The Hidden Swann

Chapter 2 - In Which it is Proven that Schooling Turns People into Walruses

Author's Note:

Hello whoever is reading this,

I just wanted to thank you for waiting patiently for me to post another chapter. Sorry it took so long. I actually had to redo this entire chapter in order to set up the rest of the story. Hope you enjoy it!

Picture of Mrs. Hatcham on the right.

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I push my breakfast around on my plate. My stomach is in knots and all morning any noise above a whisper makes me jump. Lizzie sits across from me, glancing my way with every bite of food. 

Not only do I have to wait in tight anxiety for the news of last night to make it to Father's ears, I have to wait amid the monotonous frivolities of the daily life of the Swanns. 

Mrs. Hatcham sits beside me,  her eyes roaming down the schedule for the day. I peer over, and the lump in my throat gets heavier. 

French in the morning. Piano in the afternoon. Etiquette and Flute were on alternating days. Lizzie has a garden luncheon with a local merchant's wife and daughter.

After a simple lunch alone in the sun room, I will continue my studies but this time in piano, flute, and etiquette. Lizzie during this time will take her daily rounds of the gardens and the town, and then finish the afternoon with a quiet time reading and embroidering in the sitting room off our bed chambers.

Before having dinner, I will join Elizabeth in the sitting room for an hour before we spend the last half hour preparing ourselves for supper which the Swann family will be sharing with Captain James Norrington and Gillette, the Captain's right hand man.

When the maids leave us at the breakfast table, Lizzie lets out a large sigh, "This is so tedious. We do this every day. I can't wait until I am married."

I stare at her, unbelieving.

"Only for the freedom it brings." She says quickly giving me the "duh" look. "Look at us. We've been doing the same thing ever since I can remember."

"Just think of how I feel." I tell her, spreading butter over a toast. "Father won't even let me attend the dances until I am sixteen. I can't take walks like you and I certainly cannot have luncheon with anyone."

"You want to spend an entire hour with Katherine and Belinda?!"

"Maybe yes, Maybe no. " I tell her, "I mean, they aren't too bright or proper, or pretty, or anything good at all but they're fun to laugh at, with their ridiculous feathered hats and the way they 'sway' when they walk. They're like overstuffed peacocks."

I take a sip of water, "Besides, just wait a couple weeks and then we'll have the same schedule and everything will be double the fun. We'll "spice" the chef's food, and "accidentally" drop some garden toad into Mrs. Hatcham's shoes."

"Anna!" Lizzie gasps with amused shock. "You wouldn't dare."

A few moments pass.

"All right, you would dare." Lizzie says, slightly giggling behind her napkin but quickly becomes serious.

"Anna, I've been meaning to ask. What will you do about your, um, nightly escapades, when you turn sixteen?"

"What on earth do you mean?" I ask, biting into a jam covers slice of bread.

"You know you can't continue them after your coming out party. Father will have you watched day and night for a very long time. That is what happened to me."