Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady by L. A. Meyer
Authors: L. A. Meyer
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clean up after supper and go home. Then Peg locks up."
I have gotten some useful information.
I get to the dining hall and says, "Hey, Mate," and sits down across from Amy yet again. I look around the room and it seems that this meal is a good deal less formal than the
others, as the girls pile right into the tea and toast and there ain't no grace. I see some of the girls put their hands together and mumble one to themselves, but I figure I prayed enough yesterday to hold me for a long while and so grabs a roll as soon as Betsey sets 'em down. The teacher table is empty. I guess Mistress doesn't do this one. Prolly back in her room with a pipe and a cup of coffee.
I look for some sign in Clarissa that she was the one what marooned me outside, but I can't see none. She serenely holds court, the center of all attention, a goddess in her heaven. She and some of the other girls have on what I reckon are riding clothes and they look quite smart, damn them.
"What's the rule on going outside the school?" I asks of Amy.
Once again she looks confused. I find that I am good at confusing her. But then she answers.
"But of course we could never go out without an escort, so I imagine that has never been stated as an actual rule." She thinks for a bit more and then goes on. "Of course, our parents can take us out for holidays, and the local girls go home for the weekends, generally. I suppose my brother could escort me if I ever wanted to go anywhere ... Not that he ever would."
"Oh yes. You said you have a brother."
"Yes, Randall. He is eighteen. The college he attends across the river, in Cambridge, is a real school. Not like this." She sniffs.
"Well, Mate, maybe someday he can come over and escort us around the town," I says. "There's some taverns down on the docks I'd like to check out."
I don't catch her reply to this 'cause a platter of eggs is brought up to me and I scoops up a couple and slides 'em on my plate and snags a brace of bacon strips to keep 'em company. I looks at the eggs in all their yellow-yolked beauty lying there on my plate.
"And what's your name, then?" I ask of the girl holdin' the platter with the eggs and bacon. She was one of the girls sitting at the table when I came in the kitchen door.
"Abby, Mum," says the girl.
"Well, thank you, Abby, and please tell Peggy I think she's some cook."
Abby smiles and says, "Yes'm."
I tears into the helpless eggs and soon am patting my belly in satisfaction. "Now, Miss Amy, I'm ready to meet those horses."
On the way down the hallway Annie comes up to me and says, "Beggin' your pardon, Miss, but Mistress wants to see you in her office. Now."
Dread crawls up my soon-to-be-beaten legs and into my belly and makes my eggs sit less easy there than they was before. Somebody must have peached on me for being outside.
Damn!
Clarissa sweeps past with a jaunty bonnet on her head, a riding crop under her arm, and a slight smile on her face.
I grimace at Amy and leave her side as we pass Mistress's office. The door is open and she is seated at her desk. I walk inside, bob, and put my toes on the white line and wait.
"Good morning, Mistress," I manage to say. 1 hope my Look is all right. I case my eyes and stare over her head, expecting the worst.
"Good morning," she says. "Here." And she hands me a letter. I recognize it as my own that I wrote to Jaimy yesterday and put in the mailbox outside her door. "This letter is addressed to a man to whom you are not related. It is not seemly for you to be carrying on such a correspondence, and I will not send it on. I advise you to be more careful in your actions and comportment in the future."
"But, Mistress, we are to be married as soon as I finish school. Surelyâ"
"Surely you remember what I said about talking back to me," she says with a warning in her tone. "Now. Do you have a formal engagement? Anything in writing?"
"No, Mistress, but I believe his intentions are true."
"That's not enough. I direct you to put
I have gotten some useful information.
I get to the dining hall and says, "Hey, Mate," and sits down across from Amy yet again. I look around the room and it seems that this meal is a good deal less formal than the
others, as the girls pile right into the tea and toast and there ain't no grace. I see some of the girls put their hands together and mumble one to themselves, but I figure I prayed enough yesterday to hold me for a long while and so grabs a roll as soon as Betsey sets 'em down. The teacher table is empty. I guess Mistress doesn't do this one. Prolly back in her room with a pipe and a cup of coffee.
I look for some sign in Clarissa that she was the one what marooned me outside, but I can't see none. She serenely holds court, the center of all attention, a goddess in her heaven. She and some of the other girls have on what I reckon are riding clothes and they look quite smart, damn them.
"What's the rule on going outside the school?" I asks of Amy.
Once again she looks confused. I find that I am good at confusing her. But then she answers.
"But of course we could never go out without an escort, so I imagine that has never been stated as an actual rule." She thinks for a bit more and then goes on. "Of course, our parents can take us out for holidays, and the local girls go home for the weekends, generally. I suppose my brother could escort me if I ever wanted to go anywhere ... Not that he ever would."
"Oh yes. You said you have a brother."
"Yes, Randall. He is eighteen. The college he attends across the river, in Cambridge, is a real school. Not like this." She sniffs.
"Well, Mate, maybe someday he can come over and escort us around the town," I says. "There's some taverns down on the docks I'd like to check out."
I don't catch her reply to this 'cause a platter of eggs is brought up to me and I scoops up a couple and slides 'em on my plate and snags a brace of bacon strips to keep 'em company. I looks at the eggs in all their yellow-yolked beauty lying there on my plate.
"And what's your name, then?" I ask of the girl holdin' the platter with the eggs and bacon. She was one of the girls sitting at the table when I came in the kitchen door.
"Abby, Mum," says the girl.
"Well, thank you, Abby, and please tell Peggy I think she's some cook."
Abby smiles and says, "Yes'm."
I tears into the helpless eggs and soon am patting my belly in satisfaction. "Now, Miss Amy, I'm ready to meet those horses."
On the way down the hallway Annie comes up to me and says, "Beggin' your pardon, Miss, but Mistress wants to see you in her office. Now."
Dread crawls up my soon-to-be-beaten legs and into my belly and makes my eggs sit less easy there than they was before. Somebody must have peached on me for being outside.
Damn!
Clarissa sweeps past with a jaunty bonnet on her head, a riding crop under her arm, and a slight smile on her face.
I grimace at Amy and leave her side as we pass Mistress's office. The door is open and she is seated at her desk. I walk inside, bob, and put my toes on the white line and wait.
"Good morning, Mistress," I manage to say. 1 hope my Look is all right. I case my eyes and stare over her head, expecting the worst.
"Good morning," she says. "Here." And she hands me a letter. I recognize it as my own that I wrote to Jaimy yesterday and put in the mailbox outside her door. "This letter is addressed to a man to whom you are not related. It is not seemly for you to be carrying on such a correspondence, and I will not send it on. I advise you to be more careful in your actions and comportment in the future."
"But, Mistress, we are to be married as soon as I finish school. Surelyâ"
"Surely you remember what I said about talking back to me," she says with a warning in her tone. "Now. Do you have a formal engagement? Anything in writing?"
"No, Mistress, but I believe his intentions are true."
"That's not enough. I direct you to put
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