Nanny Diaries 3 - Pride and Prejudice

Matriarch

Mrs Catriona Hughes returned to Meadvale from New York with some reluctance. Caris and Nicola had brought me up to date about their grandparents, and they said that they loved living in the big apple. There was quite a large, rich Reformist community in the famous city, centred around the bank which Mr Malcolm Hughes was head of, and Grandmama, as everyone in the family called her, liked being the queen of all she surveyed. She was very devout, according to Nicola, who was no fan, and her two youngest boys, Colin and Nigel, Nicola and Caris' fathers of course, had rather disappointed her with their liberal ways. That was why I had not met them before, because relations were not good, even after Papa bowed to pressure and moved back to Meadvale. But Malcolm Hughes did talk to his boys, and from what we could gather, he was supporting Papa in his political disagreement with Richard Ellesmere, and that was why he had made the time to come home for a visit, whilst his dear wife would stay on to assist Mama, for an unspecified while. Which ought to have been good news. It got my mother out of my hair and kept my father away, and as they were not my favourite people at the time, I was happy to have some distance between us. But, as Mama had intimated, Grandmama was not a soft option compared to mum, and she soon made her presence felt. Luckily, her first victim was Susannah Hughes, who had come down from London to pay her respects. Auntie Susannah arrived just in time for afternoon tea, on the Saturday at the end of our first week back at Deepdene, which was Grandmama's first appearance, after sleeping off her jetlag. We were all in the playpen in the big drawing room, ready for her inspection, but Susannah took priority.

"Is that what you regard as a suitable travelling costume, Susannah?" Catriona said, looking her daughter-in-law up and down with a critical eye, as Auntie lowered herself onto the sofa next to Mama. As she always did when visiting the village, Susannah was wearing a gown, and as she had presumably caught the train from London, she was wearing a narrow-skirted creation in dark green, which would have turned heads in the world outside the village, but was on the casual side of things following the purge.

"I caught the train...Grandmama." Susannah replied, exchanging a glance with Mama, who was in a sumptuous DiMarco gown in royal blue. My sisters and I were in navy-blue and white sailor dresses, fresh from a nap and a bath, ready to be presented to her majesty.

"So? Daughters of Eve do not compromise their modesty for the sake of convenience...I can see the shape of your legs when you walk...it is indecent, young lady."

"I am quite happy to change, if my appearance offends you, Grandmama?" Auntie Susannah offered, in an icy tone that suggested she was anything but happy. Nicola had hold of my hand and she squeezed it hard, her eyes bulging. We had not seen Auntie Susannah since our holiday in France, where she had found herself under the same discipline as Mama and Mrs Radcliffe all of a sudden. But we knew that Uncle Nigel was working in London, rather than travelling so much, and that they had rented a flat in the city. So, we were expecting them to visit us all a lot more, because Caris was their daughter and they had no excuse not to, once they were back in the country fulltime. And Nicola had suggested that her Grandmama would definitely expect to see her, and her youngest son, when she arrived, so her appearance amongst us was not a surprise.

"Nigel is rejoining the bank, Susannah...and as a result, you must mend your ways if you are not to embarrass him...and the whole family. Miss Knight will assist you...and ensure that you are properly attired during your stay with us...you are to do as she says, dear." Grandmama announced, turning to the other lady present, who had been introduced to us as Grandmama's companion. Catriona Hughes was around sixty-five, I guessed, and Miss Knight was probably a little older. She was properly attired, in a brown damask gown, but had not said much so far to anyone. Grandmama was doing most of the talking for everyone. "Please put my daughter-in-law under discipline, Miss Knight...I do not like her tone."