Lady in Waiting

by Lady Victoria Hervey

  “Urgh!” I squealed.

  Shortly after, Mrs de Pauw arrived and brought me back downstairs to where Mummy and Daddy waited.

  “We have a little surprise for you before we leave.” Mummy took my hand and we walked across the grounds to a stable. They stopped in front of a stall where there stood the most beautiful pony I had ever seen

  “This is Kitty,” Mrs de Pauw said. “She was one of the school ponies, but your parents have arranged for her to be yours. Won’t that be lovely? Many of the girls enjoy riding in the afternoons, and there really is no better way to see the Kent countryside than on horseback.”

  I looked around to Mummy and Daddy. “Really? Do you mean it? She’s honestly mine?”

  Daddy smiled and touched my cheek. “Of course, darling. We want to hear all about how well you are getting on in your letters home.”

  I threw my arms around both of my parents and squeezed them as hard as I could. “Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you so much.”

  Shortly after, it was time for Mummy and Daddy to leave. I stood on the front steps of Bourne Park with a lump lodged in my throat as their Range Rover drove away. Mrs de Pauw escorted me back to my dormitory and I soon forgot all about feeling sad. I stayed up super late with the other girls, giggling into the night. It was like having a sleepover with lots of friends, and I had a feeling every night would be the same…

  The coach doors opened, pulling me from my reverie about my past and thrusting me back into the present. I rose to my feet and joined the crush of students all clambering to get off first. First days back were always chaos—everyone wanted to see their friends and get into their rooms. Finally we all disembarked and girls scattered in different directions, heading for the different Houses. I made a beeline for Crosby, the place I had called home for the last four years.

  Crosby House was one of three original Houses at Mapleton Manor, named after the Crosby family who had once owned the estate. It used to be in the main building, but it had moved into its own boarding house a few years previously.

  In Crosby, I sought out the housemistress to let her know I had arrived, and signed in the register book. But I wasn’t staying—I was off to my new dorm.

  At the end of last term, my friends and I had requested to room together in Masters. But the best part was that they didn’t all have to be from your original house. The friends I’d been separated from in those early years were now my roommates.

  Each Masters block had a shared kitchen between eight of us. It would mean we didn’t always have to eat in the main dining room with the rest of the school, potentially earning us a few extra minutes in bed each the morning. There were also a few common and lecture rooms, computer rooms and group rooms for hanging out.

  The Masters Houses were always alive with activity. There would be lectures, debates, play rehearsals, music and tutorial sessions—not to mention when the younger girls would visit and we would entertain them. I had waited for this for years, and now it finally my turn.

  I practically raced across the grounds to get to the Sixth Form Centre, keen to move into my new digs.

  As I strolled down the corridor, the sound of a girl singing drifted along to greet me. A smile spread across my cheeks as I recognised the voice, and I hurried along faster.

  The door to Fenella’s bedroom was flung wide open. She stood on her bed, pinning something to the corkboard above it. Wet, Wet, Wet blasted from her boombox on the desk and I smothered a laugh with my hand at the sight of my friend shaking her hips and tossing her hair around in time to the music.

  I cleared my throat, and Fenella whipped around. The moment she laid eyes on me, she leapt from the bed and was in front of me in a heartbeat, wrapping her thin arms around me and squeezing me so tight I feared for my ribs.

  “Freddie!” Fenella squealed in excitement. “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting forever! How was your flight? How was your summer? Gosh, didn’t it feel like it went on forever?” Fenella released me from her iron-tight hold and her eyes searched mine.

  Ah, she was finished then. With Fenella I could never be sure. She could lay one question on you or bombard you with twenty thousand. “I’m sorry, I got here as soon as I could. The flight was good, same as always, really. So was summer—hot, just how I like it!” Already I was feeling the difference in temperature. Back home I would have been lounging around in shorts and a T-shirt or just my bikini if I was sunbathing at the club or in the garden. But back in Kent, I was in jeans, lumberjack shirt, blue jumper and Doc Marten boots.

