The Secret Wedding

Scandal at Highbury's boarding school

The day began like any other day at Highbury's boarding school. Mrs. Goddard, the headmistress, woke up at seven when her maid came in to draw the curtains. It was a sunny morning of September, perfectly quiet and agreeable. After a reasonable breakfast in her private apartment, she went down to the drawing-room, to check out that everything was in order.

Thirty-nine girls, between ten and seventeen years old, were having their morning tea in relative silence. They all stood up as their headmistress got in the room, showing radiant smiles on their faces.

'Good morning, young ladies'

Mrs. Goddard noticed that one chair was empty, but didn't say a thing, because it was Arabella Wilson's seat. She was not only a sweet, beautiful, and good-natured girl; she was also the protégée of Mrs. Berrycloth, one of the wealthiest benefactors of the school. For all those reasons – and especially the latter, Arabella was allowed to wake up earlier to practice her pianoforte.

The headmistress was so confident regarding her favorite boarder, that when she passed through the music room, she didn't even realise that it was empty and silent. She went to her office, opened the window to get a little bit of fresh air and sat at her desk to take care of her daily correspondence, without noticing that one of the letters, carried by the wind, had fallen under a cupboard. She unfolded the other letters - one of them was from one of her former pensioners, Harriet Smith, now Harriet Martin, who left the school two years ago, when she got married to a tenant farmer of Donwell Abbey. Mrs. Martin, now a young mother, was thanking her and all the girls for the little caps and socks they made for the twins.

That's when everything went wrong. Mademoiselle Lantenay, the French teacher, knocked at the door, and said with a rather anxious face:

'Madame, la petite Wilson a disparu! Arabella seems to be missing! I've sent Henrietta to her classmate's room, it is empty. The young lady is nowhere to be found. None of the girls have seen her since yesterday evening.'

As Mrs. Goddard felt her heart beating faster, she tried to keep calm. It was probably nothing of consequence. She went straight to Arabella's bedroom. The bed was perfectly made, everything seemed to be in order. There was only this detail, a book, on the table, The Secret Wedding, that Mrs. Goddard knew to be most shocking, because it was the story of a young girl eloping to Scotland with her lover.

'That must be it', thought Mrs. Goddard to herself. She couldn't believe that such a smart and sensible girl would read such scandalous novels – and put them into practice! A most wicked man probably seduced the innocent girl. Who could it be? Could she have mentioned a secret attachment to anyone? The headmistress knew she couldn't ask the girls without compromising the reputation of both her school and her favorite boarder. She had to turn to someone trustworthy and who wouldn't gossip around: Arabella's friend, Harriet Martin.

'Miss Lantenay, could you please tell the girls that their classmate had to leave early morning because her guardian was ill. No one can know the truth. I count on your discretion. I am going to Abbey Mill farm.'

Mrs. Goddard took the Secret Wedding, and put her most discreet cloak on. She couldn't take the risk of being recognised in Highbury. Everybody knew she never left the boarding school in the morning. What would people think of her? What would she say to them? That her most serious and accomplished pupil was probably on her way to get married in Gretna Green?

She went out, shivering, trying to avoid being seen by anyone. That's when she realised that it was the market day. Mrs. Goddard walked as close as possible to the walls of the main street, staring at her feet to avoid eye contact. She was almost out of the crowd and began to hasten her pace, when she walked into someone, and they both fell to the ground, with a very strange scream.

This someone was Miss Bates, and she looked quite shocked. The cabbages and potatoes she bought at the market had fallen on the pavement too. So did the shameful book that Mrs. Goddard was carrying.

'Mrs. Goddard?' The spinster of Highbury asked, trying to recognise the headmistress hidden under her cloak, while looking at the Secret Wedding that lay among the potatoes.

'Oh, Mrs. Bates, please excuse my clumsiness. I didn't see you approach!'

The headmistress got up, trying to dissimulate her apparent embarrassment, and helped out Miss Bates with her vegetable basket.

'We don't often see you outside in the morning', the old maid noticed.

'Indeed', answered Mrs. Goddard, with a rather forced smile, looking desperately for some reason of being outside.

'I hope everything is fine at the boarding school', Miss Bates went on, visibly waiting for an explanation.

'Yes, everything is well, I am just on my way to visit Mrs. Martin, because… because she is ill'

'Is she? I saw her this morning, and she looked perfectly fine! What a brave and admirable woman she is, going to the market to fetch some goods for her children, even when she is sick!'

