God's Crusade

Part Forty-Five

December 2041

"Goodness me, this gets bigger every year, Mrs Harrington...how do you manage?" Lady Osborne said to Mrs Harrington, so well aware that the old bird had nothing much to do with the arrangements, but it was the done thing to complement the hostess of course. They were sitting on one of the many sofas that filled the ballroom at Broomwaters. The drawing room was no longer anywhere near big enough for the traditional annual house party and the guardians were having to improvise.

"Something that can surely be said of the movement as a whole," Madeleine Buckingham suggested, from her seat nearby as more ladies were guided into the room and settled on various chairs. Brogan could see that it was all planned, as there was definitely a hierarchy of positions. She was in what she thought of as the centre circle, with the hostess, Lady Buckingham, Mrs Radcliffe, Mrs Munroe, Mrs Middleton and Mrs Forbes. There was room for several more ladies near them, and Brogan made a little bet with herself. She wagered that Mrs Nixon and her daughter would join them, and perhaps Mrs Lumsfield, as the Americans were to be honoured guests.

"Everything is so much bigger these days...I remember my first time here, and we called Meadvale the village." Elizabeth Munroe smiled, sipping at her coffee. It was true. Brogan remembered the old Meadvale, her experiences lagging just a bit behind Mrs Munroe's, and it was a much smaller place. Now it sometimes seemed like the centre of the world, at least at Christmas time.

"Charles believes that there will be one hundred million Reformists in the United States of America within five years...it does all seem quite remarkable." Madeleine commented with a self-satisfied smile. Brogan made another bet with herself, predicting that Lady Buckingham would mention her own family being one of the original members of the Church in Meadvale before they all went upstairs to change for dinner.

"And it all started here, within living memory ladies." Mrs Harrington reminded everyone with a blissful sigh. "Although the reins may be being handed over, my husband and his friends started our renaissance."

"I am sure it will be in good hands, Ma'am." Chloe Radcliffe said with due respect for her elders. She was technically the most senior lady in the room, the First Lady as the newspapers called her, but Brogan thought highly of the former Miss Ford for her modesty and humility amongst many other admirable qualities.

"Of course it is, and Peter is so much more relaxed these days." Elizabeth Munroe patted Chloe's hand with affection, and everyone smiled, at ease in each other's company. Brogan always used to feel like an outsider, as she had invaded them, but that feeling grew less and less every year. She had her regrets, but Reformism was like a juggernaut, and she was not sure that anyone could stop it, not if the Americans were falling for it too. Her husband had lectured in several European cities in recent months as he stood in for the ailing archbishop and he had told her about thriving Reformist communities in Germany, Spain, Holland and France. In twenty years, Reformism had destroyed the Conservative and Labour parties, as well as the Church of England as the movement grew. She had sat there, silenced and deprived of her freedom, and watched the world change.

۩

Sister Daphne greeted another batch of new arrivals in the traditional style. She had only twenty minutes to get them through the showers and the driers and into their sleeping gowns for the night, and she would be beaten if they were late. So she did not show any mercy or compassion, lashing out with her switch to keep them moving along to save herself from a similar fate. She saw the first face out of the corner of her eye. She had been a keeper for several months, a role given to her because of her experience as a guardian, and she had seen hundreds of bald, naked sisters running past her to the point where they all looked the same to her. So she ignored the half thought and concentrated on hurrying more sisters into the showers. It was cold, no money was wasted on heating or hot water, but they had to go in and her switch made red marks on two more white-skinned behinds before she spotted someone else. But it was all so quick and the thought was gone before she could place the face.