  And I was still feeling a little chilly.

  It wouldn’t be long before I was going to bed with more layers than could comfortably fit on my body.

  “Well?” Fenella asked, throwing out her arms to gesture to the entire room. “What do you think? Bit different from the dorms, isn’t it? We’ve waited four years for this, Freddie.”

  I turned in a slow circle, drinking in every inch of the room. Releasing a soft sigh, I dropped onto Fenella’s bed. “It’s fantastic, it really is.”

  To an outsider, the room was nothing special. Four cream walls, narrow single bed, window, corkboard, wardrobe with matching chest of drawers and a desk that had seen better years.

  But to us girls…it was everything.

  Fenella followed me to my room where she lounged on my bed after I’d made it up with the duvet set Mummy and I had bought a few weeks before. Throwing open the lid of my trunk, I scanned the contents with a heavy heart.

  I hated unpacking.

  But it wasn’t worth the lecture from the housemistress if my uniform was permanently crumpled. I passed out the collection of magazines I’d brought from home over to Fenella to flick through whilst I began the long, dreary task of sorting out all my clothes.

  The halls of the Sixth Form Centre slowly came to life as more and more girls arrived back at school. The chatter rose in volume as they darted down the halls, in and out of each other’s rooms. Shrieks and giggles were piercing as friends were reunited after a long summer of separation.

  Our friend Alicia arrived an hour or so later. She burst into the room like a tornado of excitement, pulling Fenella and me into a tight hug as we danced around on the spot. And so it went, until we were all together. With all of us coming from vastly different places, the arrival of girls could take all day. Our friend Cassandra, who was coming from LA, wouldn’t arrive until almost dinnertime.

  Unpacking was a slow process. All I wanted to do was chat and catch up on what everyone had been up to over the summer, but it was better if we all got organised as soon as we could. Our matron was of the strictest and would let nothing slide. It paid to keep her sweet, though, as it was she who decided whether or not to let us have a day off our subjects when we were ill—legitimately or not.

  Once all of us were more or less unpacked and our clutter had been cleared away so that the matron didn’t complain and scold us, we retired to the common room to hang out.

  We laughed for hours until my face hurt and my friends had tears streaming down their cheeks. Fenella was our storyteller, and told her tales of summer with enthusiasm and, I’m sure, a hint of embellishment.

  “Any boys this summer, Freddie?” Alicia asked, winking at me from her seat in front of the empty fireplace.

  I pulled a face at her and bit into my strawberry laces. “No.”

  Athena huffed and rolled her eyes. “Come on, Freddie! Haven’t you gotten over this silly hang-up of yours yet?”

  “I hardly think wanting my boyfriend to be taller than me ‘a silly hang-up’,” I said with a playful scowl.

  “You never know—the boys at Stonebridge could have shot up over the summer,” Jemima said from beside me on the couch as she reached into her packet of Doritos. The tuck boxes were getting a hammering tonight. “You might be pleasantly surprised by the time the first dance comes around.”

  I nudged her and flashed a smile. “Fingers crossed.”

  “Anyway, who are you to talk, A
thena?” Annie asked. “Wasn’t the reason you dumped that boy from Upton last year because his hair wasn’t the shade of blond you prefer?”

  Athena pulled a face at Annie but didn’t answer.

  My ‘hang-up’, as Athena had put it, was something that the girls were in equal measures amused and frustrated by. Amused because even half an inch was enough for me to be put off by a perfectly handsome and charming boy…and frustrated because even half an inch was enough for me to be put off by a perfectly handsome and charming boy.

  It wasn’t as though attending an all-girls school provided exciting dating prospects. But a few times a year our school held dances with Stonebridge, an all-boys school that wasn’t too far away and allowed the girls and boys to mix. Usually they were horrifically embarrassing with the girls on one side of the room, boys on the other and no one daring to even glance at each other until the last five minutes where there was a desperate scramble to find someone to dance with.