'Very brave, indeed. Now Miss Bates if you'd excuse me, I must be running away. I wish you and Mrs. Bates a very good morning'

Mrs. Goddard took the book and hurried to Abbey Mill Farm, hoping she wasn't being rude to Miss Bates.

'I can't believe any such thing!' Said Harriet, almost choking with her freshly baked apple tart. 'Do you really believe she might have eloped?'

'What else would it be? With such a book on her nightstand! She is a clever young lady - that's certainly a message. I assure you I couldn't believe it either. Would you happen to know of any… attachment of hers?'

'Well, I knew that she was supposed to marry her distant cousin, her guardian's son, the clergyman Mr. Edmund Berrycloth, when she'd be nineteen. She wasn't very fond of him. I think she found him rather stupid. But she didn't want to be a disappointment for Mrs. Berrycloth, who raised her like her own child since the passing of her parents. What made her change her mind, I wonder.'

She paused, looking in the vague as if she would find the answer there.

'Now that you mention it, I remember that she looked quite melancholic last time I saw her, for the picnic at the abbey. Just after Mrs. Knightley introduced her to captain Poppins.'

'Captain Poppins? Oh, dear! Do you think Mrs. Knightley could have restarted her career as a matchmaker?'

'I wouldn't like to make hasty conclusions, Mrs. Goddard. But what else would it be?'

'We have to stop this. She'll be ruined, and nobody will trust Highbury's boarding school anymore!'

'We can still stop it' said Harriet 'But I am afraid we'll have to go to warn Mrs. Berrycloth.'

Mrs. Berrycloth was in her garden, taking care of her roses. She was a large and tall woman, who looked very severe even though she dressed up rather extravagantly. When she saw the headmistress of her protégée and Mrs. Martin, she frowned her eyebrows anxiously.

'Mrs. Goddard, Mrs. Martin, what a surprise!'

'Dear Mrs. Berrycloth, I have good reasons to believe that something really dreadful is going on… you might want to sit down before we tell you about it.'

'I see' said Mrs. Berrycloth with the appearance of tranquility. 'Shall we go inside?'

They sat in the parlor, and Mrs. Berrycloth ordered some tea.

'I am so very sorry to announce that we suspect that your ward eloped to Scotland with Captain Poppins', said Mrs. Goddard with great apprehension.

Mrs. Berrycloth laughed hysterically in a way that suited her extravagant toilette.

'Dear ladies, you amuse me excessively! Truly, you know as well as I do that Arabella wouldn't do such a wicked thing! She is a sweet young lady and cares for nothing but my happiness, and yours, Mrs. Goddard.'

As the headmistress of the school was about to show the scandalous book she found in Arabella's room, a maid carried in the tea and announced the arrival of Miss Bates. The spinster greeted Mrs. Berrycloth, and realised that Mrs. Goddard and Mrs. Martin were sitting on the sofa.

'Mrs. Martin, I have heard you were ill! said the new visitor. 'I hope you are doing better! Oh, I see you are discussing a book. What is it? The… Secret… Wedding? I see'

The four ladies all looked very confused.

That's when Arabella walked into the parlor, with a beautiful smile on her beautiful face. The confusion got even more intense.

'What a surprise to see you all here!' she said.

'You are not in Scotland?' asked clumsily Harriet, who never outshined with intelligence.

'Why would I be? Didn't you get my letter, Mrs. Goddard? I did put in on your correspondence when I left early this morning. I had this offer for weeks, I wasn't sure to go, and made up my mind last minute.'

'Must we understand you accepted the… offer?'

'Indeed! That's what I've come to tell you, Mrs. Berrycloth.'

'So you are getting married?'

'Quite the opposite actually! I was accepted as a governess at Darnley Ridge. I am very grateful for all the help you provided me, Mrs. Berrycloth, but I cannot marry Edmund. He is too much of a brother to me. I want to be a governess, and later I would like to work as a school mistress.'

Mrs. Berrycloth was voiceless. Well, it wasn't great news, but it was way worse than an elopement in Gretna Green. When the headmistress was about to leave, the benefactor of the school discretely gave her back The Secret Wedding, and said to her in a low voice:

'What an excessive imagination you have, Mrs. Goddard. Maybe you should write.'