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Nell is an abandoned orphan girl, no more than a toddler, whom Mattie finds and keeps during the epidemic. Nell quickly bonds with Mattie. Though Mother Smith urges Mattie to take Nell to the orphan house, Mattie decides to keep her. Nell comes to live at the reopened coffeehouse with Mattie, Mother, and Eliza’s family.
Nell Quotes in Fever 1793
The Fever 1793 quotes below are all either spoken by Nell or refer to Nell. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 23 Quotes
“Don’t love her,” warned Mother Smith.
“Pardon me?”
“I said, don’t you fall in love with that baby girl. She’s not yours. You can’t keep her. You had any sense, you’d take her right down to the orphan house tomorrow and hand her over. Don’t look back […] She stays with you, you feed her, wash her, sing to her, mother her, then give her away. How’s that going to make her feel? You’re the cruel one.”
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Nell Character Timeline in Fever 1793
The timeline below shows where the character Nell appears in Fever 1793. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 21: September 27th, 1793
Tiny Nell’s mother is dead, her body still in the house. Before she quite realizes what she’s...
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...taller of the two women looks familiar. Suddenly Mattie screams, “Eliza!” and starts running, with Nell clinging to her for dear life. One of the drunken men intercepts Mattie, inviting her...
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Mattie has lost sight of the two women. Nell is getting heavy. She speaks to a tired-looking woman who’s hanging out her laundry. The...
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Chapter 22: September 27th, 1793
...suffering. Eliza tells Mattie it’s getting dark, and they’ll talk about everything later. She gives Nell a roll and offers to carry the child, but Nell clings to Mattie’s neck. Soon...
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Eliza leads Mattie and Nell into Joseph’s small, tidy rooms above the cooperage. She explains that Joseph’s wife died last...
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Eliza watches Nell sleeping and tells Mattie that both she and Nell should probably go to the orphan...
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Chapter 23: September 28th, 1793
The next morning, Mattie wakes to find that Nell has wet the bed they’re sharing. She scrubs Nell’s and the twins’ bedding in the...
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As Mother Smith is leaving that night, she sees Mattie patting a sleeping Nell and warns, “Don’t love her […] She’s not yours. You can’t keep her.” It’s cruel,...
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Early the next morning, Mattie talks to Eliza about Nell. She agrees with Mother Smith that she has to think about Nell’s future. If Lucille...
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As Eliza, Nell, and Mattie walk to the orphan house, Mattie tries to distract herself from heartbreak, telling...
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Mattie looks into Nell’s trusting eyes and “[wants] to dance.” She thanks the woman and dashes down the steps...
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They pass the Ogilvie mansion, and Eliza tells Nell a story she’s heard about Colette Ogilvie. Colette almost died from the fever, but on...
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Chapter 24: October 1st, 1793
...with his face in his hands; he’s weeping. The twins are panting on the bed; Nell is feverish, too. Seeing their condition, even Eliza is shaken. Mattie thinks about what to...
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Chapter 25: October 14th, 1793
...sends a mule cart to the cooperage, and Mattie and Eliza pack the twins and Nell securely inside. Mattie “asked my heart to be hard,” knowing she can’t be helpful if...
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...difficult, though. As soon as one twin is made comfortable, the other jolts awake, screaming. Nell has nightmares and doesn’t recognize Mattie. One day blends into the next as they try...
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Chapter 27: October 30th, 1793
...Eliza’s money; she wants to share the business with her. This way, the twins and Nell can stay at the coffeehouse as well.
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Epilogue: December 11th, 1793
...is going to get the house stirring.” She hurriedly gets dressed, careful not to wake Nell. In the next bed, Mother is still sleeping. Mattie lets her rest—she’d coughed late into...
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