Lady Rose's Education (7 page)

Lady Rose stopped at the door of the drawing room. There was a little squirrel of a man standing in the middle of the room. He was facing the room's other entrance, so he did not immediately notice Lady Rose coming in.

It was a rare event for Lady Rose to see a stranger in the Abbey. Therefore she stood still for a few moments, drawing as many conclusions from the visitor's back as it offered. The gentleman's coat was scruffy, but his haircut was neat. He seemed to be carefully studying the oriental wallpaper in front of him.

”Excuse me, Mr...” Lady Rose said.

The man swung around and readjusted his metal-rimmed glasses, looking amused by his own fumbling behaviour.

”You have quite surprised me, Lady Rose. I am Mr. Perry, the new vicar.”

”What happened to Mr. Burton?” Lady Rose asked.

”Nothing, nothing apart from advanced age. He wants to retire. As it happens, my father and yours, His Lordship, are cousins.” Mr. Perry took some steps towards Lady Rose and made a gesture as if to shake her hand. Then he thought better of it and continued:

”It was brought to His Lordship's attention that I was kicking my heels in Cambridge, graduated and ordained. His Lordship was so gracious as to offer the patronage to me.”

”I see,” Lady Rose said. ”I believe we have satisfactorily explained your presence in the village, Mr. Perry.” She smiled thinly. She had just witnessed her mother enlisting Norah as a helper for the marriage scheme, and it was not difficult to see that the new vicar had been recruited for the same effort.

”Would you like some tea? Should my parents be fetched as well?” she asked. She had no intention of making the awkward conversation too easy on Mr. Perry.

”I would not say no to tea, Lady Rose.”

Lady Rose rang the bell and looked at Mr. Perry expectantly.

”Her Ladyship is in truth the reason I came to see you,” Mr. Perry said. Nellie appeared at the door.

”Could we have some tea, please, Nellie, and would you ask Her Ladyship and His Lordship to come down.”

”No, please do not that, not the latter,” Mr. Perry said hastily. ”That is, I have already seen Her Ladyship today, and she has asked me to talk with you, Lady Rose.”

Lady Rose turned back to Nellie and said, ”Just the tea, then, Nellie.”

Nellie curtsied and disappeared from the doorway.

Lady Rose pressed her lips together. She could easily picture her mother talking to Mr. Perry and it made her blood boil. Lady Rose wanted to believe in the Countess's good intentions, but every time they talked she had a feeling that her mother was trying to crack her open like a clam. The Countess did not like her daughters to have private thoughts or feelings.

”You have aroused my curiosity, Mr. Perry. What does my mother want you to talk to me about?”

”I seem to have failed to introduce the subject delicately,” Mr. Perry said. ”I had planned to exchange some pleasantries first.”

He collected himself and added, ”Let me at least say that I am most pleased to make your acquaintance, Lady Rose.”

”Thank you, Mr. Perry. For my part, I hope you will have a most fortuitous stay in our village,” Lady Rose said with some irony in her voice.

Mr. Perry sighed and said, ”I suppose I have better go ahead and reveal the matter, since it has already risen its head. Her Ladyship told me that you witnessed a tragic accident a few days ago. She is concerned that it may have affected you more than you let on.”

”Does she think that talking to a priest might help?” Lady Rose said.

”I believe that was her train of thought precisely. I cannot claim to be an experienced pastoral counsellor yet –”

”But you would like to practice on me?” Lady Rose said.

This put a lid on Mr. Perry for a moment. Then he said, ”I personally find that talking to an sympathetic ear helps in many situations. If it is my role as the vicar that bothers you, I can assure you that I practice common sense alongside the spiritual.”

”It is not what bothers me, Mr. Perry,” Lady Rose said. ”My problem is...” The problem was that her mother was knocking her into a marriageable shape, applying corset for the figure and priest for the soul. She could not very well tell that to the vicar.

Nellie came in, bringing tea, biscuits and other trappings on a silver tray. She set them artfully on the little coffee table.

”Please, Mr. Perry,” Lady Rose said, pointing to the armchairs next to the table. She sat herself down on the edge of one chair. The new corset reminded her of its presence.

Mr. Perry sat down.

”I hope you understand, Lady Rose, that you can speak to me in the strictest confidence. I assure you that I would not relay your words to anyone, including your mother, I mean, the Countess.”

