never have been given the opportunity to be in this exalted place but for the fact that Lady Harriet had selected me for this purpose.
Francoise and Lavinia talked together quite a lot. They discussed men, a subject dear to the hearts of both. I would see them whispering together. I believed that Lavinia had told Francoise about her experiences with Jos. It was the reason why she had been sent away really, although of course she had first gone to Meridian House; but from there she had been expelled for going out with boys.
In the darkness of our dormitory Lavinia would tell of her adventures, stopping short at certain points and saying, o, I can go on not in front of Drusilla. She is too young yet.She did not mention Gerda, whose deep breathing and occasional snore indicated that she was asleep. It was her way of denigrating me.
Francoise told us all that several girls had grown rather romantic about Monsieur Dubois.
e really quite good looking,commented Francoise. ome of the girls are quite mad about him.
I was quite interested in Monsieur Duboisot that I felt that fascination which some of the girls seemed to. He was just a rather slight little Frenchman with very smooth dark hair and a jaunty mustachio. He wore very ornate waistcoats and a signet ring on his little finger, which he always looked at with affection when he beat time with his hands.
ne two three the lady turns four five six she faces her partner Come, ladies, that will not do. Ah, Gerda, you have the feet of lead.
Poor Gerda! She was not very good at it. Perhaps that was not very important, as the iron master might not be all that concerned with dancing. In Francoise case it was different. In the noble chateaux of France she would be expected to lead the dance.
Some of us had to take the part of men in the dance. Gerda was usually assigned to that role. She disliked the ritual in any case and lumbered round on reluctant feet.
Lavinia had always danced well and had done it with a sensuous abandonment. Monsieur Dubois was quick to notice this and when he was demonstrating he invariably chose Lavinia to partner him.
She would move close to him sinuously and meaningfully. I wondered whether in my role of guardian I should speak to her about it. She was showing too clearly how she felt about Monsieur Dubois.
He was quite tender to her, always implying that he liked her very much. But he was like that with all the girls. He had a way of letting his hand rest on one shoulders or even round one waist. Monsieur Dubois seemed to like all girls so much that it was difficult to know whether he liked any one in particular. But it did seem that he paid Lavinia just a little more attention.
Francoise said, e only comes to school to teach. I expect he got a wife and six children somewhere.
think he is very attractive,said Lavinia. e told me I was the most beautiful girl in the school.
e tells others that,said Francoise.
don believe it,retorted Lavinia. e looked really sincere.
on fall in love with him,warned Francoise. t is all on the top how you say it?
n the surface,I supplied. e doesn mean anything. He is just being polite to the girls who throw themselves at him.
Lavinia scowled at me.
But the affair did not progress, much to Lavinia chagrin and my relief.
Francoise was right when she said that Monsieur Dubois would be too much afraid of losing his job to take any of his little flirtations to a logical conclusion.
Because of the distance from home we were only to return once a year. At first the time went very slowly, but then it began to fly past.
I enjoyed the life; so did Lavinia. It was more or less up to ourselves to learn if we wanted too. I was very eager to improve my languages, so I soon became fluent in French and had quite a smattering of Italian. I enjoyed the dancing and singing lessons and I was doing quite well at the piano.
There was a good deal of freedom.
Sometimes in the afternoons we would go into the little town of Perradot.
Francoise and Lavinia talked together quite a lot. They discussed men, a subject dear to the hearts of both. I would see them whispering together. I believed that Lavinia had told Francoise about her experiences with Jos. It was the reason why she had been sent away really, although of course she had first gone to Meridian House; but from there she had been expelled for going out with boys.
In the darkness of our dormitory Lavinia would tell of her adventures, stopping short at certain points and saying, o, I can go on not in front of Drusilla. She is too young yet.She did not mention Gerda, whose deep breathing and occasional snore indicated that she was asleep. It was her way of denigrating me.
Francoise told us all that several girls had grown rather romantic about Monsieur Dubois.
e really quite good looking,commented Francoise. ome of the girls are quite mad about him.
I was quite interested in Monsieur Duboisot that I felt that fascination which some of the girls seemed to. He was just a rather slight little Frenchman with very smooth dark hair and a jaunty mustachio. He wore very ornate waistcoats and a signet ring on his little finger, which he always looked at with affection when he beat time with his hands.
ne two three the lady turns four five six she faces her partner Come, ladies, that will not do. Ah, Gerda, you have the feet of lead.
Poor Gerda! She was not very good at it. Perhaps that was not very important, as the iron master might not be all that concerned with dancing. In Francoise case it was different. In the noble chateaux of France she would be expected to lead the dance.
Some of us had to take the part of men in the dance. Gerda was usually assigned to that role. She disliked the ritual in any case and lumbered round on reluctant feet.
Lavinia had always danced well and had done it with a sensuous abandonment. Monsieur Dubois was quick to notice this and when he was demonstrating he invariably chose Lavinia to partner him.
She would move close to him sinuously and meaningfully. I wondered whether in my role of guardian I should speak to her about it. She was showing too clearly how she felt about Monsieur Dubois.
He was quite tender to her, always implying that he liked her very much. But he was like that with all the girls. He had a way of letting his hand rest on one shoulders or even round one waist. Monsieur Dubois seemed to like all girls so much that it was difficult to know whether he liked any one in particular. But it did seem that he paid Lavinia just a little more attention.
Francoise said, e only comes to school to teach. I expect he got a wife and six children somewhere.
think he is very attractive,said Lavinia. e told me I was the most beautiful girl in the school.
e tells others that,said Francoise.
don believe it,retorted Lavinia. e looked really sincere.
on fall in love with him,warned Francoise. t is all on the top how you say it?
n the surface,I supplied. e doesn mean anything. He is just being polite to the girls who throw themselves at him.
Lavinia scowled at me.
But the affair did not progress, much to Lavinia chagrin and my relief.
Francoise was right when she said that Monsieur Dubois would be too much afraid of losing his job to take any of his little flirtations to a logical conclusion.
Because of the distance from home we were only to return once a year. At first the time went very slowly, but then it began to fly past.
I enjoyed the life; so did Lavinia. It was more or less up to ourselves to learn if we wanted too. I was very eager to improve my languages, so I soon became fluent in French and had quite a smattering of Italian. I enjoyed the dancing and singing lessons and I was doing quite well at the piano.
There was a good deal of freedom.
Sometimes in the afternoons we would go into the little town of Perradot.
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