Nanny Diaries 3 - Pride and Prejudice

Acceptance

"Sixteen inches each...my best waist at their age...it has taken since Easter to get them down to it easily, but with just two weeks to go, we seem to be there." Edwina Deacon said with real pleasure, after Mrs Blackstone had commented on the appearance of the blushing soon-to-be bride and her loyal bridesmaid, as we settled on the sofa in Sheila's oldest son's drawing room for afternoon tea. It was the May half-term, and Sheila was back in Meadvale for the first time since the news of her engagement broke. Bella and I both had our pacifiers, and besides being laced down to within an inch of our lives, which was not easy at all, we were wearing DiMarco gowns, mine a purple and black creation, and Bella's dark green with deft touches of the finest white lace. Edwina Deacon was wearing one of her usually severe gowns, in dark blue, whilst Sheila was wearing a lovely blue and white pinstripe gown, which also looked like a designer item to me, which was rather completely unlike her. She was a practical person, and rather like Edwina, normally dressed practically, and chose darker colours. Edwina was seventy, and did not really try to look pretty to my eyes, and Sheila, in her mid-fifties, dressed like what she was, a teacher and a serious person with a job to do. But that afternoon, as the first real summer weather reached the village, she looked younger, and really nice. "It is going to be the social event of the year...if I say so myself...Arabella has to look magnificent."

"She will, I am sure...it is her big day, after all...and they both look very well." Sheila smiled as she took a good look at us, her eyes resting on me for a long time. I looked down, respectful and diffident, as I had been for weeks, after my mother paddled me. I had been told that I had been punished for my bad attitude, not my opinions, and indeed, no one had mentioned Steven Blackstone to me since. But I had been left in no doubt that I would be returned to the nursery once more, if I let myself down again, and Bella was of the opinion that I would have been, if it was not for her imminent wedding and my role in it, as her chief bridesmaid. Instead, I had been kept in total disgrace, which involved a lot more time spent reading my bible, and a lot less helping with the girls, which hurt me more than the paddle.

"And we have your big day not long after, Sheila dear..."

"Not so big...but yes, in July." Sheila replied, rather quietly.

"I like Mr Radcliffe...he is a fine gentleman...and a good friend of Mr Ellesmere."

"My sons like him, and he has been very kindly taking a lot of the weight off of my shoulders in planning for the new school...I am able to concentrate on Charlesfield a lot more." Sheila replied, before changing the subject. She did not sound excited by her impending union, and I was longing to find out what she really thought about it, but I did not get the chance to talk to her much myself, and I could hardly quiz her about it. But she was back for the week and I was fairly sure that I would see her again, at some stage, as she had always taken a big interest in me since I first met her. Mrs Deacon took me home after tea, and I was allowed to help Nanny put the children to bed, which improved my mood a little bit. And as Annie got me changed and comfortable for dinner, she allowed me to talk to her.

"How was Mrs B, Daphne?"

"She looked nice...a new gown, I think...not her normal style, Nanny." I replied, wincing a little as my laces were tightened, after working a little loose during the afternoon. "And she did not seem very excited about her wedding to me, Nanny."

"Well...they do seem to involve a lot more negotiations than love, don't they?" Annie huffed as she pulled harder and started to tie off the laces. "But I liked Mr Radcliffe...even if he is all wrapped up in this traditionalist purge...which you seem to be getting yourself right into the middle of, I see..."

"Mama and Papa are in a rather difficult position, Nanny." I suggested as I stepped adroitly into my petticoats for her. "And won't you be in the middle it, too...at Deepdene, Nanny?"