Forbidden Lessons Part 17

"Catching up on homework? All work and no play," she said.

This stung. Margery might have been fertile soil for Teresa's scheming, but the idle remark triggered Margery's bristles. Someone else had jokingly called Margery a swot that week and it had made her sensitive about her studies versus her social life.

"She's an interesting girl, Susie Clarke, isn't she?" Teresa began.

Given Teresa had frequently referred to Susie as a slag and a tart, Margery knew something nasty was up.

"Of course I realise she's from a different background to us, but I'm not sure that her parents would like her going visiting men late at night, do you?"

Margery said nothing. Had Teresa found out about the midnight feast? Had she spotted Susie with Darius somewhere?

"That's if it was Susie. I know it was one of you, because who else would borrow Charlotte's coat. Perhaps it was you, Margie?"

"What are you talking about?" Margery finally rose to the bait. She was genuinely in the dark about what Teresa was digging at.

"Whichever of you visited the groundsman's cottages late on Friday night before the exeat, for an interestingly long time."

Margery was silent. All her life she would remember this moment: the stillness, the smell of the room and the books and the floorboards covered with a worn rug, the scent of the threat.

"It wasn't Charlotte, because I saw her leave. So it must have been Susie, you or Laura. But you're not that kind of girl are you are Margie? We're not cheap like that, are we?" Teresa tried a final lunge to get Margery on side.

"I have no idea what you're going on about," Margery said.

"Well then it must have been one of the other two. Perhaps Gi-Gi will be able to work out whom. I'll have to tell her of course, because it's not right is it? Pupils fraternising with teachers. I'm sure your father would agree."

Margery thought that she had never loathed anyone quite so much as she loathed Teresa Hubert at that moment. Or feared, perhaps. But she had enough sense and courage not to react.

Teresa left with one of her unpleasant smiles.

There wasn't much time to lose. Margery knew that Grace Grant wasn't currently in Michaelmas House which might at least buy them some time. Teresa likely wouldn't go straight to her anyway. She would probably wait a little while to see if Margery would crack, or approach the others. After all Teresa clearly didn't yet know the full extent of what she wanted to know.

Charlotte was currently at hockey practice. Laura was somewhere over in the main school rehearsing for Miss Wingrove's recital. Margery raced to the dorm where she was gladder to find Susie than she would have ever thought possible. It was only four flights of stairs but she was completely out of breath.

"Teresa. Knows."

"What's wrong?" asked Susie, alarmed.

"It's Teresa. Saw. Going to tell."

Susie managed to get Margery to sit down and get her breath back. Gradually Margery calmed down and Susie managed to unravel the story.

Susie had the kind of mind that worked like lightning under pressure. She immediately recognised that the game would be up and the fallout catastrophic if the truth came out.

"You wait here, Margie. I'll deal with this. You just continue to know nothing. It'll all be ok."

Margery was crying. "It will ruin Laura's life! I knew this was a mistake, I told you all so. She'll be expelled and her future will be ruined!"

"Get a grip. Just stay up here, out of Teresa Hubert's way. Read a book or something. You did really well not to let her pump you. I promise you I'll fix this. There is always a way."

She already knew what the way was going to be, but coordinating the others would be the biggest challenge. Let alone convincing them.

Susie had staked out Grace Grant's study for the past hour. Fortunately there was no sign of Teresa Hubert. Susie hoped she hadn't gone to try and confront Laura, whom she didn't trust not to cave.

Finally the housemistress arrived, and Susie took her chance.

"I need to see you urgently Miss Grant." They always called her Miss Grant to her face even though she was a widow.

"Come in then, Susie."

Grace Grant's study was a tranquil room on the side of the House. The windows looked onto a small garden backed by bushes outside, rather than the wide expanse of the hockey pitches. The garden was dull and flowerless at this time of year but there was still plenty of foliage.

Susie began. "I've done something really stupid. I've been feeling bad about it for days but I was too embarra.s.sed to say anything."

"If you're here in one piece it can't be the end of the world," the housemistress said.