”I do not have anything of substance to tell you. I was shaken up from seeing Elsie drown like that, but I do not believe in dwelling on things. You should talk to my brother, I believe it must have affected him more than me.”

”I have talked with your brother,” Mr. Perry said shortly.

Lady Rose looked up from her hands, which were pouring tea into the cups. ”Do you take sugar, Mr. Perry?”

”Yes, please,” he said and made an unfortunate plunge towards the sugar bowl at the same time as she did. To avoid a collision of hands she retracted hers abruptly, while he switched the trajectory of his. One of their hands smacked the sugar bowl enough to make it tilt over. The little white cubes scattered on the carpet.

”Good grief! I am terribly sorry,” Mr. Perry said and bent down to collect the sugars with a most impressive agility.

”Please, Mr. Perry, you do not have to do that,” Lady Rose said, annoyed with both herself and the visitor. She detested social situations that did not go smoothly. ”I will call for Nellie.”

”It is already done,” Mr. Perry said, straightening himself, somewhat red in the face. ”No need to bother her.”

”Yes, there is,” Lady Rose, getting up and ringing the bell. ”The sugars need to be replaced in any case.” Mr. Perry looked like he might make an objection but changed his mind. He only touched his glasses and stayed silent.

It seemed to take an eternity for Nellie to come in. Lady Rose and Mr. Perry sat in silence, and when Nellie finally arrived, Lady Rose asked her to please replace the sugars with new ones that had not travelled around the floor.

When Nellie had left, Lady Rose said, ”You said that you have talked with my brother.”

”Yes, Lady Rose, but naturally I can't discuss it. Such conversations between a vicar and one of his flock are strictly confidential, I'm afraid.”

”Yes, of course, Mr. Perry,” Lady Rose said and whirled the spoon in her cup some more. For a while it was the only sound in the room.

”You see, I am quite concerned about my brother. He is not talking to anyone in the family. It is not like –”

Nellie came in with the replacement sugars, and Lady Rose waited quietly while she fussed with the sugar dish.

Mr. Perry said, ”I can just as easily take my tea without sugar, Lady Rose.”

”Nonsense, Mr. Perry,” she said. ”They are here now.”

Finally Nellie was done and cleared out of the room with a curtsy.

”Mr. Perry,” Lady Rose said impatiently. ”My mother will certainly ask you how this chat went. In your position one has better to please one's patrons, so you can lie to her with my blessing. Tell her that you have managed to restore my emotional composure entirely.”

”Lady Rose, as a man of cloth I can't advocate such Machiavellian methods,” Mr. Perry said, looking amused again. Then he continued in a kind voice, ”Your mother is only concerned about you. She wishes you to find some peace of mind.”

”You may wish that. Her objectives are different, I assure you,” Lady Rose said, more crossly than she had intended. She took a breath and calmed herself. Mr. Perry sipped the last of his tea. ”I apologise, Mr. Perry. You have caught me at a bad moment, and I am afraid I have barely been civil towards you. Next time I see you I will behave much better.”

”It will happen sooner thank you think: His Lordship has kindly invited me for dinner tonight.”

”Indeed? I did not know that,” Lady Rose said, getting up and moving towards the door so that Mr. Perry was forced to follow her. ”I will see you in a few hours, then. Thank you for your counsel.”

”I do not believe I have offered any,” Mr. Perry said, ”but perhaps I will get another chance sometime.”

”Mr. Perry.”

”Yes, Lady Rose?”

”I think you will find that you entered through that door.”

”So I do, and through the same one I will take my leave. Thank you, Lady Rose.”

After the vicar had gone, Lady Rose hurried to her room and rang for her maid in a manner that was almost frantic. Promptly Norah appeared at the door.

”What is the matter, My Lady?” she asked.

”Norah,” Lady Rose said, ”I want to go for a walk. I want you to come with me.”

”A walk, My Lady?” Norah said. The only problem with these scheme was not that it was not customary for ladies to bring their maids to walks. Lady Rose was not a woman who limited herself to things that were customary. The bigger problem was related to time.

”But Mr. Cartwright will ring the dinner gong in a half an hour or so.”

”We will be back by then. I want to breathe some fresh air, I have been feeling so confined all day.”

There was something strangely feverish about Lady Rose, so Norah did not dare argue with her. She glanced anxiously at Lady Rose's beautiful hairdo.

