The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams Page A

not care for beauty?’
    â€˜Of course I do. I just . . .’
    â€˜Miss Witt, perhaps you might come with me,’ she said. ‘Let’s go to my office. Class, continue. Miss Evans will come in a few moments.’
    Celia followed Miss Trammell out of the classroom, head down. Miss Trammell opened the door to her office. ‘Sit down, Celia,’ she said, gesturing at a threadbare chair.
    Miss Trammell perched behind her desk, steepled her fingers and looked over them like an owl.
    â€˜Miss Witt, is our world really the right fit for you?’
    Celia gazed at the mottled wood of the desk.
    â€˜Miss Witt, we would never ask anyone to leave, exactly. But you are hardly happy here, don’t you agree?’
    Celia nodded.
    â€˜Our strengths are not yours.’ Miss Trammell shuffled through a pile of papers. ‘Your results were very poor, half fails and the rest you barely scraped through. This does surprise me. Yourreports from Winterbourne School were really very good. But more importantly, Miss Witt, you do not seem to like it here. I cannot see you’ve made any friends. And our academy is all about making friends.’
    Celia shook her head.
    â€˜You don’t stay for any of the social events and I never see you walking with the other girls.’
    â€˜I know. But my father wants me to be here.’
    â€˜Yes, dear. But you don’t want to be here, do you?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Well, then, dear, you must work out what you do want. It’s very clear that the answer is not studying at our academy.’
    â€˜I could try again!’ She couldn’t go home and tell Rudolf and Verena that Miss Trammell had sent her home. Rudolf would be so ashamed. If Celia couldn’t even make it through a course of flower-arranging and menu-planning, what could she do? Verena would weep, she’d have to tell Lady Redroad and people might laugh at them.
    Miss Trammell shook her head. ‘Miss Witt. I said to your father when you began – the academy never gives up on a girl. Every girl can be coaxed to bloom. And I’ve had some challenges over the years! But I’m not in the business of making our ladies actively unhappy. And that’s what we seem to make you, Miss Witt.’
    â€˜I’m not.’
    Miss Trammell stood up. ‘Miss Witt, I will write to your father about the fees.’ She stood up, smiled. ‘I’m sure we can come to some arrangement.’
    And then it struck Celia, as Miss Trammell picked up her papers and smiled for her to stand too – she was free. Yes, Rudolf would be angry, but she’d never have to come back.
    Celia hurried through Waterloo station, her heart light with her own liberty. She would never have to read notes about flower-arranging on the way home ever again . She felt so free, she considered buying chocolate and a newspaper at the stand. Thepapers were covered with news about someone who’d fallen off a cliff in Margate. Poor thing. A suicide, she supposed.
    She hurried to the train, her mind reeling. She’d travel, see the country, the world! She’d travel the Black Forest and then the rest of Europe. She’d do what she wanted.
    At Stoneythorpe, Jennie pulled open the door. Her hair was disarrayed, her face red. ‘Oh, Celia. Your mother’s been waiting for you.’
    Celia looked at Jennie’s face, her swollen eyes.
    â€˜What is it?’
    Jennie waved her hand. ‘She’s in there.’
    Celia ran to the parlour. Verena had her back turned, looking out of the window. ‘I’ve got to tell you—’ Celia began. ‘There’s something I must tell you.’
    Verena turned and her face was white. ‘She fell.’
    â€˜Who?’ asked Celia. ‘Who fell?’ But her heart flung itself to the bottom of her body and a voice called out: Don’t listen! Don’t hear!
    Verena put her hand to Celia’s face, but didn’t quite