The Gilded Cage - Put in my Place

Queen Bitch

"She has had so little time to learn her place." Edwina Deacon commented as she settled me beside her, on the sofa in the big drawing room, presumably because I was bigger than her and would be awkward to manage on her lap. She was in her late sixties, after all, and quite a small lady in stature, even if her character was large. I was not sure who had invited her to Sunday lunch but Mama did not seem overjoyed to have her company. Mrs Deacon had taken the small sofa to herself, and was basically holding court. "My Bella was distracted from her preparations for marriage by going off to boarding school...my fool of a son thought that Charlesfield would be good for her academically and allow her to spread her wings in a safe environment...but other than those few years, she was under reasonable control, and she just needed a few months to smooth down a few rough edges, but Hermione had no education at all...not with the church at least...you were foolishly precipitous in your decision at Easter, Helen...I am glad that you have seen sense now?"

"My husband made the final decision, Ma'am." Helen replied as I met her gaze. Her bridle had been removed when we got home, so that she could talk to our guest, and we had been put in the playpen in the corner of the room. But Mrs Deacon had asked to take a closer look at me before lunch was served by our new staff. "On the advice of Miss Danvers..."

"Good for him...I really am very impressed with dear Colin...he is very sensibly grasping the opportunities presented to him...and he is taking a responsible attitude with regards to the education of your litter, Helen dear, by listening to good advice...and Miss Danvers is more in tune with the requirements a nursling must meet before she can be considered of age than you are. At the end of the day, your own education was far too modern and you were never properly kept. It was not really your mother's fault, of course. I know that your parents could not afford Deepdene, but you also need to receive good advice to support Colin's career." Edwina said firmly, sounding so superior and pompous. She was talking to Mama as if she was a child, and I did not like it at all, so I looked at Helen, silently imploring her to stand up for herself. Because that was what I intended to do when given half a chance. And in all honesty, without her help I did not see how I would ever get that chance. "I do know that dear Barry and Elizabeth were both extremely concerned that you allowed her to leave the nursery far too soon...I think it was really most unwise of you in the prevailing atmosphere...especially considering the part your eldest daughter played in precipitating our much-needed renaissance, of course..."

"It is so kind of you to take such an interest in my family Ma'am." Helen said, not addressing Mrs Deacon as the friend she had been in the past, albeit a much older friend, I noticed. Edwina Deacon had always been around the family, ever since we moved back to Meadvale, because of Bella, probably. But Helen and Edwina had certainly been on friendly terms, as social equals as far as I could see. Edwina was probably a bit closer to Sheila Blackstone than Helen, because they were more of an age and Helen had not been living back in Meadvale for very long, but they were still all part of the same set during my nanny days within the community. Edwina had always been by far the most traditional of the people I got to know, and she had persuaded her family to be so very hard on Bella, who after all had done nothing wrong when she was brought back to the village. But she was the oldest, so I had just put that down to her being a bit old-fashioned, rather than extreme in her views. Of course, Meadvale was extreme, by any standards, when compared to the big bad world outside our community. But I had fallen in love with the place, and rather liked the old-fashioned ways, and I had never really picked up on the extreme views of some, because I had other things on my mind, I suppose. I had certainly never expected the little backlash against the liberal tendencies of people like Helen and Colin, caused by my poor dear Nicola, to provoke such a fundamentalist response in so many people. And Edwina, who was related to the man I blamed for it all, Richard Ellesmere, was somehow one of the thought leaders of that response. Mama obviously did not like that, but she did not seem to be able to do anything about it, because of Papa, presumably. Mrs Deacon was in cahoots with Richard Ellesmere, and Papa did not seem to be able to resist Mr Ellesmere.