”It is very windy out, My Lady,” she said.

”Oh, yes, fetch me my black cape, the one with a hood,” Lady Rose said. Then she looked at Norah thoughtfully and continued, ”Bring the green one as well, please.”

Norah did as requested, and Lady Rose handed the green cape back to her.

”You will have to wear this, Norah. There is no time for you to fetch your own clothes from the servants' quarters.”

”My Lady! I couldn't,” Norah said, but she held the cape in front of her and admired it.

”Please put it on, quickly,” Lady Rose said. ”I want to see how it looks on you.”

Somewhat awkwardly Norah put her arm through the armhole of the cape, and then the other one.

Lady Rose looked at her approvingly.

”It looks lovely indeed,” she exclaimed. ”That tone of green has never suited me well at all, but I had an inkling it would go wonderfully with your colouring. I should like to give the cape to you. Please keep it.”

”That is most kind, My Lady, but where could I wear something like this?” Norah cried.

”You are wearing it now,” Lady Rose said. ”I am sure there will be other occasions, too.”

Norah looked at herself in the looking glass and tried to hide the pleasure the glance brought her. She had dark hair and white, velvety skin. Her brown eyes had some green tones which the cape brought out, just as Lady Rose had said, and her brows were expressive and well defined.

”I have always been fond of dragonflies,” she said and touched the intricate embroidery on the front of the cape.

”Yes, they are strange and beautiful,” Lady Rose said. ”'Dragonfly'. Is it not the most peculiar word in English language? No other name exists that would glue together two such disparate creatures. The grandest and the lowliest creature bound into one for all eternity.”

”You are right, My Lady. It is a funny word.”

Norah buttoned up the garment and looked into the mirror one more time.

”Thank you, My Lady. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever worn,” she said sincerely.

Lady Rose had to look away and swallow.

”Come now, Norah, we have to slip out quickly,” she said. ”If anyone should ask, I will say that I need to prepare my speech for the Women's Society and you are to serve as my memory.”

”Do you want your gloves, My Lady?” Norah asked, snapping back into her duties.

”Yes, of course gloves, Norah. We are not savages.” She gave Norah a court smile.

The two women made it out of the house without being seen by anyone except for the second footman, William, and he hardly mattered.

***

They walked quickly past the rose garden, where the bushes were cut severely in shape, and towards the fernery. Lady Rose was longing to see the woods and the wild river. She walked with as long a stride as her gown allowed. Norah had always been an avid walker, so she did not mind the brisk pace, but she was very worried about gale stirring Lady Rose's hairstyle.

”Are we to work on your speech now?” Norah asked, trotting behind her mistress, slightly out of breath.

”For the women's society? Goodness, no. It is a charity event. They only expect me to say 'welcome and give generously'.”

”Where are we going, My Lady?” Norah asked anxiously. She did not want to sound reproachful, especially after the precious gift she had just received, but the dinner was around the corner and Lady Rose was getting more and more dishevelled in the wind.

”We will turn back in a moment,” Lady Rose said, but she continued to march ahead.

”I envy your courage, My Lady. I would find it quite impossible to go in front of all those women and give a speech.”

”It is easy to speak in front of people whose intelligence one does not especially admire.”

Norah did not know what to comment to that.

***

They stormed on towards the edge of the park. The light changed, and Norah looked up, worried. The steel-grey sky was getting ready to deliver bad news. The wind pushed and shoved the clouds, ripping them into shreds.

”My Lady, let us go back now,” she said. ”It is very nearly time for dinner, and Her Ladyship and His Lordship will be annoyed if you are late.”

Lady Rose stopped abruptly, with her gaze fixed over the woods.

”Let me enjoy the wind for a moment, Norah,” she said.

Norah pulled the cape closer around herself. A flock of geese flew over them, shouting boisterously. They embroidered the sky with a shoddy pattern.

”Look at that, Norah,” Lady Rose said wistfully and turned her face up against the breeze, ”that is what freedom looks like. And smells like.”

”I think it is about to rain, My Lady,” Norah said.

”I don't know what to do!” Lady Rose said, not so much leaning as falling against a tree. ”I want so much, and it seems I am not to have any of it. I am making such an effort, to no consequence at all.”

”My Lady, you can have anything you want,” Norah said, puzzled. ”Everything is at your reach, you only have to put your hand out and grab it.”

