"He actually went down on one knee?" Nicola laughed, not quite believing that her history teacher had finally got his act together and managed something so romantic. My dear sister was sitting in the drawing room, having spent her morning with Grandmama and Mama, whilst I walked out with Steven Blackstone, with Miss Knight following us around the park. "In front of people? How dreamy?"
"Not many people...it is freezing outside...but it is traditional to kneel to propose and he is a traditionalist?" I said as I settled beside her, still trying to come to terms with the fact that I was finally engaged, and that it was all official. "He got a wet knee for his pains, because the path was soaked...but we were then allowed to go to the café and sit inside, with Miss Knight as chaperone...I had hot chocolate and a huge slice of cake to celebrate!"
"Grandmama said that I might be allowed a walk in the park...as a maiden, I mean...she said that you might take me this afternoon...with Nanny and the girls?" Nicola said, trying not to sound too excited, because it was a big thing for her. She was just weeks away from finishing her exams, and letting her out of the house as a maiden was the obvious next step, but the news meant that Catriona was pleased with her, more importantly. I smiled, just so happy for her, as I arranged the copious skirts of my gown around me. I was getting so much better at managing my gowns. In fact, I was getting much better at everything because Miss Knight was teaching me.
"Oh, well done, Nic...that will be brilliant?" I said, meaning it. The two of us had come such a long way in what was fast approaching two years, since Sheila Blackstone handed the ring leader of the great escape over to me at Charlesfield. She had literally changed my life, although I was very aware that I was only there because of my father. He had manipulated me, but I was not worried about that, because his machinations had led me to the Montague family. I would always be grateful to him for that, even if I suspected his motives. "You will be the best maiden ever, you know?"
"Obvs...much better than you!"
"Well, in my defence, you've been better prepared..."
"Do you think we will be able to room share until you walk up the aisle?"
"Oh, that is a good idea...I'll ask Miss Knight, she usually says yes!"
"Good...so, how do you feel?" She asked, sitting so demurely. She was such a pretty girl, so poised and perfect, with her back ramrod straight and her hands resting in her lap. Mama had put her hair in ringlets, and she looked wonderful, a proper young lady.
"Sort of relieved...it was all getting a bit business-like with all the talk of contracts and silly conditions...I am just glad that is all over and I know for sure that I will be staying here. That was all that really mattered to me." I admitted, although she already knew that.
"For at least five years...I'll be married by then...and we'll probably both have babies!"
"Oh, don't rush me! But I like Steven Blackstone and I think we will make a good team...and I will definitely be able to work at the new school!"
"Have you discussed that with Grandmama?" Nicola asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No...but I will be allowed to help...even if I am not paid...it really does sound like it might happen...Steven was actually quite enthusiastic about getting involved today...because things seem to be very difficult for him at Deepdene..."
Plans for the new school were a popular topic of conversation around our dinner table, when we did not have guests, because Catriona wanted to know all the details. And then we spent a fair amount of time discussing things amongst ourselves, in the afternoons, because we had lots of ideas about how the school should work. Not from an educational point of view, because that required specialist knowledge, but the Montague ladies were all interested in pastoral care and Catriona made sure that our voices were heard. Malcolm Montague was a banker, so he had no particular experience in the field, but he had spent his entire career running big projects in a corporate environment, and as he was technically retired, he had time to run our project when he was not attending board meetings at the bank. And he had engaged some consultants to work on the details for him. Thus far, we had identified some land, at the other end of the village from Deepdene, and had an architect preparing a design for new buildings. Malcolm thought that if building work started by Easter, we would be able to open in the September with one or two year groups at first. And Steven expected to be unemployed at Easter, so he would be able to work on the academic plans, and attract some pupils, full time.
"What do you think people will say when they find out about the new school?" Nicola asked as we walked around the perimeter of the playground, nominally keeping an eye on our sisters whilst Miss Ford had joined one of her nanny friends for coffee. Neither of us were under any discipline, because I was trusted and Nicola was practising. But lots of other people were.
"I hope people will see that it is an investment in the community...very few families have the money to send their children to Deepdene, and Grandpa is targeting those ordinary families who are just as devout, but need a cost-effective option that they can afford?" I explained, as Nicola was only present for dinner once or twice a week, and was not aware of the details. "But we think that the church...or rather Mr Ellesmere...will object to someone else barging in on their territory. Grandpa is paying for everything...so, it is generous philanthropy and it ought to be welcomed because more Reformist families will be able to educate their children in a safe and Christian environment...but the fundamentalists want to control everything..."
