by Susan Thomas
A Tragedy, an Offer and Caning
Mary Anderson was seventeen and boarding at The Moors Academy for Girls when her parents were killed in an unfortunate train accident. Miss Crosland, the rather stiff headmistress of the school, was nevertheless moved by the plight of the girl and was most kind to her.
Fortunately, Mary's Uncle Jack, a mining engineer, was on leave in England and was able to take charge of the situation. It was not a good situation, as not only was he her only relative (other than some extremely elderly types up in the Highlands of Scotland) but it seemed her father was virtually bankrupt. By the time Jack sorted matters out and paid all debts there was only enough left for the funeral and a sum of £200 to put in a deposit account for Mary.
Jack was worried, his job took him all over the world and often into wild country. How could he provide a home for Mary? But at seventeen she could hardly be cast virtually penniless upon a hard world. Luckily Miss Spicer, a spinster who lived next door to the Anderson's home, offered a place with her as a companion. Miss Spicer was elderly but not infirm either of body or mind, but most especially mind. Mary appealed to her because she was a clever but quiet girl, and by no means flighty, as it seemed to Miss Spicer that many modern young women were in that year of 1922.
Mary Anderson moved in feeling she had little choice. Miss Spicer was kind and generous but could be very sharp tongued. She also set very high standards and although she liked Mary and could see potential in her, she also considered all girls and young women foolish and much given to romantic nonsense and daydreaming, and therefore in need of strict discipline. Four years earlier the British government had seen fit to pass the Representation of the People Act, granting the vote to women over the age of thirty who were householders with some property qualifications. Miss Spicer, unlike many women, regarded this as being against the natural order of things although she did use her vote. However, it meant that she regarded Mary's seventeen years (although it became eighteen just a few weeks after she came to live with her) as mere childhood and a dangerous age of childhood at that.
Mary's position in the household was in theory that of a companion, which made her a sort of superior servant. However, her background, age and education made her more a sort of ward of Miss Spicer. It was decided that she would be addressed as Miss Mary, whereas Miss Spicer was either Ma'am or Miss Spicer. Miss Spicer called her senior staff by their surname so her butler was Masters, her housekeeper, Lewis, and her cook, Berry. Miss Mary was to call them Mr Masters, Mrs Lewis and Mrs Berry, but everyone addressed the maids by their first names.
The standards demanded by Miss Spicer were hard to attain especially for a girl of Mary's age and she had not been with her many months before Miss Spicer had a stern talk with her in the day room.
"Mary, I realise I am at fault in so far as I have not given sufficient thought to your development as a young woman. You have been plucked abruptly from your school and because of the tragedy, ended up in my care, and I have failed. I should have paid more attention to correcting you when you erred. Now I know your errors are not serious and that in general you are an intelligent girl and one not given to being flighty, but all girls of your age are foolish and prone to error. Those follies and errors need correction and I had not given any thought to replacing the corporal punishment of your school or home while in my home. That is now to change."
Mary was not surprised. Her school had used the cane (and even on very rare occasions the birch) and although not used frequently it was enough to keep silly girls in good order. Her mother too had sometimes used a hairbrush for other than brushing hair, and her father had kept a cane, which he had not used because she was mostly away at school, but which had been referred to in warning tones from time to time.
"I have purchased a cane." At this point Miss Spicer picked it up from where it had been hidden from Mary's view. "You may be astonished to know, as I was, that Metcalf's, the ironmongers in Market Street, deliver these and that they are a popular item. I am not able to cane you myself, but after much thought I decided that Masters will do it under my personal supervision. He is a man of discretion so no word will get out."
Mary was surprised and in truth rather shocked that Mr Masters was to cane her. Although her own father never actually had she knew some fathers did cane their daughters, but Mr Masters was a servant. Then Miss Spicer continued.
"If I decide you need to be chastised it will wait until bedtime. You will have your bath as usual, put on your nightdress and a dressing gown and return to this room. You will place yourself across the arm on that chair there..." She pointed to a large wing armchair with upright sides. "Rest your head and upper body on the seat. When you are in position I shall raise your nightdress-"
"But Miss Spicer... Mr Masters!"
"Mr Masters is a discreet, reliable, good Christian man and was decorated in the Great War. I have known him since he was a boy. He first came into my employ at fourteen and I trust him implicitly. He could easily have been a father had he left my employ, and in this situation that is how you should regard him."
