had suggested a tea party where everyone could view the child’s precious photographs. Those were the first details Mimi had voluntarily given anyone about herself. Neither Mimi nor anyone else could possibly envisage how a tea party could change her fortunes.
Until that day Mimi’s life at Beechtrees had been a happy but hard one. She worked tirelessly and with a willingness to please in order to remain at Beechtrees that was exploited by everyone. The family and cook treated her as what she was supposed to be, a poor waif from the gutter who was there to serve and learn. Every job that was too low, menial or dirty in the kitchen: the rubbish detail, scrubbing the floor, the pots, cleaning the stove, the endless potato and onion peeling, fetching the heavy bags of charcoal. Even the cleaning ladies used her to fetch and carry for them. The children thought nothing of making her do their chores and pinched her as a warning not to tell. She never ate until the family’s meals had been served and then, the ‘waste notwant not’ theory was the excuse for her having to eat scraps. By the time she was allowed to go to bed she was trembling with exhaustion. And yet, as her first year there wore on, she etched herself into their hearts. Not enough, however, for them to think of her as an equal. She ran, she fetched, and was thrown the occasional bone, some small treat that showed her they would have liked it to be different. The tea party to view her photos was a gesture long overdue because, in spite of her position at Beechtrees, she had wormed her way into their hearts. Everyone sensed Mimi deserved better than what they were giving. That made them uncomfortable.
Tea was always the gathering-time of the day, and whenever possible turned into a party. What they had seen as a breakthrough for Mimi was all the excuse they needed to make a party of looking through her photographs. The tea-table had been set in the library in front of the fire and covered with a linen and lace cloth. It was resplendent with silver pots for coffee and tea and hot chocolate, cream, sugar and jams: apricot, blueberry, strawberry. Cups, saucers and plates in a sparkling white porcelain edged with a lacy pattern of gold. Cook filled the table with her delicious thin-cut sandwiches that melted in the mouth, filo pastry-squares filled with chicken and mushrooms in a thick, white, buttery-tasting sauce. There were tarts and cakes and scones, and crispy hot fried apple-fritters sprinkled with powdered sugar. When Mimi and the maid, Bessie, and Cook had set the table, and the Queen had done the flowers, Mimi had asked permission of the Queen for Jack and Ernie to be allowed to come because they were going to find her father. Another breakthrough? It was more than anyone could have hoped for.
The excitement of Mimi breaking out of her shell put everyone into top gear. The two school-teachers prepared little entertainments: a song, a poem, a reading of a scene from
A Tale of Two Cities
were to be the children’scontribution to the party. Then would come Mimi’s: the showing of her photographs.
Jack and Ernie had come, Jerry was posted to cover the gate, and Cook had joined them after serving. It was Mimi’s party: she asked if everyone could dress up for tea. They had, with Mimi herself in one of Juliet’s prettiest party frocks, her golden hair tied back off her face with a ribbon embroidered with flowers.
Much laughter and applause for the entertainments, much eating and refilling of cups. Lots of chattering about the weather, school, going skiing in the winter, whether they could find a toboggan-run in the area. They were trying to pretend the war did not exist, although it kept slipping in and out of the conversations going round the table.
With tea declared over, and the table removed from the room, the children sat in a circle on cushions on the floor in front of the fire. The adults were in chairs behind them, except for the Queen who sat in
Until that day Mimi’s life at Beechtrees had been a happy but hard one. She worked tirelessly and with a willingness to please in order to remain at Beechtrees that was exploited by everyone. The family and cook treated her as what she was supposed to be, a poor waif from the gutter who was there to serve and learn. Every job that was too low, menial or dirty in the kitchen: the rubbish detail, scrubbing the floor, the pots, cleaning the stove, the endless potato and onion peeling, fetching the heavy bags of charcoal. Even the cleaning ladies used her to fetch and carry for them. The children thought nothing of making her do their chores and pinched her as a warning not to tell. She never ate until the family’s meals had been served and then, the ‘waste notwant not’ theory was the excuse for her having to eat scraps. By the time she was allowed to go to bed she was trembling with exhaustion. And yet, as her first year there wore on, she etched herself into their hearts. Not enough, however, for them to think of her as an equal. She ran, she fetched, and was thrown the occasional bone, some small treat that showed her they would have liked it to be different. The tea party to view her photos was a gesture long overdue because, in spite of her position at Beechtrees, she had wormed her way into their hearts. Everyone sensed Mimi deserved better than what they were giving. That made them uncomfortable.
Tea was always the gathering-time of the day, and whenever possible turned into a party. What they had seen as a breakthrough for Mimi was all the excuse they needed to make a party of looking through her photographs. The tea-table had been set in the library in front of the fire and covered with a linen and lace cloth. It was resplendent with silver pots for coffee and tea and hot chocolate, cream, sugar and jams: apricot, blueberry, strawberry. Cups, saucers and plates in a sparkling white porcelain edged with a lacy pattern of gold. Cook filled the table with her delicious thin-cut sandwiches that melted in the mouth, filo pastry-squares filled with chicken and mushrooms in a thick, white, buttery-tasting sauce. There were tarts and cakes and scones, and crispy hot fried apple-fritters sprinkled with powdered sugar. When Mimi and the maid, Bessie, and Cook had set the table, and the Queen had done the flowers, Mimi had asked permission of the Queen for Jack and Ernie to be allowed to come because they were going to find her father. Another breakthrough? It was more than anyone could have hoped for.
The excitement of Mimi breaking out of her shell put everyone into top gear. The two school-teachers prepared little entertainments: a song, a poem, a reading of a scene from
A Tale of Two Cities
were to be the children’scontribution to the party. Then would come Mimi’s: the showing of her photographs.
Jack and Ernie had come, Jerry was posted to cover the gate, and Cook had joined them after serving. It was Mimi’s party: she asked if everyone could dress up for tea. They had, with Mimi herself in one of Juliet’s prettiest party frocks, her golden hair tied back off her face with a ribbon embroidered with flowers.
Much laughter and applause for the entertainments, much eating and refilling of cups. Lots of chattering about the weather, school, going skiing in the winter, whether they could find a toboggan-run in the area. They were trying to pretend the war did not exist, although it kept slipping in and out of the conversations going round the table.
With tea declared over, and the table removed from the room, the children sat in a circle on cushions on the floor in front of the fire. The adults were in chairs behind them, except for the Queen who sat in
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