55) for there were some railways then: The first railway came to York in 1840, and Brontë herself probably used it to journey to Thorp Green.2 (p. 58) Port Nelson in New Zealand: Mary Taylor, a friend of Charlotte’s, very recently had left for New Zealand in March 1845.3 (p. 60) Valpy’s delectus: In November 1843 Anne had bought, with her own money, a copy of this popular Latin textbook for her charges at Thorp Green. Few governesses would have had the ability to tutor in Latin.4 (p. 62) to show the unfortunate state of the family to which my services were, for the present devoted: The contrast of the Bloomfields to the Murrays is striking: The former were consciously vicious, but the latter are more adrift because they lack any moral compass. The result, sadly, is much the same—lack of active virtue is as debilitating as intentional vice.5 (p. 65) swear like a trooper: The military then (as now) was proverbial for expertise in swearing; that Matilda has learned this from her father suggests that neither he nor Mrs.
