Demelza is quiet for a moment, watching their children play, and then she says, "Julia and I were that ill when we arrived. Twas... dip... diphtheria, I believe it were called here. Our surgeons called it the putrid throat and there was so little to be done and when we got here I was so worried she might not make it, but the doctors here are wonderful. They saved us both."

She draws in a deep breath, then lets it out, not wanting to admit Julia's illness that been her fault.

"Ever since then, I find I worry about her all the time," she says. "I came so close to losing her."