”No, you don't understand,” Lady Rose said with some desperation. ”How could I explain it to you? I want everything. I want a flurry of life, not to sit in a chair for fifty years, having my hair tinkered with.” Norah felt a little slighted, since she was usually the one tinkering with Lady Rose's hair.

”Lord Byron says, 'If I could always read I should never feel the want of company'. I read all day long, and yet I crave the company. Even when it is Lord Byron himself speaking to me, it is not a dialogue, for I am not being heard.” She was in tears. ”Norah, I can't help it. No matter how much I try to resign myself to a sensible marriage, my heart puts up a resistance. It longs for a friend, a true mate.”

Norah squeezed her hand.

”My Lady, I may not always understand you, but I am willing to help you in anything I can. You can count on that.”

Lady Rose pulled herself very upright and turned to look at Norah.

”Thank you. I was hoping you would say that, because there is something I must say to you,” she said, suddenly stern. Norah waited with some trepidation.

”When the Countess comes and talks to us both, as she did earlier, I want you to behave just as you did and say 'Yes, Your Ladyship' and 'No, Your Ladyship'. But underneath it you must only be loyal to me.”

”Yes, My Lady –”

”With my frame she can do what she likes. I am a creature of my mind, not my body. Let my sides be harnessed as tightly as can be, but my true self must stay intact. No whalebone will confine my mind.”

Norah looked startled by this outburst.

”Seize the day, Norah. You and I are the upholders of the secret freedom society,” Lady Rose said, ”do not forget it.”

Norah looked dubious. ”You have to remember, My Lady,” she said, ”that your station in life is different from mine. You come from a family with money and influence. I am a ward to a humble family, with hardly a single possession to my name. What would I do with the sort of freedom you speak of?”

”My family may have wealth and stature, as you say,” Lady Rose said, ”but as a woman I still lack freedom. My father or, God forbid, my husband will always have a final say in my matters.”

”Still, every day you can choose how you spend your time,” Norah said. ”I have only one half day every week when I can do as I please. All the other hours of the week I am in the beck and call of others.”

”In mine, mostly,” Lady Rose said. ”Are you unhappy with your duties, Norah?”

”No, of course not,” Norah said quickly. ”But I don't want to lie to you, My Lady. Between the sort of freedom you talk of and a wealthy husband, I would most likely choose the wealthy husband.”

”Fine, Norah, I am not cross with you,” Lady Rose said. ”I will do my best to convince you of the value of freedom, but for now it is enough for me to know that you are on my side, helping me fight my corner. I must have one ally in this world, if I am to stand firm against mother's schemes.”

***

They turned and walked back towards the house. Suddenly Charles appeared in front of them. In the blasting wind they had not heard him approach.

”Well, well,” Charles said nastily, ”if it isn't two elegant ladies. I see that you have taken to dressing your doll, now, Rose.”

”Good heavens, Charles! Why are you talking like that?” Lady Rose said. Her brother did not usually speak in an aggressive manner to anyone.

”I am only admiring her borrowed glory. A magic cape indeed. It has the power to make a gentlewoman out of a maid.”

”I will not let you talk to Norah that way,” Lady Rose said angrily. ”I know what you are upset about, but it is nothing to do with her.”

”Is it not?” Charles asked miserably.

”Get yourself inside, Charles. We will talk about this later. The dinner is about to start,” Lady Rose said, and her and Norah walked towards the house with determination. Neither of them looked back to see whether Charles did the same.

”Hateful creature. I hardly recognize him as my brother,” Lady Rose said almost to herself. ”It must be Elsie's death that has changed him so.”

Norah did not make a comment.

”Norah, he was offensive beyond belief. Try not to take his words into heart,” Lady Rose said. Norah walked ahead with a stricken face and couldn’t reply.

”I have had enough of this dreadful day, Norah,” Lady Rose said, when they entered the rose garden. ”I do not wish to seize it for a moment longer.”

”There is still the dinner, My Lady.”

Night was reaching its ever more ambitious shadows, and their path was marked by small white flowers. They shone almost fluorescent in the dusk.

”Norah,” Lady Rose said. ”A moment ago I said that I am a creature of my mind –”

”Yes, My Lady?”

”It appears that I am a creature of my body, as well. I will be late for the dinner, but let us slip into my room and loosen the corset just a little.”

”Of course, My Lady. It will give me the chance to touch up your hair, too.”