The Gilded Cage - Taking my Place

Mind Games

"Kieran...Mr Radcliffe...hopes to be able to say hello before you all leave, Catriona?" Mum said, once we were all settled in the headmaster's private drawing room for what we had hoped would be a private afternoon visit with Sheila Radcliffe. Mama and I were sitting on a sofa and Grandmama had claimed an armchair next to us, leaving Sheila and Mum on the bigger couch opposite us. "He asked me to sit with Sheila this afternoon for him...to ensure that you were welcomed properly...and it is so nice to see you all?"

"It is lovely to see you, too...Elizabeth?" Catriona replied, all sweetness and light, although I did not actually think that she seemed particularly comfortable with suddenly being on first name terms with my birth mother. They were not friends, at all, and grandmama was certainly not pleased to see mum there. I was not quite sure what was going on, to be honest. Mama and Papa were adopting me. It was a legal process, and I was well aware that my parents had been informed of my decision, which had to be painful for them, obviously. I was not insensitive to their feelings, and appreciated that they would not be pleased by my decision, so I expected them to feel a little bruised by it all. But it was really not any sort of surprise. In fact, they had more or less signed me over to Colin and Helen Montague, long before I took my vows. I did not consider the legal confirmation of my status within the Montague family to be an issue. My birth parents would always be my birth parents, but Mama and Papa took on responsibility for me in Meadvale. I wanted to be a Montague, and Mama and Papa wanted me to be a legal part of their family, so we were just jumping through the legal hoops. Papa had spoken to Dad about it, and I had written to my parents again, to explain my feelings. "But we were rather expecting to have a private conversation with Sheila...concerning family business?"

"Quite...which is why dear Kieran wanted to be present...but he is a busy man, and this is the middle of his working day...and as I am family, he asked me to...sit in...I am Hermione's mother, after all?" Mum replied, which was true. She was my mother. The fact that we had not discussed my adoption did not really change that, and neither did the fact that my parents were suddenly against my marriage to Steven Blackstone. It was a very awkward meeting as a result and I felt quite uncomfortable. "Sheila welcomes my company...and my support...don't you my dear?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Sheila replied, looking down, her head bowed, clearly submissive. "It is very kind of you to give up your time, Ma'am."

"Sheila might...but I am afraid that I don't...this is not appropriate?" Catriona said, glancing at Mama, because she was unsure how to react. Our visit was supposed to be about my wedding I suppose, or the arrangements that needed to be made to confirm it, and having Mum there was tricky to say the least. "I would quite happily discuss...what we have to discuss...with Mr Radcliffe supporting his wife...although his presence is really not at all necessary in these circumstances...but Elizabeth, dear...having you here...does make things...difficult, after you and your husband expressed some concerns about the business in hand?"

"I don't see why...you are here to discuss Hermione's betrothal to Steven Blackstone...and I am Hermione's mother...I have far more right to be here than Helen...for instance? Or indeed you, Catriona?" Mum suggested, pouring coffee for everyone. "But we are...where we are...I am not going to make a fuss about the legal niceties...Hermione is your responsibility before the church, and now she is to be legally part of your family...however, I think that Barry and I still have a right to be at least consulted...don't you? That was our original agreement, when she took her vows? And I want to support Sheila, because no one wants a mistake to be made here and Kieran fears that she is worried about her son?"

"Mummy...I am an adult...I will decide who I marry...not you?" I said, impertinently. I did not mean to be rude, but I could not just sit there, listening to them locking horns over me, as if I was still a child. I had to speak up.