Noblesse oblige

Bea Nevis was excited when she arrived at school on that bright sunny morning. Her mother was giving a tea party for Lord Belmore. He was the fifth earl to hold the title since it had been created in the eighteenth century. Bea’s mum was a special favourite of his because he was partial to redheads. He had long served on the board of the Girl’s Collegiate school. Bea had three invitations for her very best friends Jayne, Catherine and Peggy. All four girls had just turned fourteen.
At recess, the friends gathered together under the old oak tree and Bea passed out the invitations. She had expected cries of delight but all she got were looks of shock before her friends collapsed into helpless laughter.
 Jayne was incredulous as she said, “I don’t believe that your mum can be throwing a tea party for that obese old man!” 
Peggy chimed in, “I would feel like an idiot. I hear that he expects schoolgirls to sit on his lap and that he is into a bit of snuggling. Yuck!” 
Catherine raised her eyebrows as she remarked, “Bea, your mum has to realise that this is a different generation. We are no longer prepared to be lap dogs for the local aristocrat. It is indecent!"
 Bea frowned and shook her finger at her friends, as she launched into her speech. Bea’s best subject was history and she had all the facts at her fingertips: 
“Okay, he was born in Australia where his dad was governor of New South Wales. He went to Winchester College in England. For your information, that was Winston Churchill’s school. He is a graduate of Oxford, was a barrister in London and in Ireland he has served as High Sherriff in two counties. Also, was a captain in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. How about that? And he lives at Castle Coole!”
The girls shrugged their shoulders and chorused, “So what?" 
Bea stamped her foot and continued to press her case; by now, her face was flushed and her eyes were full of tears.
In shrill tones, she cried out,” Don’t you know Castle Coole is an eighteenth-century mansion? There is even a special bedroom where King George the Sixth slept.” 
Catherine remarked,”Yeah, I have heard that  his lordship lives there with his dotty old maid sisters and that he is not on speaking terms with any of them.” 
Bea cried out in exasperation,”You girls have no respect for a true gentleman who has done so much for the people of Ireland. Haven’t you ever heard of noblesse oblige?”
Jayne  retorted,”Sure have. The term means that the nobleman cares for the community. This doesn’t give him the right to fondle nubile schoolgirls.”
 Peggy got the last word as she said, ‘I hear that he can wolf down a whole platter of sandwiches and can polish off an entire fruit cake while he does his bouncy-bounce. Sorry, Bea, tell your mum that we won’t be in attendance.”
 The girls walked away, laughing loudly, as Bea retrieved the invitations from where they lay on the grass. She muttered to herself, “Mum will be furious. I know just what she will say. Something like, “this country is going to the dogs. What’s the matter with schoolgirls who have no respect for the traditions of the past?”

Come Dine with Me

            Amanda checked the meat thermometer. The lamb was almost done. Humming softly, she centered the vase of spring flowers on the coffee table.  Her aunts were coming for dinner, eager to see her renovations. She inherited the gardener’s old cottage, along with a small sum of money, from Uncle Roger. He brought her up after her parents died in a car accident.   Aunts Sarah and Bessie had never married and also made their home with their brother.  Amanda had known nothing but love in the big Victorian mansion.  After her marriage broke up, she came back to help nurse her uncle through his final illness. She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists for her inheritance had not met with her expectations.

The door bell rang and she ran to greet her aunts. She ushered them in with cries of delight:
 “Dearest dearest aunties, so happy to see you. Come in and make yourselves comfortable.  Try the loveseat. Had it re-upholstered? Like my decor?  Still a lot to be done. It takes money!”
 Sarah and Bessie sat down and Amanda marvelled afresh on how different they were in appearance. Sarah, the elder sister, had an angular build and a pale complexion. Always composed, she now sat with her ankles neatly crossed. Bessie had a short rotund figure and a cheerful face with rosy cheeks. She smiled with ease, her brown eyes sparkling. It was typical of Bessie to get the conversational ball rolling:

“Mandy, I love the way you kept the country look with the flowered upholstery and I see that you did Roger’s chair over in green suede. That old brown leather armchair once was our father’s favourite chair.”  Her eyes brimmed with tears.
 “Auntie Bessie, please no tears. Uncle Roger wouldn’t want it. Spring is here. A time for renewal. I cooked lamb and new potatoes, garden peas. I made fresh mint sauce. Our favourite springtime dinner. Right?”
 Sarah nodded thoughtfully and spoke quietly:
 “Amanda, do you miss your old home? You lived there, on and off, since you were five. Your bedroom is filled with your girlhood treasures. Even your first evening gown and the mink wrap that Roger gave you. Don’t you want them in your new house?”
 “No. no, Auntie Sarah, leave them be. They belong where they are.”
 Bessie chimed in:
 “My love, soon enough the house will be yours, along with a sizable sum of money. Our brother provided well for us, may God rest his soul. But our days are numbered.”
 “Please, please, Auntie, don’t speak of sad things. Only recently, I dried my eyes from weeping for my uncle. I cannot bear the thought of more losses.”
 “Dear girl, I didn’t mean to...” Bessie stammered.
 Sarah raised her hand as she softly said:
“No more grief. Let’s talk of something cheerful.”
 Amanda cried out as she ran to the antique buffet:
 “Aunties, look over here.  Mother’s crystal glasses and a fine sauterne in the decanter!”
 Sarah and Bessie smacked their lips for they loved nothing more than a good white wine. As Amanda approached them, with two brimming glasses, she asked herself:                                                       “Which one will I poison first?”