[Hardy-l] Re: Thoughts on 'Tess'

[Rosemarie Morgan]

The Post Office mailcoaches (which went out of practice in 1846) did carry 
armed guards ; Wiki says "ex-soldiers were employed because of their 
ability to use firearms. They then equipped them with a blunderbuss, two 
horse pistols, ammunition and a cutlass. It was the ever-present armed 
guard and the speed at which mail coaches travelled that made them 
virtually immune to robbery by highwaymen."  (Trains replaced mailcoaches 
in Victoria's day)

So it seems likely that the later mail-carts, privately contracted, would 
do the same.  Either way, this is not Hardy and I regret, with Keith, that 
the "Tess" series omits the Prince scene's important symbolism of the 
blood-stained Tess.
Best,
Rosemarie