Author Comment:
Her “something-or-other”? Now what would a bright young woman be doing with one of those?
Prologue 2 | Page 23
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Author Comment:
Her “something-or-other”? Now what would a bright young woman be doing with one of those?
This is hilarious. April 15 is the day income taxes are due in the US, so obviously her “something or other” is her “tax status”.
Since ancient Jewish law required that a man who seduced a woman must then marry her (Ex 22:15), that is obviously what Mother had in mind, since “everyone” was well acquainted with the Bible in those days. I don’t know what British law was in 1816 (5?4?), but many American states had laws that required men who seduced women by promising to marry to “follow through”. A goodly number of breach of promise suits that demanded “specific performance” rather than monetary damages were for marriage, since no amount of money could restore a woman’s good name.
Well, look at that. Income tax was used in Britain from 1798 to 1816. I wonder whether there was a marital deduction and so forth, and whether one needed a quarter to gather the records to file the taxes for the previous year (so that an April 15 tax day made sense). Concern over tax status may not be as nonsensical as I at first assumed.
Taxes! Of course! That makes so much more sense! Why didn’t I think of that?
Gotta watch those itemized deductions; they’re tricky. 🙂