![]() Then her father was struck down by a man hauling turnips to the London market. Her father’s income had been sufficient to clothe them, and feed them, and send them on a cheerful whirlwind of happy activities during the season. Her mother had been the daughter of a nobleman, and so family and friends invited the family everywhere. ![]() While her parents were alive, her bad luck was reflected in small things, like a favorite doll being grabbed by an organ-grinder’s monkey in the street. ![]() Her bad luck showed its hand when the man in question (Lord Reeves) was declared mad and carted off to the country shortly thereafter. They danced all night, and she drifted home, her head full of dreams of marriage and babies. A case in point? One evening she fell in love with a winsome, laughing man who seemed to share her delight in the evening. She wasn’t ugly or deformed or illegitimate. She had never been hungry, or beaten, or forced to work long hours in dim light. ![]() Unlucky is not the same thing as desperate. If someone had asked her, Charlotte Tatlock would have unhesitatingly pointed to her defining trait. A woman might have feet as large as tubs, or remarkable musical talents. Some women’s lives are defined by a single trait: golden hair, perhaps, or a grating laugh. ![]()
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