Morning all, running slow this morning. Just didn’t sleep well. But the coffee is brewing so it is time to get a move on. So flex those brains and set those timers and let’s dive into the morning prompt.
I think this could be interesting. Clearly the Academy isn’t what it seems but that’s always a fun set up. And I suspect our Alice isn’t entirely what she seems either. It could be fun to find out more about both. Plus I haven’t done a historical piece in a while. Admittedly i would have to decide the era first. But that would pair well with the plot development.
Thursday, November 16th: Ivy covered one wall.
Ivy covered one wall. She knew it probably wasn’t good for the building, trapping moisture against the brick, but it made her tingle inside to see it. The ivy somehow made it look more like a grand institution. She hadn’t expected that. When Alice was hired to teach Latin and Ancient Greek here she wasn’t certain how grand the Academy was. The Heddiston Academy was not well known.
In fact no one she asked knew much about it. At first that put her off. What if it was a hoax? A ruse to get her out of town? Alone and unprotected? For what possible reason she couldn’t fathom. While she considered her looks to be pleasant enough, she knew she wasn’t a ravishing beauty and she assumed that if a grand conspiracy was set to whisk someone off in such a manner she would need to be.
Alice was not wealthy, in fact she barely had the funds for another month at the hideous boarding house where she rented rooms. It was a respectable place, clean and cheap. However the Matron considered everyone’s business her business in an effort to keep them all modest, chaste and respectable. Alice was under suspicion as she tutored several children in wealthy families, thus coming into contact with the grown men from those families.
The Matron seemed to believe men from good families were all ravening beasts set to prey upon female staff. Alice assured her more than once that she was generally hired by the lady of the house and only spent an hour or two each visit with the children of the house. If she met any of the men it was in passing as she entered or left the house and was therefore always in the presence of the butler.
The butler, the Matron seemed to regard as a paragon of virtue for reasons Alice was not entirely able to discern and so she remained a resident in good standing. The pay Alice received for such tutoring was enough to keep her fed and in the rented room but very little else.
In the end she found the Academy on the register and found it was considered reputable even if it wasn’t well known. It was however the fact that there was little reason for anyone to go to great lengths to get her out of the city that caused her to accept. She was pleased to see the back of the Matron.
At the end though the Matron was pleased for her as she now had an acceptable place. When Madam scowled at the name of the unfamiliar Academy Alice told her it was a girl’s school. She did so knowing that if things didn’t work out, she would need a reference from madam to find another reputable room in the city. The thought of a girl’s school made Alice’s decision a virtuous one. She would now be away from the men of noble houses.
The sight of that ivy wall soothed her fears, as silly as that sounded. Alice alighted from her rented carriage and waited for her luggage to be let down.
Ten til Midnight 