“She means me,” said Harriet, seeing the Superintendent’s bewildered look. “I’d gone for an early morning walk and seen footsteps in the dew leading into the gym. I wondered who was up so obscenely early and followed them in. That’s when I found the rosette from Miss Nash’s shoe.”
“And you such an early riser,” said Nash. “What a coincidence that it should have been that particular day you got up before the bell!”
“This is ridiculous,” said Miss Lux, firmly. “Let’s not start swinging wild accusations at each other. Miss Vane could have no possible motive for injuring Miss Rouse. She hardly even knew the girl!”
“That’s what Miss Lux would like you to think,” said Nash to Michaels. “I don’t suppose you know much about women’s colleges, do you? All those females penned up together, day after day. Night after night. A harem of virgins taught by spinsters, and not a man in sight. It attracts a certain sort of teaching staff. Spinsters by choice. Why, some of them,” - here her gaze swung towards Miss Lux - “some of them wouldn’t give a man the time of day even if he was one of the handsomest theatre stars in the country.”
Miss Lux turned a strangled purple; the Superintendent red. Nash pushed home her attack. “And then there are the visitors. Most of them are perfectly decent but every so often we get one of the predatory sort. The kind who are invited to come for one lecture and somehow end up staying on for weeks and weeks. The kind who cuddle up for cocoa evenings with the girls or smuggle in alcohol and get them drunk. The kind who have favourites. You know, Superintendent, for some reason Miss Vane had a much higher opinion of Rouse than the rest of the staff. Poor old Rouse, she wasn’t used to being anyone’s darling. Even her people didn’t like her much. A rebuff from a girl like that must have been a bitter pill to swallow. The kind of ingratitude that needs punishing.” The frost-blue eyes turned back to Harriet. You tried to have me hanged.
“Isn’t that how you see it, Miss Vane?” said Beau Nash. “All’s fair in love and war.”
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-04 01:12 pm (UTC)“She means me,” said Harriet, seeing the Superintendent’s bewildered look. “I’d gone for an early morning walk and seen footsteps in the dew leading into the gym. I wondered who was up so obscenely early and followed them in. That’s when I found the rosette from Miss Nash’s shoe.”
“And you such an early riser,” said Nash. “What a coincidence that it should have been that particular day you got up before the bell!”
“This is ridiculous,” said Miss Lux, firmly. “Let’s not start swinging wild accusations at each other. Miss Vane could have no possible motive for injuring Miss Rouse. She hardly even knew the girl!”
“That’s what Miss Lux would like you to think,” said Nash to Michaels. “I don’t suppose you know much about women’s colleges, do you? All those females penned up together, day after day. Night after night. A harem of virgins taught by spinsters, and not a man in sight. It attracts a certain sort of teaching staff. Spinsters by choice. Why, some of them,” - here her gaze swung towards Miss Lux - “some of them wouldn’t give a man the time of day even if he was one of the handsomest theatre stars in the country.”
Miss Lux turned a strangled purple; the Superintendent red. Nash pushed home her attack. “And then there are the visitors. Most of them are perfectly decent but every so often we get one of the predatory sort. The kind who are invited to come for one lecture and somehow end up staying on for weeks and weeks. The kind who cuddle up for cocoa evenings with the girls or smuggle in alcohol and get them drunk. The kind who have favourites. You know, Superintendent, for some reason Miss Vane had a much higher opinion of Rouse than the rest of the staff. Poor old Rouse, she wasn’t used to being anyone’s darling. Even her people didn’t like her much. A rebuff from a girl like that must have been a bitter pill to swallow. The kind of ingratitude that needs punishing.” The frost-blue eyes turned back to Harriet. You tried to have me hanged.
“Isn’t that how you see it, Miss Vane?” said Beau Nash. “All’s fair in love and war.”