The Pirate & The Porcelain Doll (WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 16

One chilly October morning Waverly entered the grounds of Girton College, Cambridge, for the first time as a student, proud to have been accepted, knowing Nicole had walked the very same path. Having turned eighteen in the previous month she believed herself ready to take on the adventure of formal study in a place she hoped would satisfy her deep curiosity about life. She smiled to herself, remembering Nicole's last letter in which she told her to go check the library where she had etched her name with the metal nib of a pen on a wooden panel one rainy April afternoon.

Wynonna was with her, her own mother too upset at her youngest daughter leaving home to accompany her. She preferred the company of her sister, someone sensible she could confide in, someone who understood why she needed to go do the things she wanted to go do with her life. Having delivered Waverly's luggage to her room, greeted other students, had tea with the College Dean, they took a stroll, finding a quiet bench near the rose garden. "Petal, I'm so proud of you," Wynonna began, taking her sister's hand. "I hope you enjoy every minute of your time here. You deserve it."

"You know I'm not doing this simply because Nicole came here."

Wynonna rolled her eyes. "The less you follow her path the better. She's a fool for herself. Mind you, she seems to have made the best of it with her and Charles."

Waverly smiled inwardly, knowing Nicole's last letter to her was full of complaints about Charles, and the heat of Khartoum, and the sand. She particularly hated sand. And, flies. And, Charles. "She showed me I could use my mind," she replied. "That if I applied myself I could achieve what I most wanted. To be here."

"And you are. Don't worry about mama. She wishes to keep you as her little doll. I can see it with my own. Edward says I fuss too much over them, but who else will?"

"You are a wonderful mother," Waverly said. "And, someday perhaps..."

"I do think you'll make a wonderful mother. You've been better at looking after mine, than I have. I might love them to death, but having to manage them is a frightful chore, no woman should be subjected to."

Waverly laughed. "You have two nannies and countless servants."

"I know. The burdens of motherhood. Edward and I will visit at the end of the month. Let me know if there's anything you need. I best be getting back to that unruly brood of mine. I do so love you my petal. You know you were my baby girl. I remember seeing you for the first time and wanting to hold you forever. You were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."

"Stop it. You'll make me cry. Give Edward my love. And, the babies."

The weeks flew by, Waverly relishing her studies and a social life she had dreamt of. Isobel's brother James paid her visits, accompanying her on strolls in the nearby park, telling her all about the many scandalous activities that went on at his college. Isobel promised to visit, yet Waverly sensed from her letters she felt excluded, perhaps a little jealous of her friend's new life. James said she was courting someone, something Isobel failed to mention in her letters. It hurt at first to think her friend had not thought to mention such an important piece of information, deciding it was not something to worry about. Afterall, Nicole had frequently failed to tell her most of her important news.

The post arrived one frosty November morning. A letter from her mother, another from Wynonna and one from Nicole, her unmistakable spidery handwriting making Waverly smile. She read the letters from her family first. Wynonna was having difficulty with Alice, who missed Waverly dreadfully, Wynonna asking if she could bring her on their next visit. Her mother wanted to know if she had enough winter clothes and food, telling her to wrap up warm and to expect the food hamper she was sending. She offered to come visit with more clothing, Waverly's eyes drawn to the closet already stuffed with more clothes than she could possibly wear at her mother's insistence.