The End of the Year is Nigh

I cannot believe it’s almost the end of the year already. This year seems to have flown by, and I don’t feel I’ve achieved much. I’ll be working on my planning for the new year next week so you can look forward to an update on this year’s achievements then.

My End of Year To-do List

However, I still have so much to do before the end of the year. My rewrites for The Radical Heiress are ongoing, but progress feels slow. I’m about halfway through and I would like to get it finished before the new year.

I’m already regretting it, but I’ve signed up for another Austen anthology with the New Romance Café Publishing. This time it’s a ten-thousand-word short story, but the theme is still Austen characters and a tea party. I’ve been trying to get some ideas together, but nothing seems to work. I’ll need to get started drafting this in January, or I’ll struggle to meet the deadline.

I did think about writing a story featuring Miss Anne de Bourgh, the sickly daughter of Lady Catherine de Bourgh who features in Pride and Prejudice. Following some research about Anne, I found there are a lot of theories out there about why she was sickly.

Sickly and Pale Anne de Bourgh

Anne is portrayed as being quiet, unimposing and of a poor constitution. Elizabeth Bennet describes her as pale, thin, sickly and cross. Mr Collins, who we know likes to bestow little compliments to impress young ladies, believes Anne’s ill health had “deprived the British court of its brightest ornament.” So, we can surmise that while she’s unhealthy, she’s not unattractive. 

Now, the most common theory behind Anne’s illness is that Anne was downtrodden and unwell simply because she had to endure her overbearing mother. But Lady Catherine states that Anne has been in poor health since childhood for it prevented her from learning the traditional skills expected of young ladies such as the pianoforte, at which, of course, she would have been most proficient.

Laudanum

Then, I came across a theory about laudanum. Laudanum is a tincture of opium and was given regularly as a cure-all for any form of pain or insomnia. Addiction became common and an unrecognised public health concern in the nineteenth century. It was even given to babies to cure colic.

Could this be the reason behind Anne’s sickly constitution? Symptoms of laudanum addiction are very similar to Anne’s symptoms as portrayed in Pride and Prejudice.

Anne’s possible addiction has also led to theories about whether it was a sinister attempt by Lady Catherine to keep her daughter under her control. Now, while some may say it’s not beyond the woman, this may be reaching a little too far.

However, let’s not forget that Anne is the heiress of Rosings. She inherited the estate from her father. Yet, Lady Catherine is clearly the mistress of Rosings Park. Did Lady Catherine continue to dose Anne with laudanum even after her daughter overcame her childhood ailments simply so she could continue to control her daughter’s wealth and estate?

I won’t be using Anne in my short story, but I certainly think her tale is an interesting one. What will happen to her once Lady Catherine dies, for Anne certainly won’t be marrying her cousin, Mr Darcy?

You can read more about Anne’s possible addiction to laudanum here. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.