God's Crusade

Part Thirty-Six

Lucy Hollins did not get much chance to relax at home. Her fiancé had provided her with a temporary guardian, supposedly to help Jennifer Hollins prepare her for marriage, but it was obviously a move cleverly designed to protect his considerable investment in her. Not that Lucy minded, to be fair. Miss Naylor, seconded from Cranbrook College, was fairly strict with her, but after six years in various convents it was still like a holiday. Lucy was allowed to talk to her parents and brothers, and she discovered that Mr Slade had been kind to them as well, but firm in terms of his requirements. He expected a traditional wife, and whilst her hair grew out Miss Naylor would add a necessary social gloss to her piety and obedience.

Miss Naylor was traditionally trained but her charge was eager to please. Lucy was used to hours of prayer, so she found her lessons easy enough, but she needed most help with her deportment and posture. She found sitting still hardest of all, as she was more used to hard work, but the paddle helped her understand that soon enough. She did not like being punished of course, but it was still not as bad as the convent. And she was home. She was eager to embrace her future in God's love.

۩

Chloe Radcliffe was heavily pregnant again, and was not taking part in most of the usual fun as a result, being largely confined to her room at Broomwaters, in the care of Miss Dexter. Her blood pressure was a little high, but she was allowed the occasional visitor to cheer her up, so it was no particular surprise when Imogen Sullivan and her daughter joined her after lunch for a while. Kieran had told her that Mrs Sullivan's husband would be working much more closely with him, which she rightly assumed meant that her beloved husband would soon be Prime Minister. Chloe was aware of her social responsibilities and of what her husband's promotion would mean, as her old friend Madeleine was married to Sir Charles Buckingham, and Miss Dexter had been preparing her to play her part as the first lady. A good relationship with the wives of her husband's ministers would be important in the future. She had met Mrs Sullivan many times, but suddenly they were to be much more closely connected, so she had to make an effort to impress.

"So kind of you to visit with me, Imogen." She smiled, as her guests settled in chairs next to her bed, their mittened hands in their laps. Chloe tried not to think like a guardian anymore, because she was not one, and never would be again, but she still retained a critical eye. Charlotte was untrained, almost totally as far as Chloe could see. Her posture was positively awful, and her attitude, from her expressions at the least, looked terrible. She was polite enough, but her guardian was undoubtedly incompetent, and her poor mother, whilst considerably more poised, was not that much better. Her attitude was adequate, but her demeanour was stiff and a little forced, as if she was worried, or tense. "Our husbands are clearly neglecting us, but I hope we shall be good friends, as we will be spending more time together from the look of things?"

"Oh...I certainly hope so, Chloe." Imogen smiled as warmly as she could, taking a little comfort from Mrs Radcliffe's innocent comments about their husbands. Perhaps they were still together after all, still talking about their potential partnership, although Chloe also made it sound as if everything was decided, and if that was so why had Rob not contacted her? He must have realised that she would be worried, Imogen thought, before forcing herself to concentrate on Mrs Munroe.

"Charlotte my dear, are you enjoying being at Broomwaters?" Chloe asked, turning to the daughter.

"Yes...thank you...Mrs Radcliffe." Charlotte responded quite well, minding her manners well enough, whilst managing to give the impression of being bored. Chloe thought that she could have worked wonders with her, given the time.

"I do think a little rest from our usual routines does us all the world of good...even my Miss Dexter relaxes a little here...and she is not the relaxing type." Chloe grinned conspiratorially in an attempt at a joke, and Charlotte wondered how horrible their lives actually were at home, if the sheer torture of Broomwaters represented some sort of holiday. But she behaved herself, remembering her responsibilities for once, and quietly followed her mother's lead through a long and rather tedious visit with Mrs Radcliffe. It was almost four o'clock when Miss Dexter entered the room, presumably bringing their fun to an end. Charlotte was not pleased to see that she had two muzzles in her hands.