Page 30 of The Quiet Wife
Elinor jumped down with a squeal and all three sisters squished together in a huge, giggly hug, making Frances laugh at their enthusiasm. Freddie looked on with a smile, then gave her a thoughtful look.
“What is it?”
“Can we speak mama?”
Frances left the girls in transports of delight and followed her son into the corridor.
“I want to leave school. I don’t want to go to university.”
Frances didn’t know what to say. It was so completely out of the blue and he’d just come straight out with it.
“But, darling. Why? I thought you liked school.”
“I do, but listening to papa, being around people… I think it’s time I started understanding the shipping industry. If papa buys Bibby, and I think he will, he may need me.”
She couldn’t envision Frederick agreeing for a second, but the resolute look in her son’s eye told her he had inherited more of his father than she realised, and it made her want to weep at the potential for heartbreak she saw in Freddie’s plan.
“Don’t you think you should go to university first and then go into the business?”
Freddie let out an exasperated sigh. “What does university teach anyone about business? It’s all about Greek nonsense. It’s for the wealthy landed people who will never need to work and who will do nothing other than look down on me. It’s bad enough at school.”
“It is?” Were the other pupils horrible to him? Frances worried. It hurt to realise they probably were, given it was largely the sons of the aristocracy who attended.
“Papa never went to university and look at him,” he argued.
Frances had no idea at all what men learned at university. She tried to reason with him. “Maybe papa would like you to have the advantages he didn’t have?I know he cares deeply about you and wants you to have the very best of everything. I know it’s important to him.”
“I’m going to ask anyway.”
Her heart pounded uncomfortably. She clasped both his hands. “Let us think about the right way to approach it then.”
Freddie shook his head and drew away from her touch. “I’m going to do it now.”
“Now? Oh, love…” She felt quite faint at the idea. “He’s awfully busy and very tense with our guests arriving shortly. I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”
“When then?” Freddie asked.
“Perhaps tomorrow. We are dining with company tonight and I think he is pre-occupied with that. Don’t spoil your chances of getting his agreement by asking at the wrong moment.”
He frowned but nodded, seeming to accept her advice.
“When you do speak to him, make sure you do not get into an argument. He will never agree to it if you do.”
Freddie stalked off, leaving Frances feeling sick with worry. She could not imagine Frederick ever agreeing to it. She wished her husband might let him down gently and encourage him to continue his education, but she knew Frederick too well.
***
There was an air of shimmering expectancy about the house as Frances and the staff added final touches to the dining room in preparation. Everything sparkled, fresh flowers in abundance, and the whole house was redolent with polish and perfume, but her earlier conversation with Freddie weighed heavily on her.
She headed to her chamber to get ready, just as her maid arrived to help. After she had bathed and brushed out her hair,she stood still as Grace began the ritual of dressing, helping her into her chemise and lacing her corset so tight, she could hardly breathe. Then she tied on the frame that would hold up her skirt. She raised her arms as Grace draped the fabulous creation in silver and grey and fastened her into it. She eyed herself in the glass as she dressed. She didn’t want a repeat of the argument over the green dress so was pleased to see she looked elegant but most importantly, demure.
Once her hair was complete, and jewels added, she appeared the part of the wife of a wealthy powerful man. The problem was that her husband wanted her to look like the wife of an aristocratic man. She had enough sense to see that the two were not the same and no amount of money could buy that.
The door opened and Frederick walked in just as Grace finished her hair. She glanced over at him and waited.
“Let me see,” he gestured for her to stand.
She stood up and twirled around, heart thumping hard.
