Refined and Returned: Prologue

When the Rev. Mr Robert Thomas Watson first met Mrs Cassandra Beauclerk, née Willoughby, she was a widow of some years with no fortune to her name. While she was from a younger branch of a noble and respected lineage, her first husband had squandered her dowry before his demise. However, this did not deter Mr Watson, for Mrs Beauclerk, though a year older than himself and already over thirty, was still quite beautiful as well as intelligent, kind, and everything he could want in a wife. The couple married in December of 1770.

Since Cassandra had never conceived during her first marriage, Mr and Mrs Watson were both surprised and overjoyed when she felt the quickening within six months of their wedding. In late September of the following year, they welcomed their first child, Robert Willoughby Watson. Two years later, Elizabeth Theophila Watson was born in mid-November, followed two years later by Penelope Antonina Watson, in mid-March.

Believing their family complete, they were content with their three children. However, three years after Penelope, Margaret Arabella Watson was born in early April, followed another two years later by Samuel Charles Watson in mid-December. Their youngest arrived two years after Sam, just shy of Margaret’s fourth birthday: little Emma Cassandra Watson was born when her mother was forty-three.

While Cassandra provided her husband with a hale and hearty family, the multiple late births took a toll on her health, and she was quick to succumb to colds and fevers in later years. And with an income of only £120 from tithes along with the interest on their combined £4,640 and a family of eight, their finances were rather stretched. Still, they worked to provide a good life and proper education for their children. The parents taught the basics—reading, writing, arithmetic, and other foundational subjects—while carefully managing their expenses, and they reluctantly accepted financial aid from his family and hers for the further education of their children.

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Many years later, Mr Watson’s half-sister, Margaret, and her husband, Mr Edward Turner of Shropshire, visited the Watson family with a proposal. Married for over a decade without children of their own, the Turners decided to take in one to raise as their heir and made their way to Yorkshire.

With children in abundance and no little money to benefit them, Mr and Mrs Watson were eventually convinced to give up one of theirs to the cause. Reluctant though they were to part with one of their little “blessings”, the Watsons ultimately agreed, recognizing the advantages the arrangement would provide. The Turners stayed for a fortnight and observed the children before departing with their selection.

Elizabeth helped care for her younger siblings and made herself indispensable to her parents. Penelope and Margaret, whom Mrs Turner had her eye on as the latter was her goddaughter and namesake, were constantly fighting, screaming, and completely unruly in each other’s company which led their aunt to dismiss them both. Samuel was a good boy, but his going outside to return covered in mud with many-legged creatures in his pockets led Mrs Turner to assure her husband that a boy would be “far too disruptive to their peace”. Ultimately, it was decided that the youngest, Emma, would become the ward of the Turners.

Mrs Turner had noticed that Emma was a sweet-tempered child who remained quiet and still even when she was upset by her sisters’ antics and even when upset, and this unobtrusive nature was exactly what Mrs Turner was hoping to find in her future ward.

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Emma Watson was five-years-old when she was taken away from the only home she had ever known. Her mother and oldest sister had taken her aside before her departure and explained to her what was happening, but she could not understand why only she should go. She was afraid that she had done something wrong and could not comprehend why her loving mother and doting sister would betray her in such a way. While she did not kick and scream at her removal, she spent much of the trip in silent tears for her perceived abandonment.

          Watching the child silently cry, Mrs Turner became convinced in the rightness of her choice. Her husband on the other hand felt sorry for the small girl who was still too young to comprehend the benefits of her new position.

Next: Chapter 0 - The Turners

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