Grace

Chapter 58

For a while school passed normally with the added pressure of exam stress and people stressing out at you. Ben did his revision in his room mostly so we barely saw one another, Tarq nearly lost a few friends, Chi seemed rather happy about it all and completely unconcerned and I revised as much as I could but at a slower pace than almost everyone else, we all stayed at school for short leave because we had so much work to do despite the promise I'd made to Chi about her seeing Clara that weekend.

But there was one day that we put all of that aside, dropped the stress and woke up grinning.

July fourth.

It was actually July the first, but we celebrated George III's birthday on the first Wednesday before the fourth of July, and we damn well called it July Fourth because this was Eton and we did whatever the hell we wanted, or some half drunken logic like that. I still had no idea why and I had a feeling no one else knew why either, but none of us questioned it. With traditions it was sometimes better that way.

Knowing that my costume for the boat parade was downstairs in Dame Clarke's office (apparently Ben couldn't see me in it until I had my hat on and that was downstairs getting decorated with flowers) I dressed in a simple shorts and t-shirt combination.

When I got downstairs everyone was in smart uniform apart from me and Ben. He was in costume already. It looked like we were going for a navy theme. 16 – or 1700s navy theme. He was in white tights, blue pantaloons, a white waistcoat sleeveless jacket type thing that came down to mid-thigh and over the top was the navy blue jacket which had gold bits embroidered on it. If he'd been wearing a white wig he would have looked like Norrington from Pirates of the Caribbean. Instead he had his hair half up, half down and had made a super neat job of it for once.

He was also stuffing his face with bacon and eggs.

I left him to it and sat with the girls in my block after getting my breakfast from the buffet bar. I ate quickly, drank well, rushed upstairs to brush my teeth and then met Dame Clarke in her office. She was threading flowers into a bonnet. I'd completely expected a bonnet since I was having to wear a corset, but really? The flowers were nice though.

"Dame Clarke?"

"Oh, Grace, come in. Shut the door," she said with a smile. "You're costume's in the first aid room. Go put it on."

A little nervous – I hadn't seen it yet – I did as I was told. Once I got over the fact that I was going to have to wear ancient style underwear and after figuring out which way around it all went, and after I had the underskirt on as well, I pulled the damn corset on and then found the panniers.

Panniers.

They sat on my waist to give it a bit more width – not that I needed the help. Fortunately they weren't really wide. They were more like cushions on a belt. Sighing and rolling my eyes I put them on and then looked at the outer layers.

The first thing I put on was a white blouse that was made from thick material. Then there was a white waistcoat that had gold buttons and the school coat of arms embroidered in white cotton. The jacket was a form fitting ladies version of the navy uniform jacket Ben was wearing. The buttons on this didn't do up, but there were tiny hook and eye fastenings. The cuffs and edges were embroidered with gold and it all fit perfectly. Fortunately the skirt – navy blue – didn't flare or have a train.

"Are you ready, Grace?" Dame Clarke asked.

I opened the door and stepped back into the office.

My Dame smiled as soon as she saw me. "You look beautiful."

I smiled too. I really did like the dress; it was a fine costume. But I didn't really want to row in it. There was nothing for it now. I was in the costume and in about five hours I was going to be rowing down the Thames.