"Yes Miss Spicer."
"To continue. When I have raised your nightdress, Mr Masters will apply the number of strokes I dictate and he will then leave. I trust that I shall not have to order this too many times but you are at a foolish age and correction is necessary."
Mary had very mixed feelings about the new arrangement. On the one hand she accepted Miss Spicer's view of her immaturity and potential foolishness, it more or less continued the attitude her school had taken to its charges. Indeed she felt young and inadequate being virtually penniless and dependent on the goodwill of Miss Spicer. On the other hand, having her nightdress lifted to expose her to Mr Master's gaze... however, what cannot be changed must be endured.
In the meantime Miss Spicer's demands upon Mary were quite light. She had to take her for a daily walk, sit with her for an hour reading to her from whatever book Miss Spicer provided, and take meals with her. The rest of her time was her own. Miss Spicer's father and her younger brother, who was killed in the Great War, had both been amateur historians and the library was full of their books and papers.
To this day Mary has no idea what set her off on the study that would eventually become her career. Maybe it was the work of the suffragettes (still much discussed) or maybe it was a chance reference to that supposedly romantic creature, Mary Queen of Scots, but she became interested in just how woman lived their lives in the Tudor period. Of course it was a period of time where women were involved in affairs of state (Bloody Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Lady Jane Grey, and Mary Queen of Scots) but how did women generally manage their lives? She began to research childbirth, periods, care of infants, sex, marriage, adultery, cooking, clothing, sickness and even cleanliness. These were not subjects to be found in the great academic histories, but of intense interest especially to a woman.
Miss Spicer encouraged her to start putting her researches into book form and Mary turned out to have a gift for writing highly readable history, and the book that eventually appeared, The Lives of Tudor Women, became a best seller. Mary then began researching for The Lives of Roman Women but I am running on ahead now so must return to the time when she was beginning her research.
Although Mary's duties were not onerous, Miss Spicer set high standards and it was not long before Mary failed to live up them. When one left church it was a duty to mutter compliments to the vicar on the quality of the sermon no matter how dreary or banal his preaching. One did not, especially at a mere eighteen years of age, start to query the vicar's assumptions at the church door on the way home. Miss Spicer did not disagree with Mary's views but just the fact that she aired them as she did.
"I regret, Mary, that you will have to be chastised for this behaviour but I hope it will teach you to hold your tongue and remember your age and the circumstances."
Of course Mary was scared by the prospect but Miss Spicer was interested in a charity that helped care for those soldiers badly wounded or mentally damaged by the Great War. Mary had read of some of the appalling injuries suffered by these men now cared for by The Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation and felt that she had no right to be scared of a mere caning when for those men every day was a test of courage. So she determined that she would not shirk her punishment but learn from it as Miss Spicer wished.
When Miss Spicer announced that it was time for Mary to go and get ready for bed she went upstairs with a straight back and performed her usual night time rituals without wishing she was not to be caned. What was a mere caning compared with going over the top? After she had bathed she dried herself carefully and then thought hard about which nightdress to wear. After all, she was going to be on show.
The problem she faced was that on leaving school she had rid herself of the extremely boring shapeless cotton things that were on the clothing list. However robust and hardwearing they were she had no desire to wear them ever again. That meant her nightdresses were all rather modern things and only one with sleeves of any sort. The two nicest ones were a white cotton that came down to around the knees, sleeveless but with an amazing crocheted top that formed the bodice and straps and plunged down between the breasts. Modest but not entirely modest she realised.
Her very best nightdress (hideously expensive and consuming some of the residual £200 she was left) was silk. The line of the bodice top running along the top of the breasts and finished (as was the hem) with wide lace ribbons forming the straps and from identical ribbon hung sleeves that came down to just above the elbows leaving the shoulders tantalisingly bare. It was in a most delicate cream colour. In the end that was the one she chose as it was long, hanging well below the knees. She slipped on a light dressing gown and went downstairs.
She knocked on the door of the day room and immediately heard the summons to come in. Miss Spicer was sitting in her usual comfy chair. The winged chair had been pulled into the middle of the room and Mr Masters stood there as if on parade not looking at her. The cane was in his right hand and was held alongside the seam of his right trouser leg.
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