I've been dipping into Gaskell's biography over the weekend and found the letters of Charlotte Bronte, as quoted by Mrs Gaskell, very interesting. Despite her loneliness after Anne's death, she struck me as a possible case of Münchausen's by proxy. She seems to delight in telling others, via letters, of the care she's taking of Anne, or of how Emily is bearing up; thereby making herself the central figure in the tragedy and someone who would be viewed as wonderfully helpful and kind. Makes me wonder whether she induced her sisters' illnesses in order to get a type of attention she felt she lacked.
After Anne's death, her father becomes ill, as do Tabby and Martha, the servants. Again she takes care of them and is sure to mention this many times in her letters.
But tubemonkey is probably right. It was Miss Scarlett with the Rope in the Kitchen