"So, more trouble then? Oh, my goodness, Hermione...look over there?" Nicola gasped, her hand squeezing my arm so hard it hurt, as she stared back towards the café. I frowned, and followed her gaze, where Miss Danvers, of all people, was fussily shepherding Miss Camilla Ellesmere, Miss Annabel Ellesmere and Mrs Arabella Forsyth towards a table. It had been very cold earlier, but the sun had come out and the weather was almost springlike, so some of the outside tables were in use. So, I was not surprised that the four familiar faces were choosing to sit outside, but by the fact that Camilla and Annabel were dressed as maidens, and that poor Bella was with them, under discipline.
"Well, I suspected that Camilla would be released from the nursery for the summer...she is old, like me, so she should be getting married...and that would free Annabel too...but why would poor Bella be with them?" I groaned, feeling so sorry for my friend. It was hard to spend any time with her, because her grandmother no longer approved of our friendship, and it was sad enough seeing her with Sheila Radcliffe, dancing to her grandmother's tune, but making her socialise with two new maidens, under the eagle eye of the odious Miss Danvers, was quite simply cruel.
"Hello you two...nice to see you, Miss Nicola?" Annie Stewart said cheerily, appearing out of nowhere beside us.
"Good afternoon, Miss Stewart." Nicola said, rather hastily, but performing a quite excellent curtsey. I said the same, and did the same, with a broad smile. I did not see enough of Annie either, because she was so busy at Deepdene.
"Have you got an afternoon off, Miss Stewart?" I asked, taking in her blue gown and heavy cloak, and remembering how she once said that she would never wear the fancy dress. But she had to wear the Deepdene staff uniform if she wanted her large salary and free flat, so she had changed her mind.
"Not at the weekend, in termtime! I don't get time to breath usually on Saturdays, but I had an errand to run...well, that's new...isn't it?" Annie said, spotting Bella and the others. "Those girls were at school yesterday?"
"Yes, we only just noticed them...and poor Bella?" I told her, exchanging concerned looks like old friends do.
"She is spending a lot of time up at the school...Pastor John has been appointed as Chaplain of Deepdene, giving daily services, and Bella always attends those with Mrs Radcliffe...it is not pretty to watch." Annie muttered, more to me than Nicola.
"I liked Pastor John...and so did Bella, after her honeymoon..." I sighed, wondering why none of the men around Mr Ellesmere seemed to have any backbone. "But he seems to have changed, just like Mr Radcliffe?"
"He wants to be your next Senior Pastor, apparently...and as Mr Ellesmere and his friends seem to be in the majority amongst the elders, so conspicuous piety it is...and he doesn't really torture Bella himself, he just lets her grandmother do it." Annie said, as she took our arms and walked with us. "Or your mother, Hermione? Those two terrorise all the teaching staff, and even some of my team, although they don't have as much influence there, because most of us are not Reformists. But it is the non-working wives of the teaching staff who really get it...they are like walking advertisements for the doctrine. And Mrs Deacon keeps a close eye on every single one of them, with your mum's eager assistance. So, now Bella is there daily...they all have to attend the daily service. But she probably prefers that to being under Miss Danvers idea of discipline?"
"I haven't seen Bella to talk to for weeks...I feel so sorry for her." I sighed, whilst thinking that Annie had changed as well, maybe not as much as Nicola and me, but she was still different to the young Norland nanny I had first bumped into in Kensington. But she was happy, as I was and as Nicola was, although she might not admit it as readily as me. Bella was not, I did not see how she could be, despite her genuine faith in the Reformist doctrine. As the afternoon passed, I found myself thinking about that first summer in London, spent with Annie, looking after our respective litters and socialising when they were in bed, or on our days off. We had met up with Bella a lot over those glorious six weeks or so, before I headed off to France and then Meadvale with the Montague family. And Bella had a very clear plan for her life as a modern, moderate Christian Reformist, which I had not taken seriously at the time, because I was largely ignorant of how her community worked.
But with the benefit of hindsight, I could see what she had been thinking. Her parents were fairly moderate by Meadvale standards and they were quite happy for their daughter to work as long as the role was appropriate. Hence, Bella had been allowed to help out at Charlesfield and then look after Roberta Carlisle for the summer, and the opportunity to work for Sheila Blackstone, as Mrs Radcliffe was then, and help the church put things right at the scandal hit school was accepted, just as the wind started to change. Bella always knew that she would have to marry a good Reformist boy within the next two or three years, but like me, and unlike more traditional maidens, she expected to have the final say on her choice. She was part of a new generation of Reformists who were outgrowing the first congregation and looking for ways to live a good Christian life whilst interacting with the heathen world, respecting the traditions whilst adapting the restrictions of the holy doctrine to their own circumstances. My Meadvale parents were part of that generation too, and whilst I was running around central London doing my super nanny stuff with Nicola and her sisters, the brave new world Colin, Helen and Bella were searching for away from Meadvale came crashing down around their ears.
