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Great Farleigh Hall, Somerset, January 1811
"So, I promised to tell you how babies are made," Charlotte's mother said with a sigh that told Charlotte, she clearly dreaded the conversation as much as Charlotte did.
Charlotte clenched her teeth and cringed her toes in her slippers. This would clearly be both an embarrassing and uncomfortable conversation.
Her sister Lucy however leaned forward her eyes glistening with anticipation. Lucy, or Lucinda as her name actually was, had been the one pushing for their mother to have this conversation with them.
Charlotte would happily have waited until the night before her wedding. She was only eighteen, about to have her debut in London, and did not anticipate marrying anytime soon. Her aunt Georgiana had not married until she was 22 and that seemed a much more sensible age. Charlotte certainly had not met anyone of her acquaintance that she would wish to marry. Although granted the majority of the men she met were her father's friends or associates from the House of Lords and felt much too old.
"As you might know men and women are built differently," Charlotte's mother, the Duchess of Camborne, went on. Seemingly thinking that the quicker she divulged herself of the information, the speedier she could exit the room.
"Yes, I've seen that in art books and the British Museum," Lucy said eagerly.
Charlotte too had noticed the difference when they had seen the statues at the British Museum, but she was certainly not about to mention that.
"When you marry you will..." Charlotte's mother sighed as she was clearly trying to find the right word. "I suspect that you at least have some notion that babies are created when the husband and wife are alone together in the bedroom?"
Charlotte certainly had a notion. She all too vividly still remembered the morning nine years ago, when her younger brother Henry had burst into her mother's bedroom one morning and they had found their parents naked in bed. It had been this experience that had prompted Lucy to make her mother promise to tell them how babies were made when Charlotte turned eighteen. And Lucy had been adamant to hold her mother to that promise ever since.
"Yes, but what do they do in the bedroom?" Lucy said.
She sat on the edge of her chair. Charlotte slumped into hers as if she would be able to hide from this whole conversation. For once their mother did not seem to notice their bad posture. Her face had taken on a crimson hue under her icy blonde hair. Lucy had hair in the exact same color. One that Charlotte had always envied. Her own were a dark blonde that bordered on brown.
Charlotte's mother cleared her throat.
"Well, the man... thrusts his appendage into the woman, this eventually..."
Charlotte felt her face burn and was certain it had just the same color as her mother's.
"Well, this is essentially how babies are made," her mother hurriedly said. “But I think you should read these pamphlets to know more about it.”
She produced two small non-descript pamphlets in a dark purple color and handed one to each of them. On the cover was printed in a black font that was difficult to make out on the dark cover: “Advice for the young lady on her wedding night” and then below it simply: “By a married woman.” Charlotte turned the pamphlet over, but it did not say anything on the back of it.
“Do we have to read to understand this?” Lucy said as if reading was the most horrible thing to occur to her. Now it was her turn to slump in her chair.
“Well, yes, I think you would gain a lot of knowledge from the pamphlet. In fact, it is silly that mothers have to advice their daughters on this topic since it is so... sensitive,” her mother’s face was still flushed, but there was a firmness to her voice, that told Charlotte how important this matter was to her.
Charlotte turned the pamphlet over once more. She was unable to bring herself to open it, even though she was thoroughly intrigued by its content. As soon as she was alone – and could be sure not to be interrupted – she would open it.
Strictly she supposed that their conversation was over, but neither of them had moved. Despite Lucy’s initial reluctance she had already opened the pamphlet and was pouring over the content.
"Does..." Charlotte cleared her throat and looked down her hands, bemused that she had even spoken and that both her mother and Lucy were now looking at her. "Doesn't it hurt?" she had to know.
"Oh, no. No, no, no," her mother hurriedly assured her. "Or it can hurt a bit the first time but it’s not worth mentioning. No, it doesn't hurt. At least not if you make sure to choose the right man."
This almost made Lucy shoot from the back of the chair to the front.
"And how will we know whether we have found the right man?" She asked, the gleam back in her eyes.
"Well," their mother said and looked at her hands smoothing her pale green dress over her knees. "It's as if two bodies know whether they will be a good match and you will feel an instant attraction to the other person."
"How will we feel it?" Lucy asked breathlessly.
"It's like there is something pulling you towards the other person. Like... Like magnetism.” Their mother beamed at having come up with this explanation. “You will want to be with this person in every way."
Their governess had showed them how magnets could attract each other and push each other away. It seemed comforting to Charlotte that this would happen when she found the right man. That they would instantly know and then she would not have to do any work. In fact, it made the whole prospect of her first season seem a lot less intimidating.
"And this is how you feel about Papa?" Lucy said breathlessly.
"Well, yes, fortunately. As you know our marriage was to a large extent arranged by our fathers," her mother's voice had been a bit timid, but now held more strength as she said: "Which is why we wish for the two of you to marry out of love. Within reason we won't interfere with your choice of a husband. This is also a great responsibility however," she looked from Lucy to Charlotte. Both of them nodded solemnly.
"And I cannot stress enough that what I've told you is something that is only ever to take place between a husband and wife. You need to be very careful with your reputation. Even a kiss can lead to a ruined reputation."
She looked from Charlotte to Lucy and they both nodded solemnly again.
"Not that I mistrust the two of you. I know that we have raised the two of you to behave well," she said in a softer voice.
Charlotte nodded. She certainly had no intentions of kissing anyone inappropriate. As soon as she found the one that she fitted with, he would know as well and then he could propose, and all would be right and proper.