God's Country

Part Eighty-Five

'And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.'

Genesis 2:18

Miss Howard managed the transportation of her charges to France like a military operation just as her master had requested, not allowing Mrs Trevor, Olivia or Brogan to see or hear anything from the moment they left for the airport. Maidens were easily distressed on long journeys and Mr Trevor preferred them all to be cut off from the experience, including his mother in the discipline more for appearances sake than anything else. Brogan did not mind at all, of course. It was an honour just to be invited and the final hurdle before she could walk down the aisle with Harry and finally escape her personal nightmare. It was quite usual for a prospective mother-in-law to invite her future daughter-in-law to visit before the marriage in the village according to Alice. Mrs Trevor thought that Brogan would be living with her in the family home, and she wanted them all to get to know each other before the glorious day arrived.

The betrothal had caused great excitement at Lake House. Brogan was clearly thrilled and her adopted mother and sister were pleased that she was happy. Miss Ellis had immediately started a series of lessons concerning the duties of a good wife and the dutiful maiden had continued to work hard, which had been noticed in Meadvale. Brogan herself, and Paul Craig for his part in her transformation, were much admired and Pastor Michael even referred to her as a shining example of what could be done. It was another shining example of the Reformist community reaching out and sharing God's love. And Harry Trevor seemed equally delighted with the announcement, his press release stating how honoured he was to join two great families such as the Craig's and the Trevor's.

Apparently the Trevor family liked to spend a restful week or two in Cannes or Nice most summers, but Harry was too busy with work and the by-election and that meant that the three ladies could spend some quality time alone together under the eagle eye of the trusted family guardian. Brogan passed the rather bumpy flight listening intently to her lesson, hoping that she could suitably impress Miss Howard if she was questioned on her studies later. She was totally lost in her own little world, absorbing the soothing words of Pastor Winstanley whilst endlessly dreaming of Harry setting her free.

Miss Howard was a strict guardian it seemed, and Brogan was yet to have a private word with Olivia. Not surprisingly, the opportunity did not present itself upon arrival, because Miss Howard wanted to settle the girls after their journey. They were bathed and changed and fed through their tubes in their hotel suite, before spending the rest of the day covered in their comfortable private lounge. Mrs Trevor was allowed to take tea with friends, as the hotel was a regular haunt and she knew lots of people there, but the girls ate a quiet dinner in their room and were put to bed as usual in their sleeping gowns, allowing them to properly recover from the rigours of air travel. But even Miss Howard had to let them both relax sooner or later on a holiday and Brogan was quite prepared to practise patience. Brogan worked hard for her, and Olivia was clearly an obedient maiden too, so after more lessons in the morning and a blind walk on the promenade after their liquid lunch for some exercise, Miss Howard finally settled them in the suite with their needlepoint, as it was really far too hot for them to sit outside on the balcony. Mrs Trevor was again with her old friends downstairs, and Miss Howard wanted to buy some bits and pieces from the hotel shop. So she left the two girls alone in the suite on their honour, unmuzzled and with their hands blissfully free, telling them that she would only be a minute. It was really extremely ironic. Brogan would have died for such an opportunity a few months before. She could have been out of the room and in a police station in a matter of minutes, and she was certainly tempted to run, but the truth was that proving her story would still be a struggle. Her papers were all quite official, and no one would corroborate her story except poor Olivia, and she doubted if she would ever be allowed to support her, as a British national claiming political asylum would cause quite a big fuss. In fact, she actually suspected that simply to avoid all the trouble, the French authorities would just hand her straight back to her legal guardians and wash their hands of her. But without the prospect of Harry she would still have taken her chance. It was the only one she had ever had, and with only Mrs Trevor downstairs in the lobby she doubted if anyone would be able to stop her. She almost laughed as Miss Howard left them all alone. The locked door would never have stopped her without mittens. Miss Ellis would never have been so casual with her maidens. Even though neither the guardian nor Mrs Trevor was far away it was an incredible risk to take. But the two girls were not considered a risk of course, especially left together. Brogan had to stifle the smile playing around her lips because she was considered to be a paragon of virtue. Obviously Miss Ellis did not think that there was any chance either of the two pious maidens would attempt to escape God's loving embrace.