Fanny and Stella by Neil McKenna

Author:Neil McKenna [Neil McKenna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780571231904
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2013-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

19

The Battle of the Bottoms

An Awkward Question

‘Mamma dear,’ said the youth, ‘what is the meaning of the word bugger?’

‘Bugger, my child? Why do you ask?’

‘Because I heard my tutor call the coachman a damn bugger.’

‘Well, my child,’ replied the Marchioness, ‘a bugger is a person who does his fellow an injury behind his back.’ Cough.

The Pearl, 1880

T he consulting room at Newgate Gaol had rarely been so crowded. Crammed inside along with Fanny and Stella, there were no fewer than six doctors, four prison warders, three detectives, two medical orderlies, Mr Abrams the solicitor and a gentleman from the Treasury who was there to represent the public interest. There was barely room to swing a cat.

That afternoon in early June was especially fine and warm, which was all very well outside in God’s fresh air, but in the dank and airless confines of Newgate, with its unmistakable and pervasive smell of prison rot – a rank combination of unwashed bodies, disease, sewage, despair and hopelessness – the stench and the heat were overwhelming. Several of the gentlemen in attendance felt decidedly faint, and only the strong odour of carbolic in the consulting room prevented them from actually keeling over.

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