Lyn Reid Banks Part VI

Patrick was worried by Charlotte's pregnancy and she soon became ill. She had severe vomiting, a condition that affects some women in pregnancy and it was clear that she was seriously ill. Arthur nursed her devotedly but she grew weaker. It seemed her short period of married happiness was coming to an end. She was exhausted and felt too ill to be glad that she was having a baby. Arthur had promised her that he would take care of Patrick if anything happened to her, and now, she was clearly not going to recover, so he braced himself to agree to stay with the old man till he died. She told him that they had been so happy, and she could not quite believe she was going to die, but she was fading away. Tabby, her old nurse, died of old age just before Charlotte also passed away. The story ends there, with Arthur taking up the burden of looking after Patrick which he did for 6 years. He then gave up his orders and returned to Ireland, and he later married a cousin of his, Mary Ann Bell who was a fond wife to him for many years. But his great love was always Charlotte. The two novels are very good albeit Banks used the historical works that were available at the time. She seems to have rather put in every good story about the Brontes that she came across, rather than selecting and checking things out, but it was still an entertaining work. The First novel was weaker than the second, I think, because in their early years the Brontes did have a narrow and difficult life. Branwell's alcoholism and weak nature caused problems and the girls were forced to go out as teachers and governesses, a job that was ill suited to their retiring natures. Particularly Charlotte was touchy and did not like being treated as a social inferior, and Emily hated being away from Haworth. Anne stuck out her jobs better but she was shocked at the immorality, as she saw it, of the families she worked for. Their trip to Brussels did not end well. Emily hated it and while it did give her more education, she was glad to go home and never left her village again. Charlotte went back after her aunt's death, and regretted it because she ended up falling in love with M Heger and suffering acutely when he made it clear that he did not return her feelings and that he felt she must not keep on writing to him. Madame Heger pushed her out of her job and Charlotte suffered for some time after she went back home. Their plan for a school of their own never got off the ground. Then within a couple of months, the 3 siblings, Emily Branwell and Anne all died of consumption, leaving Charlote alone. The next novel covered her years as a famous writer and is more entertaining, even if her prickly nature always made her difficult to socialise with. Its very sad that her period of marital happiness was so short. I've enjoyed the 2 works very much.