Jane was ecstatic when she learnt of the news. She couldn't have wished for a better sister, but when she next met her brother, she chastened him for keeping his feelings towards Louise such a secret.
“If I had known of your love, I could have helped you both on the way to happiness,” she said.
“That is what I was afraid of,” he replied.
The wedding was the occasion of the year. They married in the chapel at Glazebrook and Louise was declared a vision in her cream silk gown and lace trim. “Never was there a more beautiful bride,” Lord Philip said, as he waited to escort her to the chapel. “If I could find a woman with half your sense then perhaps I could one day be persuaded into matrimony.”
Louise laughed at him. “I still believe you will fall in love with someone who will not return your sentiments.”
Rather than be fashionably late arriving at the chapel, Louise was a few minutes early. She could not wait a moment longer to be married to her beloved Charles. She anxiously looked to the front of the church to find her nervous, fiancé smiling back at her.
After the ceremony, Louise placed her bouquet on her father's grave. “See, I chose wisely, father,” she whispered.
Six months into the marriage, the dependents at Glazebrook were satisfied that nothing had really changed. The head cook was a little happier, since Charles’s presence each night at dinner meant that her mistress was always wanting to vary her menu.
At first, Charles was a little overwhelmed by the constant visitors wishing the newly married couple well. As time went on, however, his wife would make excuses for him being absent at such visits due to his engineering commitments, which he pursued whenever possible in her restored workroom.
Jane and her husband were frequent visitors, and eventually so were Edward and his wife. Charles watched Louise revel in the novelty of family life, truly enjoying every moment with her brother and sister, nieces and nephews, who in the fullness of time became close companions to their own children, the heirs to Glazebrook.
And, as well as offering gardens and fields aplenty for family gatherings, the estate and house were large enough to provide times of peace and solitude, especially for a man and a woman who had found a deep and binding love against the odds.
Epilogue
Extract from English Standard Encyclopedia, first published 1967, this edition 1999.
Sir Charles Lucas 1826-1900
See also: Lucas, Louise; Adams, Robert
Famous Victorian engineer, he lacked the drive for fame sought by other engineers such as Brunel, but completed a great many projects, most of which still stand today. He is considered one of the best engineers of his time.
His early works include the bridge over the Tamar, which he completed after winning a hard fought competition; a massive extension to Bristol docks; and a railway tunnel under the Pennines
between Saddleworth and Slaithwaite.
Later works include huge improvements to coal and tin mine engineering. He is credited with saving the lives of thousands of miners and vastly improving their working conditions.
He married Louise Thomas in 1856 and was awarded an honorary knighthood in 1878 for services to engineering. A devoted family man to his wife and four children, he spent most of his working life on projects close to his home in Devon.
He is most famous for his joint ventures with 'Robert Adams', including a viaduct in North Cornwall, a bridge over the Thames and the Bristol Sewerage System. He caused sensation within the engineering world (and beyond) in 1899, when shortly after his wife's death, he revealed that Robert Adams was actually his wife, Lady Louise Lucas.
Lucas, Louise 1828-1899
See also: Lucas, Sir Charles; Adams, Robert
Wife of the famous Victorian engineer Sir Charles Lucas. Little is known about her except that in 1899, shortly after her death, she was revealed as the engineer 'Robert Adams' who co-designed a number of important projects, including a viaduct in Newquay, Cornwall; the Southridge Bridge across the Thames; and the Bristol Sewerage System (famous for its improvements on the London system) with her husband Sir Charles Lucas.
It is believed that after their marriage in 1856, Charles Lucas educated his wife in engineering at home and they began working together around 1865, although some more recent research has shown she may have started contributing ideas to his work much earlier.
It was her own wish that her identity as Robert Adams was kept a secret until after her death, as she believed that the world wasn't yet ready to accept a female engineer.
She published several research papers in the Engineering Journal under her pseudonym, and it was in that publication that her husband revealed her identity as Robert Adams in December 1899. He said of her in the article, “Finally she has the recognition she deserves,” and “When I started teaching her, she learnt quickly. There was very little she didn't understand. Her real passion was in chemical engineering, but my own knowledge in that area wasn't sufficient for her to actively work in that arena. We had to work secretly, and only a few family members knew of her achievements. She accompanied me often to the work sites on the pretext that she was an enthusiastic amateur. If anyone ever guessed she was Robert Adams, I never heard of it.”
The revelation caused several newspapers to run stories about it and there was a flurry of panic when some MP's and public officials questioned the sturdiness of her engineering work. However, any questions over her work were quickly quashed by established engineers of the day who declared her work to be of the highest standard.
Today she is a much revered feminist icon and the annual prize from the International Institute for Female Engineers is called the 'Robert Adams Award for Excellence in Engineering' in her honour.
Adams, Robert
see also Lucas, Louise; Lucas, Sir Charles.
Pseudonym used by Britain's only female Victorian engineer; Lady Louise Lucas.
Also from Escape with a book
Midsummer Eve at Rookery End
by
Elizabeth Hanbury
According to folklore, Midsummer Eve is the traditional time for love divination, when gentlemen and ladies can hope to meet their true love. Lord and Lady Allingham hold a lavish ball for the ton every year at their country house in Surrey, Rookery End, to celebrate this ancient custom.
The opulent splendour and sweet-scented gardens of Rookery End provide the perfect setting for romance and, as the long summer day merges into a balmy Midsummer Eve, six people are about to fall in love…
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
Love Engineered Page 22