My darling Nicola was still blamed for causing a resurgence of traditional Reformism, as the conservative Elders cracked down on the moderates and the liberals. But I was fairly certain that my father and Richard Ellesmere had arranged the great escape, with my naïve sister being groomed by the son of Bridgewater Home's managing director. Nicola had been tricked into her fall from grace, so that Ellesmere could convince his fellow elders to close the school, and free him to sell the land to Bridgewater. Mr Ellesmere was the de facto owner and driving force behind the new Deepdene, using his power and influence to help the church crack down on the moderates who were threatening the strength and unity of the Meadvale community. And in turn, that gave Mr Richard Ellesmere even more power and influence, because he seemed to control the Elder's council every bit as effectively as he controlled Deepdene. Everyone seemed to be dancing to his tune.
"Can I please sit on the potty?" Nicola begged as I unlaced her corset in my room, preparing to take her back to the nursery. I had already removed her gown and her undergarments, so she knew what was likely to happen next.
"No...you know Grandma's rules...you have to get right back into the nursling mindset, so messing you helps with that...and you have done really well today...so, don't ruin it by being silly now?" I chided, but gently, playfully patting her bottom as she scowled into the long mirror. "Even maidens still have to mess sometimes...and you are not a maiden yet?"
"When was the last time you were messed?" She enquired, rather moodily.
"Not since Miss Knight trusted me to last long enough...but she would if needs be, and I would obey her without a second thought, because I am a dutiful maiden...so, don't play me up, little sister...do it now, please?" I grinned, as I took the corset off her. She was left in just her nappy and she looked so little again. I watched her roll her eyes, but heard the sound of her surrender to the inevitable. She had been holding it in, because she was used to her routine, and her body just responded when she was given the command. I gave her a hug and then guided her to the changing mat laid out on my bed. "I asked if we could room share, by the way?"
"And?" She asked, regressing right before my eyes as she mentally readjusted, behaving like a good little nursling again.
"Grandmama said yes, of course..." I told her, as I slipped her pacifier into her mouth, ready to hand her back to Miss Ford. She immediately started to suck on it, and I went to work with the wet wipes, before carrying her back to Nanny. I had a kiss and a cuddle with everyone, and fed Henry his bedtime bottle. He was regressing too, and getting used to his new life. I thought he would be a better boy for it, in the long run, even if he would disagree. Children needed to be children, and he would do well at Deepdene, and not pick up any bad habits from heathen boys. And he would be surrounded by love, which was what I enjoyed most about our family dynamic.
In those moments when I could forget about the trouble in the wider community, I loved my life as Hermione Scott-Montague. I was still thinking about that summer in Kensington, not quite two years before, and that girl, Hermione Scott, felt like someone else. In fact, it seemed like a completely different world to me, a world I had left far behind. But then Bella and Sheila popped back into my mind, reminding me that things were not perfect for everyone. Everyone kept telling me that both ladies were devout, and accepted their place in the community. If it was God's will that they live strictly according to the holy doctrine, then they would obey. But that did not make it right.
"Stop worrying about things you cannot control, young lady." Grandmama said when I spoke of my concerns in the drawing room, as the adults of the family gathered before dinner. "You have had enough on your mind recently and now you and Steven Blackstone are betrothed; we have a wedding to plan and that is going to give you plenty of happier things to think about! I have already asked my favourite designer to send us down some ideas for your wedding dress my dear, but there is so much to do!"
"I suppose poor Camilla will be married off this summer, too?" I suggested, and Mama let out a sigh, but Grandmama, who did not know Camilla or her mother, frowned at us both, and then shared a meaningful glance with Miss Knight. She did not look very happy as I said one last thing. "Annabel too...and maybe even Camilla's mother?"
"Girls...I am afraid that in the current situation, when factions are rapidly appearing in the community and tensions are running high, we will see and hear many things that we personally find...distasteful...or plain wrong...but Mrs Forsythe, Mrs Radcliffe and Miss Ellesmere have to do as their husbands and uncle say...that is the Meadvale way. Upsetting yourselves about it is pointless...we cannot really help them without interfering and that is impossible...the best we can do is pray for them...and hope that Malcolm and Colin can put a stop to Mr Ellesmere's machinations...then, I think, things will settle down?"
"And they are hardly the only daughters of Eve living under excessive discipline in this community," Auntie Susannah added, pointedly. "Are they?"