Handwritten letter, continuation: dressing in haste, the fans, the visit to 'the Sisters' and Nell's debut in society
Book 1, Page 188
Transcription
An open-book scan showing two facing leaves of a handwritten letter in brown ink on lined paper, in the same hand as page 187. Both columns begin and end mid-sentence.
Left page
So Nell told Tho. after / dinner, that we had not / thought of it & had not / prepared any dress, he / was crushed at the / announcement & ^they took it / to heart so much that / we decided to just go / as we were. Nell got / the blacking brush & / shined up her shoes / & fixed her hair over, when / to her horror she found / there was not a puff / in the drawer! But I / had fortunately done / up some in the morning, / & she run a stick / in two of the puff dried / starched ones, & I had / one, & she the other. I pied / my hair over freshly & / we were adorned not — / forgetting clean cuffs—!
Right page
Nell had a Turkey tail / fan in her hand, & I had / an awful old blk. shutting / up one, that Nell had / threatened to give to the / maid a few weeks ago / however we appeared! / at “the Sisters’” & behaved / ourselves so meekly & / were so bright Cheerful / & Entertaining, that Every / body seemed pleased / to meet us — we have / had lots of fun talking / over our Experiences of / the Evening — & Nell has / had a sample of how / very Entertaining Society / is, she confides to me / Thusly — “Why Kate, I had / more to say, & been had / to help out people who / would come up evidently / to be polite —”!
AI Notes
An open-book scan showing two facing leaves of a handwritten letter in brown ink on lined paper, in the same hand as page 187 and continuing the same wedding/reception narrative. The left column describes how, after Nell told ‘Tho.’ (Thomas) at dinner that they had not prepared any dress and that he was ‘crushed at the announcement,’ the writer and Nell decided to just go as they were — Nell blacking her shoes, fixing her hair, the writer running sticks into starched puffs she had done up that morning, both finally adorned with clean cuffs. The right column describes their fans (Nell’s turkey-tail, the writer’s awful old black shutting-up one that Nell had threatened to give to the maid), their appearance at ‘the Sisters’’ and the social success that followed, with Nell’s witty commentary ‘Thusly — Why Kate, I had more to say, & been had to help out people who would come up evidently to be polite!’ This page corrects several earlier hallucinations including the speaker word ‘Thusly’ (was ‘[Mhsly]’) and ‘puff dried’ (was ‘[muff]dried’). Letter continues onto page 190 (paginated ‘10’) and beyond.
Letter continues on next page. “Tho.” here appears to be “Thomas,” the bridegroom or a family member; the writer is reporting to Kate. The Sisters’ refers to the home of “the Sisters” — perhaps the King family or another household — where the writer and Nell paid the obligatory call.