"It's very bad and I expect I'll have to be expelled," Susie said. She was hedging her bets that her story wouldn't merit expulsion and that to follow this with an anticlimax would soften it further.

"Go on."

Susie had been wondering how to play this. A lot depended on Grace Grant's perception of her. Would she be more convinced if Susie was contrite but a little brazen, or contrite and collapsing in sobs? She decided the former. The housemistress wasn't that stupid, though Susie antic.i.p.ated that tears might be needed further along.

"I had this thing in my head about an older man, you know. So I sort of had this crush. And I know it's really foolish and inappropriate but I got carried away. So I went and sort of flung myself at him."

"Was this something that happened at half-term, Susie?" Grace Grant asked.

"No, it was here in school." She saw the housemistress's eyebrows raised. "And it was a huge mistake and I really regret it but one of the other girls has been having a go at me about it so I thought I should come clean."

"What exactly happened?"

"I sort of... tried to proposition Mr Rydell." Susie had worked herself into her part so well that she actually managed to blush at this point. Meanwhile her brain was working furiously to visualise how he might genuinely have reacted in such a situation.

Grace Grant had experienced many things in her years of teaching but this threw her. Susie wasn't even in the Upper School yet. She knew the girl was precocious but this was bizarre behaviour.

"I imagine he didn't respond how you intended." She hoped against hope that the German teacher hadn't responded how Susie intended.

"No he was very shocked and embarra.s.sed. I think he was quite angry but he tried to be kind. He made me feel such a moron." Susie was getting into the swing of this now. In her own mind it had practically happened for real. "He made me a cup of tea because I was in a state and then told me to go back to the House." She knew the tea thing was pus.h.i.+ng it but she had to account for the length of time that Teresa claimed to have observed.

It was time for Grace Grant to pa.s.s judgement.

"This was a very serious and silly thing to do Susie. I realise you might like to think of yourself as sophisticated, but you are only a schoolgirl and you have your whole life ahead of you to experience boys and relations.h.i.+ps. This kind of foolishness could not only ruin your own life but could have ruined Mr Rydell's reputation and career as well. I appreciate that you regret what you have done, but you must realise how badly it could compromise him."

Susie attempted what she believed was meant by "hanging one's head".

"Should I write to him and apologise?"

"I don't think that will be appropriate or necessary. I will have a private talk with him and if you can give me your word of honour that you won't attempt anything like this again, we may be able to put this all behind us."

Grace Grant was very unsettled. She needed more time to think about the matter. Something, she felt, wasn't right. Had she seen the gleam of relief and triumph in Susie's eyes she would have had even graver doubts.

A mammoth task lay ahead with very little time. Susie had to get to Laura to warn her to keep her mouth shut. She had to get to Mr Rydell to convince him to let her take the bullet for them. And she had to get to Teresa Hubert to let her know her plan was foiled. That last would at least be a pleasure.

She couldn't manage all three in the time available. In particular she could hardly track Mr Rydell down now herself for a private rendezvous. Charlotte would need to take on that task. Hopefully she would be finished with hockey practice by now. Susie went to the changing rooms to set up an ambush.

On the way she had the misfortune to b.u.mp into Mr Peters.

"Susanna! Headed to the library, I see?" Her route to the changing room took her in the same direction.

"Actually I have to fetch some gym kit."

"And how is your recital progressing? Don't forget my offer to help in any way I can. The Metaphysical poets have long been a special area of interest of mine." He gave her what he felt was a warm and suggestive smile. To Susie it looked more like a leer.

"There are a couple of lines I'm getting stuck on," Susie said. This was a lie.

"Never hesitate to ask if you need a.s.sistance. It's always a delight to teach a truly receptive mind."

Fortunately they had reached the changing room. She escaped into its stale sweat, body spray and muddy-shoe scented sanctuary.

27. Cover up.

Laura was white with shock and looked close to vomiting. Susie had managed to get her to the music rooms so they could talk as privately as possible.

"It's all ok. Gi-Gi lapped it up. It all hangs on you and Mr Rydell now, just don't do anything idiotic. Remember it's worse for me, not better, if you now go and confess. As it is I've got away with it all pretty much. If she finds out I was lying we're all for the chop. The others may get dragged in too."

