change and finds love with him. Mrs. Dornell, having "closed her husband's eyes," returns to court and is relieved to find Betty there, even ill. Betty's illness runs its course and she has been fortunate in that there are only a few small marks from her experience.

Squire Dornell is buried at his estate and his wife embraces his opinion about delaying Betty's union with Reynard. He is frustrated but he has grown to love Betty in his own way. He writes to Betty and does infringe on the further delay.

As her mother predicted, he is offered a Barony. And while her mother urges delay, until she is 19, Betty is now concerned about th length of delay.

But the time is used by Mrs. Dornell to train Betty in her future duties, while showing devotion to her late husband by rebuilding the church of King's-Hintock village and establishing a number of charities. It was a period of continuing growth for Betty, who served as her mother's constant companion.

When the Squire has been nearly a year in his vault, Mrs. Dornell was asked by Reynard if he could come soon; he would be willing to stay at King's-Hintock if Mrs. Dornell wished, rather that taking Betty right away.

Before she could respond to Reynard, Mrs. Dornell seeks Betty walking on the south terrace and is struck by her figure. She asks her daughter if she has seen her husband since the Squire's death and Betty admits that she has, about five months ago when here mother went to London. Betty admits that they have seen each other about a dozen times since, twice by accident.

As her mother remonstrates, Betty remarks that after all, her mother had 'made' her marry him and that it is her duty to obey him "more than you now."

Mrs. Dornell is unhappy but allows the couple to get together and being their cohabitation. It was the beginning of a happy marriage, with numerous children. Betty eventually became the first Countess of Wessex.

And when Reynard died, Betty wrote an epitaph, in which she described him as the best of husbands, fathers and friends.