The Lost Apothecary

Nella finds another note in the barrel of pearl barley. The note does not explicitly state what the writer wants, relying instead on subtle wordplay that hints at a desire for a deadly aphrodisiac. Nella assumes from the note’s somewhat cryptic wording that the writer is a wealthy woman who desires to have her cheating husband “die in the arms of his lover” (83) by ingesting this toxic stimulant. Though Nella has reservations about “meddling in the motives of the wealthy” (83), she recalls that Eliza’s note, though unsettling at first, resulted in an intended outcome. Squaring away her initial discomfort, Nella decides to fulfill this request; she grabs her coat and heads for Southwark in search of the beetles needed for the aphrodisiac.

On her way to the beetle field, Nella has a coughing fit that draws the attention of a young family with an infant named Beatrice. They invite her to come with them, telling her that they will “hire a boatman” (85) to reach Southwark. As she rides in the boat with them, she feels sick on the choppy river water and recalls her experience of morning sickness “despite the passage of two decades” (86), revealing that Nella was once pregnant with Frederick’s child.