I went to stay a few days with Polly before I left. We laughed about the polish. Eff thought it was "ever so nice" and told everyone that I was staying with them before I went off to my finishing school. She particularly enjoyed talking of me to Second Floor No. 32, who "fancied herself" and was always explaining that she had "known better days."
The summer holidays were coming to an end and we were leaving in September. A day before our departure I was summoned to Lady Harriet's presence. She received me in her sitting room. She was seated in a high chair rather like a throne and I felt I ought to curtsey.
I stood uncertainly on the threshold of the room.
"Come in, Drusilla," she said. "You may sit down." Graciously she indicated a chair and I took it.
She said, "You will shortly be leaving us for the Chateau Lamason. It is one of the best finishing schools in Europe. I have chosen it very carefully. You are very fortunate. I hope you realize that."
Now that I was growing up Lady Harriet's divinity had decreased a little. I was seeing her as a woman who created a sense of power which people accepted because she was so determined that they should. My feelings for her would never be the same as they had been before the battle with Miss Gentian. Miss Gentian had clearly shown that Lady Harriet was not the mighty figure she had made herself out to be, and Miss Gentian had won the war between them. It was like the case of Napoleon and Wellington, and it had taught me that Lady Harriet was not invincible.
"Well, Lady Harriet," I said. "I was very happy at Meridian House and Miss Gentian thought I would do well there. I would have liked to stay."
Lady Harriet looked astonished. "That is nonsense, my child. It was an ill choice."
I raised my eyebrows. An admission of failure? It was Lady Harriet who had chosen Meridian.
She was ever so slightly disconcerted, and laughed dismissively. "My dear child, you are going to be so grateful that you had a chance of going to Lamason. That Gentian woman has no sense of the needs of society. Her great ambition was to stuff her pupils' head with facts which would be no use to them after their schooldays." She waved a hand as though to dismiss Miss Gentian. "You and Lavinia will be far from home. You are a sensible girl and er ..." She did not say "plain," but she meant it. "I want you, my dear, to keep an eye on Lavinia."
"I am afraid, Lady Harriet, that she will not take any notice of what I say."
"There you are wrong. She thinks very highly of you." She paused and added: "And so do I. Lavinia, you know, is very beautiful. People flock about her because of that ... and who she is. She is a little ... impulsive. "I shall rely on you, my dear, to"—she gave me a little smile—"to look after her." She laughed lightly. "Your father is delighted that you are to have this opportunity and I know you are very grateful. Girls need polish." I felt myself laughing inwardly. I must remember every word of this interview and store it up so that I could give Polly an accurate account when we met. I pictured myself taking the role of Lady Harriet. I would tell Polly that I expected to feel like the Cromwellian table in the Framling Hall after an application of beeswax and turpentine.
I felt a little triumphant to discover so much about Lady Harriet. She was uneasy about her daughter and she found it humiliating to admit to the rector's plain little daughter that her own daughter was less than perfect. Polly had said that both Lavinia and Fabian Framling would have to pay for all the coddling they had had in their childhood, and all that "Lord God Almighty stuff" would have to be knocked out of them. "Who are they when they're out?" she demanded. "No different from the rest of us. That's not the way to bring up children. They want loving, but brought up sharp now and then. They want cuddles too ... not coddling." Poor Lady Harriet, so sublimely aware of her superiority and making the most fearful mistakes with her offspring!
"You will find a spell at the Chateau Lamason will be a great asset to you in later life. Your father understands and that is why he is so eager to accept my offer for you. I want you to keep an eye on Lavinia. She is too ... warmhearted and inclined to make unsuitable friends. You are more thoughtful, more serious. It is only natural that you should be. Just be a good friend to her. There now, you may go."
I took a ready leave of Lady Harriet and joined Lavinia.
"What did Mama want?" she demanded.
"She was just saying that you were warmhearted and inclined to make the wrong friends."
She grimaced. "Don't tell me she was asking you to be my nursemaid. What nonsense!"
I agreed that it was.
We left England with four other girls who were going to the Chateau Lamason in the charge of Miss Ellmore, one of the mistresses.
Miss Ellmore was middle-aged, very genteel, the daughter of a professor. When she was no longer young she had found herself without means and had been forced to earn her own living. She was employed at the Chateau, not because of her academic qualities, I learned later, but because she was a lady.
She was rather a sad person, and somewhat harassed by her task of looking after six girls in their mid-teens.
For us it was an exciting adventure. We all met at Dover, to which port Lavinia and I had been taken by the Framling coachman and head groom, and we were delivered safely into the custody of Miss Ellmore.
At the Paquet Hotel, the grooms departed and we were introduced by Miss Ellmore to our travelling companions. They were Elfrida Lazenby, Julia Simons, Melanie Summers and Janine Fellows.
I was immediately interested in Janine Fellows, because she was quite unlike the other three. Elfrida, Julia and Melanie resembled so many of the girls I had already met at Meridian House—nice and ordinary, with their separate identities of course, but with a similarity among them. Right from the first, though, I noticed the difference in Janine.
She was of small stature and very slim, with reddish hair and light sandy lashes; her skin was milky white and faintly freckled. I felt I should have to wait, to know whether I was going to like Janine or not.
It was clear from the start that they were all very interested in Lavinia. They could not stop looking at her. I had already noticed that most people turned to have a second glance at her when passing ... particularly men. Lavinia was aware of this and it always put her into a good mood.
We crossed the Channel. Miss Ellmore told us what we must do and what not.
"We must all keep together, girls. It would be disastrous if one of us were lost."
The crossing was smooth and my excitement increased when I saw the coastline of France looming up.
It was a long journey across France and by the time we reached the Chateau Lamason, I felt I knew my travelling companions well ... except Janine.
Chateau Lamason was right in the heart of Dordogne country. We left the station and drove through what seemed like miles of beautiful country to reach it, past forest land, streams and fields.
And there was the chateau. I could hardly believe we were going to live in such a place. It was so impressive and so romantic. Close by were the forest and steep hills down which little waterfalls tumbled. The great stone chateau looked ancient and formidable with its pepper-pot towers at either end and its thick stone bastions.
I caught my breath in amazement. It was like stepping into another age. Miss Ellmore was clearly pleased by my obvious awe, and as we drove under an arch and into a courtyard she said, "The chateau was owned by Madame's family for hundreds of years. They lost a great deal during the Revolution, but this one was left alone, and she decided to turn it into a school for young ladies."
We alighted and were taken into a great hall where numbers of girls were assembling for the opening of the term. Many of them apparently knew each other well. There were several middle-aged ladies, rather like Miss Ellmore. They had an air of doing something not quite natural to them because they had come down in the world.