A Respectable Woman: a novel of Victorian London (The Alverstone Series Book 1) by Lynn Bryant

Author:Lynn Bryant [Bryant, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-02-22T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Philippa received her summons from Mr Wentworth several days later. During that time she heard nothing from Kit Clevedon, and she was both relieved and disappointed. There were a number of things she wanted to say to Kit Clevedon, one of which was goodbye, but she was not ready to say them yet. Amelia had warned her about the possible consequences of her actions, and Amelia was right. It was time to end a relationship, which had no possible conclusion apart from shame and disgrace, but the ending was going to be painful, and Philippa was not eager to rush it. She had always assumed that the ending would come from him.

The Board of Trustees of the Oliver Wentworth School for Girls met in a room at the Commercial Hotel, just across the street from the school. There were twenty-five trustees in all, although in practice only fourteen or so attended the monthly meetings. Philippa’s only experience of these meetings was after her appointment to the post when she had been formally presented to the Board by Amelia, but she received regular, often humorous, and frequently irritated reports from Amelia, who attended each month along with the head teachers from the lower school, and from the boys’ asylum.

The business of the meetings ran to a well practiced script. The Board sat around a long table in one of the dining rooms, and those summoned before them waited in a smaller parlour next door. The door between the two rooms was ill-fitting, and those awaiting their turn could hear the proceedings clearly. Philippa sat on a hard wooden bench beside Amelia and listened while the other superintendents gave their reports.

The subject matter was remarkably similar. Possible admissions were discussed, as were expulsions, generally for ‘misconduct and insubordination’. Girls or boys could be brought forward by their master or mistress for punishments, which ranged from a whipping for one boy, who looked, Philippa thought, no more than ten, and undernourished, to being deprived of holidays and privileges, or being put on trial for a month. Philippa’s mind flashed back to Joan Carter. Joan was in her last two weeks at the school, having obtained a good place. Were the other schools just as flexible with the truth about some pupils, Philippa wondered, as Amelia Chadwick?

Two of the senior boys then stepped in, to formally thank the Board for their education, and for the clothes and books they had been given upon their leaving the school, one to be apprenticed to a boot maker, the other to a printer. A girl of around ten attended with her parents, all looking pale and nervous, to be formally offered a place at the Boarding school after successfully completing two years at the lower school with good conduct and attendance. Amelia joined them at this point, and pleasantly agreed that she was happy to accept Betty Callow as a junior pupil. She remained to give her own report, mentioning one or two minor disciplinary matters,

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