 Corder wished to keep his relationship with Marten a secret, but she gave birth to their child in 1827 at the age of 25, and was apparently keen that she and Corder should marry.The child died (later reports suggested that it may have been murdered), but Corder apparently still intended to marry Marten.That summer, in the presence of her stepmother, Ann Marten, he suggested that she meet him at the Red Barn, from where he proposed that they elope to Ipswich.