Nanny Diaries 2 - The New Litter

Lies and Revenge

"They are different girls, aren't they?" Annie admitted as we waved our girls off into school for another day. She was talking specifically about my three, of course. I had showed everyone the video from the day before, and the effect was extraordinary. If Henrietta had been excited and unusually affectionate towards me the afternoon before, all three of them were transformed by the sight of themselves and their new friends performing together. They were desperate to get back to school and rehearse some more, and as Annie spoke, I was watching Georgina rush into her class paddock and hug one of her classmates. It was really good to see. The Meadvale magic was starting to work, I hoped. I so wanted them to be happy in a place where I already felt so at home.

"Performing seems to be important to them...not because someone makes them, or because they are getting paid for it, but just for the joy of it...and they are really good, aren't they?"

"Two million views in sixteen hours! I should say so...the Christmas concert tickets are going to sell out in seconds!"

"I told Philippa how well she had done, and she acted like no one had ever said that to her before...and she really cuddled me last night...it was almost Caris-like!" I said, holding my cloak tighter around me as the wind tried to tug it apart.

"Oh, maybe that was the new you? Where did you get that dress, you silly thing?"

"Helen...she was delighted about me dressing up yesterday and wants me to do it all the time for work...because she thinks it will encourage the children...and she is buying me a whole new wardrobe as a bonus," I admitted, a little sheepishly. I was wearing a gorgeous dark red gown, trimmed with a little lace, and I loved the colour, but dressing like that, and working in it, was a very real commitment, and I was getting a little bit tired of Annie teasing me. So, I skipped my normal coffee with her and kept an earlier promise to call on Mrs Deacon, Bella's grandmother, who liked to be updated about her granddaughter every once in a while. At least there, at the home of one of the most traditional families in Meadvale, my appearance would not be mocked, I thought, feeling very ladylike as I approached the house.

"You really are a remarkable young woman, Miss Scott." Edwina Deacon said, once she had me settled in her drawing room with a cup of coffee and a generous slice of her rather delicious homemade fruit cake. It was ridiculous, really. There we were, in the middle of the twenty-first century, looking like two Victorian ladies enjoying a tete a tete. But that was what her life was like, and what the upper echelons of the very rich and powerful community were like. And I did feel like a proper lady, as Helen Hughes had described it. I was really enjoying my new look and it felt so right. "Outsiders seldom take to our ways so well, or so readily...or come to understand us quite so well, my dear."

"Thank you, Mrs Deacon...I hope everyone realises how much I respect the people here, and I just wanted to show it, I suppose."

"And you obviously care for your charges, dear...thank you for your efforts with Arabella and for being such a good friend to her."

"I hope she thinks I have been a good friend, Ma'am..."

"She thinks you are fair...and followed your instructions from her parents to the letter...and I must say that I agree with her," Mrs Deacon grinned, a little wickedly. "Now that you are one of us, I am sure your friendship will survive her finishing...she will be restored to adulthood at Christmas, when her engagement will be announced...and then it will be easier for you both to get along."

"I am pleased for her, Ma'am, and I love this community...although I am not really sure that I count as one of you...but Bella does deserve credit for her hard work, I think."

"You think we have treated her harshly?"

"A bit...allowing her to train to be a teacher and then changing your minds..."