mistaken the day -’ (KS). The implication, of course, is that Caroline Bowles should have realised for herself how unfitting her marriage to this old man was. Yet she always maintained that he seemed to her to be perfectly normal beforehand -a little absent-minded perhaps, and not in terribly good health, but nothing that rest and care would not mend: she hoped to persuade him against overworking. The angry exchange recounted in these passages, deeply upsetting to both parties, but no doubt quite devastating for the newly married woman, was never after­ wards referred to. Kate records that it was the last time Mrs Southey ever came downstairs to take tea with her. Caroline Southey had already, it seems, tactlessly expressed astonishment at finding the rather dim Aunt Lovell in residence as a fixture (apparently Southey had neglected to mention her presence): ‘Could she not go to the Coleridges under such circumstances -?’ (KS). She had also not hidden her dismay at discovering the true state of the Southey household finances; Southey had been as blandly optimistic in this regard as he was in his idea of his own health (‘Your Father has always kept telling me he could calculate on at least 10 years of health &c strength -’): ‘Mrs Southey expressed much disappointment at the smallness of my Father’s Income -said he had told her he could calculate on upwards of a thousand a year’ (KS). The upshot was, that Mrs Southey’s own dwindling resources were called upon to pay the bills; although Kate, too, seems to have been obliged to withdraw money from her savings for the same purpose. Kate’s most often voiced complaint is not about any neglect of her father by his new wife -far from it; she can never get time alone with him. She felt her own role as housekeeper to her father, only assumed on the day he left for Buckland the previous spring, which was also the day her elder sister Edith married (12 March 1839), had been snatched from her, even though, she reports, T continued my Father’s Housekeeper at Mrs Southey’s request till early in November 1839 -’ (KS). By this time, tensions had magnified to the point where Kate felt her position to be altogether untenable: T gave up the keys’. She claimed she was ‘terrified’ of Mrs Southey’s violent temper, and it certainly does appear as though govern­ ing her anger was not one of Caroline’s strengths. Kate reports that even Mrs Southey’s faithful maid Honour admonished her mistress on one occasion: ‘her own maid said -“Its of no use being in such a passion Ma’am, there’s no harm done” -’ (KS). This was in connection with some carelessness by a manservant in the process of unpacking a ward­ robe full of her things, that had arrived belatedly from Buckland. It was an unbearable situation for everybody, with no way out. It is only by glimpsing the detail of these petty domestic struggles, however, that one is enabled to comprehend what a catastrophic effect the situation had on a number of lives. For example, included in Kate’s ‘Statement’ is

DOI link for mistaken the day -’ (KS). The implication, of course, is that Caroline Bowles should have realised for herself how unfitting her marriage to this old man was. Yet she always maintained that he seemed to her to be perfectly normal beforehand -a little absent-minded perhaps, and not in terribly good health, but nothing that rest and care would not mend: she hoped to persuade him against overworking. The angry exchange recounted in these passages, deeply upsetting to both parties, but no doubt quite devastating for the newly married woman, was never after­ wards referred to. Kate records that it was the last time Mrs Southey ever came downstairs to take tea with her. Caroline Southey had already, it seems, tactlessly expressed astonishment at finding the rather dim Aunt Lovell in residence as a fixture (apparently Southey had neglected to mention her presence): ‘Could she not go to the Coleridges under such circumstances -?’ (KS). She had also not hidden her dismay at discovering the true state of the Southey household finances; Southey had been as blandly optimistic in this regard as he was in his idea of his own health (‘Your Father has always kept telling me he could calculate on at least 10 years of health &c strength -’): ‘Mrs Southey expressed much disappointment at the smallness of my Father’s Income -said he had told her he could calculate on upwards of a thousand a year’ (KS). The upshot was, that Mrs Southey’s own dwindling resources were called upon to pay the bills; although Kate, too, seems to have been obliged to withdraw money from her savings for the same purpose. Kate’s most often voiced complaint is not about any neglect of her father by his new wife -far from it; she can never get time alone with him. She felt her own role as housekeeper to her father, only assumed on the day he left for Buckland the previous spring, which was also the day her elder sister Edith married (12 March 1839), had been snatched from her, even though, she reports, T continued my Father’s Housekeeper at Mrs Southey’s request till early in November 1839 -’ (KS). By this time, tensions had magnified to the point where Kate felt her position to be altogether untenable: T gave up the keys’. She claimed she was ‘terrified’ of Mrs Southey’s violent temper, and it certainly does appear as though govern­ ing her anger was not one of Caroline’s strengths. Kate reports that even Mrs Southey’s faithful maid Honour admonished her mistress on one occasion: ‘her own maid said -“Its of no use being in such a passion Ma’am, there’s no harm done” -’ (KS). This was in connection with some carelessness by a manservant in the process of unpacking a ward­ robe full of her things, that had arrived belatedly from Buckland. It was an unbearable situation for everybody, with no way out. It is only by glimpsing the detail of these petty domestic struggles, however, that one is enabled to comprehend what a catastrophic effect the situation had on a number of lives. For example, included in Kate’s ‘Statement’ is

mistaken the day -’ (KS). The implication, of course, is that Caroline Bowles should have realised for herself how unfitting her marriage to this old man was. Yet she always maintained that he seemed to her to be perfectly normal beforehand -a little absent-minded perhaps, and not in terribly good health, but nothing that rest and care would not mend: she hoped to persuade him against overworking. The angry exchange recounted in these passages, deeply upsetting to both parties, but no doubt quite devastating for the newly married woman, was never after­ wards referred to. Kate records that it was the last time Mrs Southey ever came downstairs to take tea with her. Caroline Southey had already, it seems, tactlessly expressed astonishment at finding the rather dim Aunt Lovell in residence as a fixture (apparently Southey had neglected to mention her presence): ‘Could she not go to the Coleridges under such circumstances -?’ (KS). She had also not hidden her dismay at discovering the true state of the Southey household finances; Southey had been as blandly optimistic in this regard as he was in his idea of his own health (‘Your Father has always kept telling me he could calculate on at least 10 years of health &c strength -’): ‘Mrs Southey expressed much disappointment at the smallness of my Father’s Income -said he had told her he could calculate on upwards of a thousand a year’ (KS). The upshot was, that Mrs Southey’s own dwindling resources were called upon to pay the bills; although Kate, too, seems to have been obliged to withdraw money from her savings for the same purpose. Kate’s most often voiced complaint is not about any neglect of her father by his new wife -far from it; she can never get time alone with him. She felt her own role as housekeeper to her father, only assumed on the day he left for Buckland the previous spring, which was also the day her elder sister Edith married (12 March 1839), had been snatched from her, even though, she reports, T continued my Father’s Housekeeper at Mrs Southey’s request till early in November 1839 -’ (KS). By this time, tensions had magnified to the point where Kate felt her position to be altogether untenable: T gave up the keys’. She claimed she was ‘terrified’ of Mrs Southey’s violent temper, and it certainly does appear as though govern­ ing her anger was not one of Caroline’s strengths. Kate reports that even Mrs Southey’s faithful maid Honour admonished her mistress on one occasion: ‘her own maid said -“Its of no use being in such a passion Ma’am, there’s no harm done” -’ (KS). This was in connection with some carelessness by a manservant in the process of unpacking a ward­ robe full of her things, that had arrived belatedly from Buckland. It was an unbearable situation for everybody, with no way out. It is only by glimpsing the detail of these petty domestic struggles, however, that one is enabled to comprehend what a catastrophic effect the situation had on a number of lives. For example, included in Kate’s ‘Statement’ is