God's Country

Part Sixty-Nine

'This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.'

John 15:12

Miss Ellis, Miss Scott and Miss Ford served the birthday cake. Mrs Craig was celebrating and her whole family were there to share the day with her, including her son, her eldest daughter Madeleine and her very dearest family friends, including Charles Buckingham, his daughter Elizabeth, her husband and her stepdaughter, as well as Brogan Lawrence. It was mid-afternoon on what was a very tranquil day for all the ladies, and they were relaxing in the huge conservatory at the rear of Lake House, with its stunning views of the river. No one was muzzled or in mittens, although they were all exquisitely dressed, a treat arranged by Miss Ellis for Mrs Craig's blessed sake. The guardians were all happy to let their charges enjoy the afternoon, although they obviously kept a close eye on things. Brogan Lawrence sat next to Alice Craig and Claire Munroe, the three maidens perfectly arranged on a sofa, their gowns draped elegantly around them, all keeping themselves to themselves as the youngest there to show respect to their elders. Miss Ellis stayed very close to Brogan at all times. She had only spent two nights with the family and such a casual occasion was probably a bit much for her even if the other guests did understand her situation and were all family or friends. It was the first time she had been out of her muzzle in company and her first time out of mittens since Selfridges.

"So, Brogan dear, which church does your dear family attend in Australia?" Madeleine Buckingham asked in her usual patronising tone. Elizabeth had to force herself not to frown because her stepmother was often insufferable. She was the Prime Minister's wife and never let anyone ever forget it. But she was also in her confinement, and therefore starved of social company other than family and close friends, so Elizabeth tried her level best to be charitable towards her. Automatically she asked God to forgive her wicked thoughts, just like a good Daughter of Eve should, always so aware of her propensities.

"Good Shepherd Baptist Church, just outside Brisbane, Ma'am...my father has a farm near there." Brogan replied as politely as possible, well aware of Miss Ellis watching her, sticking resolutely to her cover story. Referring to Steven Lawrence as her father rather than her stepfather was part of the act, as well as another layer of truth in her adopted character. She remembered angering her mother by doing the same thing after they split up. "Since I came here to go to school I have attended school chapel services...and I have been all over the place in the holidays."

"Our Baptist friends are such staunch supporters of Pastor Winstanley's and Papa speaks very highly of your father, my dear Brogan...I am sure you are going to have a wonderful time here." Madeleine continued as she accepted a thin slice of birthday cake from Miss Ford, a relationship she was not particularly displeased to find rather more distant than it had been before. Her husband had of course hired another guardian for her, a young girl from the village who had at least trained for more than a few weeks, and who treated her mistress with rather more respect than Miss Ford had ever shown her.

"She will be good company for Alice," Mrs Craig smiled, before asking her daughter how she was feeling. Brogan nodded her thanks to Mrs Buckingham, but was delighted that the conversation had moved away from her. She was struggling to stay in her character, let alone maintain some composure. She had been readily accepted into the Craig's family and home and in that sense everything was going exactly according to her plans, but the reality of life as a Reformist maiden had shocked her to her very core. She had expected to be dressed up, of course. She had seen how the Meadvale women dressed, and she realised that she would be treated the same. That was, after all, what she had specifically asked for, in the guise of Steven Lawrence. She had basically given Paul Craig a free hand to treat her as he would treat his own daughter, and she could not deny that Mr Craig was keeping his promise. But the details were obviously a shock to her system, and she was not being given any time to think, let alone have some time to herself to take stock, or even write some notes. For a start she was sharing a room with Alice, and secondly her hands had never been freed to allow her to write. The mittens she had seen on the hands of all traditional Reformist women were buckled in place and although she had seen them many times before on others she had never considered the fact that they stopped her using her hands. They were quite literally denied the use of their hands, their fingers. She could not grip anything or pick anything up. Miss Ellis had to do everything for her. But astonishing though that was, it was still perhaps the least shocking element of her discoveries thus far.