  There were local boys in the village, and some of the girls at school enjoyed sneaking out to meet their boyfriends, but so far none had caught my interest. For the last few years, my friends had returned to school after the summer to tell tales of the summer romances they had enjoyed.

  And me?

  Not. A. One.

  Oh, there’d been awkward kisses and a couple of almost-boyfriends who’d sworn to write once I was back at school, but hardly ever did. Or, if they did, it was only once or twice until it petered out to none.

  Fenella was desperate for me to find a proper boyfriend, one who made my heart splutter and turn me into a puddle of girlish mush, but I was sticking to my guns.

  I could not get serious about a boy who was shorter than me.

  Later, once we’d all been tossed out of the common room and shooed back to our rooms, I sat cross-legged on my bed and carefully pulled out posters from my magazines of boys I liked.

  Leonardo DiCaprio got the prime spot right above my bed with Will Smith next to him. It wasn’t long before the corkboard was almost full. When I had read a magazine to death, I went through it armed with a pair of scissors to cut out pictures of outfits. Fashion had always been a passion of mine, probably stemming from having my own seamstress who would make Augustus, Louisa and myself our own outfits.

  I wanted more than anything to work in the fashion industry, although I hadn’t a clue to what degree. I just wanted to be immersed in the world of clothes, the latest looks and hottest trends—see them all before anyone else did.

  As I tidied away my things, there was a soft tap on my door. A moment later, Fenella and Athena crept inside my bedroom.

  “Hello,” I said with a smile. “What are you two up to?”

  Athena held up a packet of Camel cigarettes. “Your room is right beside the east wing.”

  My smile widened into a grin and I shoved my feet into my trusty Dunlop Flash Greens.

  I climbed onto the window seat and threw open the window. Peering outside, I glanced around to check the coast was clear and gently eased myself out onto the ledge directly below my window. Taking care, the three of us shuffled along a few yards until the sloping roof of the east wing met the ledge and we scrambled up onto its shingled roof.

  There was a little collection of cigarette butts near one of the chimneys where older girls must have sneaked out onto the same spot.

  Athena was a genius when it came to figuring out the best spots to sneak up onto the roof. When it came to creeping out of a room, or even the school grounds, she was the girl to know. She knew all the secrets that Mapleton Manor tried to keep hidden.

  I shivered in my thin jumper and wrapped my arms around myself. It was only September, I had worse weather to face yet.

  Athena passed us a cigarette each and we leaned in to the open flame as she flicked her lighter. It had been ages since I’d had a cigarette, and I tried my best not to cough, as I’d never hear the end of it.

  “Have either of you met your shadow yet?” Fenella asked, leaning back onto her elbow.

  Athena and I both shook our head.

  “I can’t wait for Polly Pearl night,” Athena said before taking a long drag on her cigarette. “Remember the year they got us? I’ve never been so terrified in my life.”

  A shiver crept up my spine at the memory. While it was fun to look back on now, at the time it had been like living in a horror film.

  Fenella started whispering in a childlike, sing-song voice.

  “Stop it, Fenella,” Athena scolded, giving Fenella a shove as she chuckled. “You’ll end up giving me nightmares.”

  Fenella laughed. “Sorry. What do you think the shadows will be like?”

  As I pondered Fenella’s question, I tipped my head back to gaze up at the stars, so much more vibrant here than they’d been at home. Being in the countryside, Mapleton Manor received excellent views of the skies above thanks to barely any unnatural light. “Who knows?”

  “Mine had better not be annoying,” Athena said, tapping the end of her cigarette.

  With a laugh, I leaned my head on her shoulder. “Do you think she’ll develop a crush, Athena?”

  My friend snorted a laugh and pushed me off her. “There isn’t really any doubt, is there? The poor girl is bound to be infatuated with me.”

  Fenella let out a loud laugh and we shushed her before she got us discovered. “Conceited much, Athena? You’ll lead the girl astray.”

  Athena grinned. “Well, someone has to train the new generation. It would be sacrilege to let Mapleton Manor’s secrets die with us.”

  “She has us there,” I said, winking at Fenella.

