The Nanny Diaries

Part 5

Meadvale

My first proper look at Meadvale, the home of the Church of Christian Reform, came on the afternoon of the day after we returned from France. We had arrived back late, after dark, so saw nothing much from the taxi, and then I spent the morning settling the girls down in their new nursery. The house in Kensington was impressive, but the family's second home, as Mr Hughes described it, in Meadvale, was palatial, brand-new and purpose built for housing a nice litter of nurslings. So, after a rather hurried arrival the night before, I tried a few things out, to get the feel of the place. First, the bath, more than large enough for my four. I sat them in a sea of bubbles, silenced by their pacifiers, and gave them a good scrubbing down, head to toe, not letting them touch so much as a flannel for themselves. Doctrinal, obviously. Nurslings needed to feel dependent, and as helpless as possible, so doing everything for them was very important to reset their expectations. Naomi, the youngest, had quickly got used to turning to me for just about everything, and Natalie was coming along nicely. But Nicola was still visibly distressed by so many things although she behaved, of course. Caris, unlike the others, was actually trying to be good for me. She clearly believed that the better she was, the more freedom she would get at Charlesfield, and she was desperately eager to please. She was so sweet, always trying to catch my eye and get my full attention, and I must admit I gave her more cuddles than the others as I was toweling her dry.

After that, it was a late breakfast, in their nappies and dressing gowns, before I got them all dressed and left them in the playpen with their bibles until lunchtime. Mrs Hughes helped me feed everyone, and then we both decided to take them out for some fresh air. Helen Hughes let me get the girls into their child-carrier, and the single stroller for Caris, whilst she popped upstairs to change. Not that she needed to, in my opinion, but she seemed to think that she did and I was in no hurry. It was the end of August and autumn was in the air, so I had put my three in substantial green damask dresses, as requested by Helen, whilst Caris was wearing a similar style in dark blue. They all had little matching capes to go with them, and pretty bonnets, tied in place with ribbons in charming bows under their chins. I must admit that I liked dressing the girls up, and their outfits were cute, if just a little bit too Victorian for my liking. But Helen had reminded me several times that we were in Meadvale, which I took to mean that she wanted to make a good impression on her new neighbours, so it was all fine by me. I was wearing my uniform, complete with the matching light brown raincoat, and if I had to make an impression as well, I reckoned the Norland name would suffice. But then Helen floated down the stairs in what I could only describe as a gown, a full, wide-skirted creation in purple damask, with a pinched waist and puffed sleeves, like something straight out of George Elliot.

"Believe me, this works in Meadvale...especially with my mother-in-law's set...and if the girls are going to be in the alpha classes, this is what will be expected of me," Helen confided as she took control of the three-seater, leaving me with Caris and the easier single. "And these days, this road is the centre of the first congregation...because all these houses were designed for traditional families...Colin paid a fortune for it, but it means that our neighbours are all the most conspicuously pious in the whole community...which means conspicuously rich, because only the wealthy can afford it, of course..."

"I never realised..."

"No reason why you really should, Daphne...Meadvale is fifteen miles down country lanes from just about anywhere, and my mother-in-law hasn't gone anywhere outside the community in fifteen years. First congregationers don't like the modern world too much...which is exactly why they have adopted their own styles...which set them apart from the evil heathens," Helen explained with a wry smile as we tackled a slight incline on the broad, smooth pavement. "Not everyone, of course...there are degrees of compliance...not everyone goes this far...but my darling daughter caused such a lot of trouble, and our parents are embarrassed...and shocked as well, I suppose. Coming back, and sending the girls to Deepdene, will help mend some of that collateral damage...and I have to play my part. Colin and I wanted to be modernists...but we are from Meadvale, so the Charlesfield incident made things very difficult for us...we were immediately under pressure to make an example of Nicola...and do the right things for Natalie and Naomi, too...otherwise, we might have been shunned...and that would have killed our mothers...and hurt us."