A different pupil, a tall girl of about the same age as her, dressed in a pale blue shift, her hair pulled high on her head, revealing a leather collar with the initials LS in gold leaf, entered Isabella's room.
'I am to wash and prepare you for your first lesson,' the girl said softly, taking hold of Isabella's hand.
'I do not require any assistance,' Isabella growled, snatching her hand away. 'Go away, I will wash and dress myself.'
The girl remained, infuriating Isabella further. Why do these people think they can control her every move? She had no intention of complying with their silly rules and regulations, and was certainly not going to endure any of their lessons in behaviour.
'If you do not allow me to prepare you, my master will consider it a failure on my part,' the girl said, her lip trembling.
'I care not for what your master thinks. Leave me.' Isabella snapped.
The girl opened her mouth as if to speak then quickly left the room. As the door was pulled shut, Isabella thought she heard a small sob.
Perhaps she was being a little hard. It seemed to Isabella that the other girls were terrified of disobeying their masters. Were they all here by choice? She certainly hadn't wanted to be here and she definitely did not want to marry. But sometimes life does not go as hoped. Isabella opened the door. The girl was standing in the corridor as if she did not know what to do next.
'Come in, let's get this over quickly.'
The girl smiled gratefully and quickly set about preparing Isabella for her first lesson at Pendragon Hall. After Isabella had been washed, her hair combed and dressed in a fresh pure white silk shift, she allowed the girl to take hold of her hand and lead her down the long corridor, down the wide staircase and through a carved oak door.
Isabella looked around the large panelled room, lit only by candles, leaving the edge of the room in shadow. The girl left and the door shut behind her. Isabella was alone. The room, warmed by a fire crackling in a large grate, was dominated by a huge granite fireplace. Facing the fire was Miss Frobisher. She did not turn around or even acknowledge Isabella's presence.
'You ordered that I should come and see you,' Isabella announced, holding her head high. She was becoming increasingly irate at being treated as if she were little more than a servant, rather than the daughter of a Baronet and the fiancΓ©e of an Earl. When she was married, and eventually became Lady DeVillier she would demand respect, there would be no place in her household for such a person as this so-called Mistress of Pendragon House.
'I understand you spurned the assistant we sent to dress you,' the Mistress said without turning from facing the fire, her voice colder than a harsh winter frost.
'I did not need anyone to help me, and certainly not one of those girls. I am used to my own ladies maid,' Isabella missed the familiar presence of her maid, and wished Mary had been allowed to accompany her, silently she promised to be kinder to the girl in future. 'Anyway I did allow her to dress me.'
'It was not for you to dismiss at your whim then call them back as if they were mere servants. Those who are sent to you do it because they want to please their master. As we speak her master is deciding if she failed by being so treated, and of course she will have to face any punishment he devises for such failure.'
'It was not her failure. I did not really need her,' Isabella protested.
Miss Frobisher sighed. 'When you have been here for a few weeks, Isabella, you will understand how important it is to be obedient. The girl who accompanied you from your home, Hannah has been sent here by an aged aunt to learn obedience and service, and she did not obey so she had been punished. The girl, charged with assisting you with your preparations, a task set by her master, was to learn to serve without question.'
'But, I did not know, I thought.....'
'Isabella, the problem is that you do not think, and you are unaware of how your actions affect others,' said the Mistress turning from the fire. Her face was hard and unforgiving and Isabella shuddered, cold fingers of fear creeping down her spine. 'Now, I think you ready to learn your first lesson.'