  “What about you, Freddie?” Athena asked. “Will you depart all your worldly wisdom to the younger girls before leaving next year?”

  “What wisdom is that?” I asked as a laugh bubbled in my throat.

  Fenella stubbed out her cigarette. “Oh, please, Freddie! No one can get their hands on contraband like you can.”

  I snorted. “Contraband? We aren’t in prison, Fenella.”

  She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine, you know what I mean. You’re always scoring stuff for free. If it wasn’t for you, we’d have to wait until exeats before we could refill our tuck boxes. Not to mention you always get tons of magazines sent to school.”

  It was true. Over the years I’d devised sneaky ways of getting free things from companies. It had all started at Bourne Park when I was nine and I’d opened a Dip Dab to find the lolly was all weird and not at all what I’d come to expect from the sweet. I’d decided to write to Barratt’s to let them know how disappointed I’d been to open my favourite sweet to find it was not up to its usual high standards.

  They’d sent me a box of fifty Dip Dabs by way of apology.

  And thus, the sweetie queen of Bourne Park had been born.

  Now I was sixteen and the same trick still worked. We applied it to much more than Dip Dabs, and found we could get anything from Mars bars to More magazine.

  It had saved many wars when tuck box supplies started to dwindle and girls would start stealing from each other. Older girls were the worst for it, raiding the boxes belonging to the poor new girls who didn’t have the sense to hide their spoils.

  I, myself, changed my hiding spots on a regular basis and even went so far as to hide my actual tuck box, but on opening it the thief would discover old raisins and a half empty bottle of Robinsons squash.

  Deception was the key.

  Not even my closest friends realised my best hiding spot was in the ceiling, as a few of the panels could be pushed up. Perhaps if the fashion career didn’t pan out, I had a future in espionage.

  “It won’t be long before girls are coming to you with wish lists of things they want, Freddie,” Athena said with a wink.

  “And let me guess, you’ll be one of the first?” I asked her teasingly.

  Athena’s eyes widened in mock innocence. “Of course! I’ve already eaten all of my Shrimps.”

  Fenella, Athena and I dissolved into g
iggles at her declaration.

  A few minutes after we’d climbed back through my window, my bedroom door opened and the other girls all piled in. Their arms were laden with goodies from their tuck boxes, and Fenella and Athena quickly left to get their own supplies.

  We dumped everything in the middle of my bed, each of us helping ourselves to whatever we fancied. It was the age-old problem—a girl could pack the best tuck box in the world, but they would always want something someone else had brought.

  Giggling quietly, we swapped holiday stories and tucked into our treats. We kept our voices low so the housemistress didn’t come and tell us off. Midnight feasts were a time-honoured tradition, and there was none better than the one on the first night back.

  It was wonderful to feel silly and young again, to laugh with my friends.

  It was wonderful to be back.

  A persistent banging on the door ripped me from sleep. This time Johnny Depp was the star, and I was getting increasingly sick of never finding out the ending to my dreams.

  I bet Johnny Depp is taller than me…

  I burrowed deeper into my duvet and the door flew open.

  “Frederica! It’s after seven-thirty!” Matron scolded.

  Shoving a mass of blonde hair out of my face, I sat up in bed and tried to blink the sleep dust away. “I’m up, I’m up,” I mumbled past a wide yawn.

  “Hmpf,” Matron huffed. “Up properly, if you please. Breakfast then morning prayers in the chapel.”

  The instant the door was shut, I fell back against the pillows and felt my eyes droop shut again. Chapel wasn’t going anywhere. It would still be there in twenty minutes…

  The girls and I had ended up staying up until the small hours of the morning, talking and laughing, reminiscing over our summer antics and years of Mapleton Manor past.

  It had been great fun at the time, but I was sorely regretting the late bedtime now as I could barely drag myself out of bed. Today was the first official day back at school and as usual, morning chapel was a chore I could gladly see the back of. But at least I didn’t have to trudge all the way over to the main dining room for breakfast.