Authors: Nichole Matthews
“Since when?”
He slumped into his chair in mock defeat. “Oh, and try
not to spend all of my money.” L
ooking half amused and half annoyed, “By the bye, just what do you know about notor
i
ous rakes?”
“Oh, you know
.
”
S
he waved her hand around dismissively
.
“
J
ust
from those
novels I’m so fond of
from the lending library.” Then
she glided
out of the room humm
ing
contentedly
, then
poked
her head back in the room
.
“
Incidentally, can you make sure you
invite some more eligible men?
”
Poppy
waved
her fingers
cheerily
then skipp
ed
barefoot down the hall.
“Too da loo,
”
she called.
“Oh blast.
”
Parker groaned.
“What have I gotten myself into?”
Peyton chuckl
ed
softly
.
“Don’t look at me
.
”
He
buried his head back behind his paper
.
They do not love that do not show their love.
The course of true love never did run smooth
Love is a familiar. Love is a devil
There is no evil angel but love.
Two Gentlemen of Verona
*William Shakespeare
“
I
’
ve heard of a home in Berkshire that is rumored to produce some of the finest wool in the whole of England,”
Clara said
looking up from her task
. “I don’t see why our girls shouldn’t have
stoc
k
ings made from
the best wool
.
We are not paupers, after all.
”
Poppy glanced up
from the ragdoll she was making.
“Indeed.” She smiled. “It is such a little thing.”
She glanced at Aunt Adele.
“It’s not as if we cannot afford it.”
The wom
en
gathered for the weekly meeting of the Ashford
Lane
School
for Girls
.
This was a school for indigent girls. Some were orphans and some were from families that just needed a helping hand.
“
We just need to send a note,
” Adele agreed.
With a smile of accomplishment, she held up
the
doll she had just completed
.
“I will take care of it before I leave t
o
day.”
“I love how you embroidered pink cheeks on
your
doll,
Auntie.”
She frowned down at her poor attempt.
“
Beatrice
will love it.
Perhaps
you can help with mine?
”
She gr
i
maced just
like her doll.
“How many does that make now?”
Eugenia
pointed
to each finished doll
as she coun
t
ed, “o
ne-two-three-four…”
Juliet
cut in, “
F
ive
and t
hat leaves
just
three
more to complete.”
Poppy
laid
down her ragdoll
,
then
turned to Lady Warren
.
“I have a suggestion.”
Looking up,
Juliet inquired,
“What
,
my dear?”
“We are hosting
a
small
house party.” She threw her aunt a
speaking
look.
“Perhaps we could arrange a gathering for the children
during that time. I’m sure our friends would be am
e
nable to help
entertain the girls for an afternoon
.
”
“Like a
fair
?”
Lady Eugenia Bellamy
asked. She was
another of the patronesses over the
school
.
Her
grown
children
had married and left home and
she liked feeling useful.
“What a marvelous idea
.
“Adele beamed at her niece. “Think how exciting it will be for the
girls
to meet so many
members of the peerage in one setting
.”
“I’ll talk
Mr. Bolton into supplying a pony for the children to ride
,
”
Clara
said
with a smile.
Hearing a tap,
Juliet
bid the visitor enter.
“Lady Warren,
” Miss
Penelope
Spenser, one of the teachers at the
school
, curtsied
.
“The c
hildren are ready for tea, m
y lady
.”
“Lovely
.
”
Juliet
smiled.
“We will be there shortly
.”
She glanced about the round table
at the
other
women
.
“
Gather ideas and we c
an discuss them next week.”
All in
total
there were five patronesses of
the
Ashford
Lane
School
for Girls
. There was
Lady Adele Peregrine,
Lady
J
u
liet
Warren, Mrs. Clara Donovan, Lady Eugenia Bellamy and finally Lady Poppy Per
e
grine. Each took seriously their task as sponsors to the young girls who resided at the
school
.
Poppy put aside
her needle and thread and
rose. “Tea would be a welcome re
s
pite.”
There were
twelve
girls in all
. T
wo
of the girls were
infants,
four
were
in
t
he nursery
and
the six remaining
ranged
in age from five to sixteen
.
The school employed a wet nurse,
two
nannies and
two
teachers.
It was
Lady Warren
’s belief
that the girls would benefit from
a
pro
p
er
education and
etiquette would give the girls an advantage
ous edge when they were placing them in homes for work
. Over the years,
many young
girls
had left the s
chool with the educ
a
tion
needed
to be
come
well-paid
companions
and some even governes
s
es
.
Poppy glanced about the room at the six oldest
girls
seated
properly
at tables
set for a
f
ternoon tea. The arrang
ement de
signed in order
that each
of the patronesses could sit with
a
table
and use this time to teach lessons on c
omportment, tea
service and polite conve
r
sation.
Poppy knew that
Adele
snuck away after
tea
each week to spend time
with the small children in the nursery while she waited
for her
to complete her art lesson
.
Poppy had walked u
n
invited into the nursery one afternoon and spied her aunt rocking and infant
with such a look of longing, she
almost wept.
Deep down inside Poppy believed that her aunt’s only r
e
gret in life was not having children of her own.
Once a week, after
the meeting and after
tea, Poppy
taught the o
lder girls
so
mething
that was
completely impractical
.
This was one of her favorite times.
She felt that everyone should have a frivolous pastime, especially if one had the opportunity.
Most of the children from the school would have hard lives. They would be
required to work
to survive and to eat.
Therefore,
one hour per week was
set aside to give them a lighthearted moment. Each year she picked two differ
ent activities
.
Poppy hand selected
glass painting
which she felt whole-heatedly
qualified. Did it really matter if one could pain
t backwards on a piece of glass?
The three oldest girls ranged from thirteen to sixteen
. The youngest was
Hester whom had just turned thirteen then
Lauren
who was
fifteen and
finally
Charlotte
who was
sixteen.
“Lady Poppy?”
A
small,
hesitant voice
came from behind.
Looking
over her shoulder
, Poppy smiled,
“Yes Hester?”
Hester was a small girl with golden ringlets and sky blue e
yes. Her cambric day dress
covered with a
paint-spattered
pin
a
fore.
She was thirteen years old and still seemed like a child in so many ways. The schools a
m
bitions were to keep the children until they were at least seventeen
and
sometimes even eigh
t
een if they
were able
.
Hester had a
deep
frown
fixed on her face
.
“Lauren told me my tree was too
tall
.”
She held
up the
piece of glass
for Poppy to study
.
“Do you think it is too
tall
?”
Poppy took a moment to study the piece of glass
and the tree in question
.
She turned the glass to the
left and
to the
right and squint
ed, making her expression quite serious
.
Poppy tapped her
chin
and
paused
.
“
I believe that if the tree
w
ere
painted with some bushes b
e
side it, then it w
ould
look
absolutely
perfect.”
Hester beamed
up at Poppy
as she grabbed for the piece of glass
.
“Thank you, my lady.”
Poppy leaned close and said softly,
“I’ve heard that there are trees that grow straight to the heavens in
America
with trunks that are bigger than a
traveling
carriage.”
She stretched her arms as wide as they could go.
“Truly, my lady
?” Hester
’s
eyes
grew
wide
with
fascination
.