A Principle of Honour

Chapter 10

April 1815

The journey to Brussels had been long and arduous and plagued with problems from the start. After the wheel of their stagecoach broke beyond immediate repair, Verity and Maisie had spent several nights in a rather unpleasant inn on the outskirts of London. And then, once they had eventually arrived in the capital, all the stagecoaches that were scheduled to leave for Dover, were fully booked. Verity soon discovered that two plain looking women, wearing drab blue dresses, did not get priority over the more ostentatiously dressed passengers. If it had not been for Maisie, consistently standing up for them, they would have been stranded in London for nearly a week.

Maisie was marvellous. There had been many occasions when Verity did not know what she would have done if she had been travelling on her own. Although Maisie was much shorter than Verity, the top of her head barely reached Verity's shoulders, what she lacked in stature, she made up for with personality. Verity was continually amazed at the ingenuity that her travelling companion displayed, as she stood up for them time and time again. Maisie spoke with an authority that made even the surliest of men, often twice her height, quake in their boots.

Unfortunately, when they eventually arrived in Dover, inclement weather had suspended all crossings; and they were again at the mercy of their circumstances. And even once the storm had cleared, and sailing had begun again, they still found it difficult to find a passage across the channel. They also found, much to their irritation, that they were being ignored and forgotten, just like they had been in London. It was not until Maisie had caused a scene at the ticket office that they finally managed to procure their passage. All in all, it had taken them nearly a month of travel, to finally arrive at the school in Brussels.

At their new school, they shared a small room that was only just big enough for two small single beds and a table that doubled up as a desk. Madame Dupont, formally Miss Mansfield, had apologised for the size of the room and had assured them that it would be a temporary arrangement. However, Verity and Maisie did not care about its size, and they had both persuaded Madame Dupont not to move them to separate chambers elsewhere in the school.

Verity spent what little free time she had, gazing out of the window at the pretty courtyard garden below, observing the changing seasons. She never once tired of the view.

It was now the beginning of April, nearly six months after she had first arrived at the school. Verity, at the end of a very busy day, was looking out of the window at the garden below. The brightly coloured blossoms of the fruit trees were competing to attract large bumble bees, that were making their drunken path from one pool of nectar to another. And the whitewashed walls, that enclosed the courtyard were beginning to come alive with numerous climbing plants that had been awoken from their slumbers by the warm spring weather. She observed the unpredictable nature of their winding paths, as their green tendrils encroached on the yet unoccupied chalky walls.

However, her peace was short-lived when her musings were interrupted by Maisie, who joined her at the window. 'It is beautiful,' Maisie said thoughtfully, after studying the courtyard. 'I was told there was nothing that could rival the beauty of an English spring day, but I think they must have been mistaken.' She took a deep breath and sighed, 'can you smell those sweet spring flowers. If only I could bottle it up and sell it.'