"I have to see him."

"No you absolutely don't. Not now, no way. Charlotte is handling it. If you love him for G.o.d's sake don't wreck this for him."

Charlotte played her part admirably after Susie had cornered her in the changing room and explained the crisis. Buoyed by a very successful practice Charlotte was still on a high when she tracked down Mr Rydell. By a stroke of luck he was in the German cla.s.sroom with no one else around.

He initially reacted exactly as Susie had predicted to Charlotte that he would. He was utterly opposed to Susie taking the fall and it took all of Charlotte's persuasion to convince him.

"If you don't go along with this, we're all f.u.c.ked. Particularly you and Laura. Susie knows what she's doing, I know you don't teach her so you don't really know her, but she's not like other girls," Charlotte said.

"I'm becoming increasingly aware of that," he said. "But I can't let her lie for me."

"She's not doing this for you. We're doing this for Laura, she's our friend."

"I need to think about this."

"There's no point three people going down when no one needs to. Susie's done this now. Don't screw it up by being n.o.ble, she won't thank you," Charlotte said.

He ran his hands through his hair. He looked exhausted.

"You'd better run along. Tell Laura..." He broke off, not knowing what message it was appropriate to send via Charlotte, if any. He didn't want her to be compromised any more than she already was.

But they were all, as Susie had put it, in it up to their necks.

Charlotte could see that the battle was won. "Tell her what?"

"Tell her that everything will be OK."

"That's it?"

He looked directly at Charlotte, his grey eyes meeting hers. For a moment she saw him as Laura saw him and understood everything better than she had done before. He was a person first, their German teacher second. Mr Rydell was flawed in terms of how he had yielded to temptation and crossed the line. But he genuinely loved Laura. Charlotte grew up in that moment, recognising something she hadn't understood before. In a way it temporarily reversed their roles. She was the one in command of the situation.

"I'll tell her you love her, and that she needs to be patient."

His eyes expressed grat.i.tude and relief.

"Thank you."

It was the elephant in the room. The thing that none of them dared discuss. It was hardest for Laura because she had never needed so much to talk with the others about it, particularly Susie, but none of them felt safe even holding a conversation about it for now.

Susie had seen off Teresa Hubert effectively, or so she hoped. "Margie told me that you've been stirring. I hate to take the wind out of your sails but I've already been to see Gi-Gi and told her all there is to tell. Which is nothing - I paid him a brief visit, no more. So feel free to go and tell your sneaky tales but it won't be news to her."

Teresa was livid but she knew when she was beaten. She suspected that whatever Susie had told the housemistress contained a mult.i.tude of lies but she had no additional proof of anything herself. Doubtless Susie had come up with some excuse for what was likely a liaison of the worst sort.

Teresa was convinced that someone like Susie was the kind of girl to act in the most promiscuous way possible. But the wrath of Mr Rydell was another consideration. If she wrongly accused them of having an affair he would be incandescent with rage and despise her forever. Even if she rightly accused them he would be furious.

Then there was her own crush on the German teacher. It was more comforting to hope that Susie might have been telling the truth that nothing was going on, so Teresa could continue to look for special attentions paid towards herself.

The others were still worried about what Teresa might try and do to expose things.

"It's German that terrifies me. She'll be there, watching us like a gimlet," Laura said.

"She won't, she genuinely believes it was me. She may spread her nasty little tale around but I'm not sure who would listen to her." Susie also didn't care if Teresa did try to slander her as she genuinely didn't give a jot about other people's opinions. Particularly opinions based on something that wasn't even true.

Susie was quite in control of things and was very content with herself. With the midnight feast over and this latest disaster averted, it was time to complete her campaign against Mrs Ayers. Luck comes in threes, she thought, not that she needed luck.

Laura was absolutely desperate to speak with Mr Rydell. She knew that they needed to avoid being alone together more than ever but it was killing her. Teresa managed to be as slow as possible gathering up her books after German so there was no way Laura could try and linger behind.