girl in a bossy way. “She’s such a little bit of a thing, we call her ‘Bitsy’ at home.”
Felicity thought Bitsy was a perfectly dreadful name. She could tell that Elizabeth hated it, too, though she said nothing. Felicity greeted the two girls. “Good day, Annabelle. Good day, Elizabeth,” she said. She looked at Elizabeth and grinned. Elizabeth looked surprised.
Annabelle raised one eyebrow. “Your last name is Merriman,” she said. “You must be the shopkeeper’s daughter.” She sniffed, as if there were something wrong with being a shopkeeper’s daughter.
Felicity was about to explain that her father’s store was not a little shop, but one of the largest and finest stores in all of Williamsburg. But Annabelle turned her back. She flounced over to the writing desk and picked up her quill pen. “Of course, at home in England we had our own governess. I expect we shall have one here, too, if Mama can find a suitable person among the colonists,” she said. Then she sighed, “I never thought we’d be taking lessons with a shopkeeper’s daughter.”
Felicity started to say that she was proud of being a colonist and very proud of her father’s store, but Miss Manderly spoke first.
“Young ladies,” said Miss Manderly. “Please be seated at the tea table.” She sat herself gracefully and continued. “Your parents have trusted me with the important task of preparing you to take your place in society. Our lessons together will be pleasant. But do not forget that they are lessons. You are here to learn.”
Felicity glanced over at Elizabeth. Her big blue eyes were open wide as she listened to Miss Manderly.
Miss Manderly went on. “Because it is our first day together, we shall begin with polite conversation. A lady makes her guests feel comfortable. She chats pleasantly about topics that include everyone. It is usually best to begin by asking a question of general interest.”
Annabelle spoke up. “I have a question of general interest,” she said. “Will the three of us always have our lessons together?”
“Not all the time,” answered Miss Manderly.
“Good,” said Annabelle. “Because Bitsy and this Miss Merriman are far behind me. My governess taught me fine handwriting. I finished my sampler of stitches long ago. And I had dancing lessons with the finest dance master in England.”
Miss Manderly smiled. “All of those skills improve with practice,” she said firmly. “And you are also here to practice your best manners. I’m sure that your governess in England taught you the rules of polite behavior. So you know that if you are rude, and break those rules, you will be left out of the best society.”
All three girls sat up a little straighter. Miss Manderly paused as a maidservant placed a tea tray on the table without rattling a cup. “Your manners will be observed most closely at tea,” said Miss Manderly. “Tea is a ceremony. A gentlewoman must behave perfectly at the tea table, both as a hostess and as a guest. Now I will show you the proper way to serve tea.”
“Good heavens!” said Annabelle. “Bitsy and I know how to serve tea! We’ve watched our mother serve tea hundreds of times!”
“Splendid!” said Miss Manderly calmly. “Then you will be quite at ease, won’t you?”
Annabelle was quiet.
Miss Manderly opened the tea caddy made of dark, polished wood. Felicity smelled the spicy, smoky scent of tea. Miss Manderly neatly filled the silver caddy spoon five times and put the loose tea leaves into the delicate china teapot. Carefully, she poured hot water from the kettle onto the tea leaves. She put the pretty blue and gold lid on the teapot with a sure and graceful hand. Miss Manderly made it look so lovely that Felicity itched to try preparing the tea herself.
“Hand each guest her cup, saucer, and spoon,” Miss Manderly said, as she did so. “And when the tea is ready, pour it very carefully.” Felicity held her teacup and saucer steady as Miss Manderly filled it. “Offer your guest milk or sugar to put in her tea,” said Miss Manderly. “Then offer her a cake or a biscuit.”
“Oh, these are queen cakes!” said Annabelle as she took a small cake filled with currants from the plate. “I have heard they are a favorite of the queen in England.”
Miss Manderly held the plate of biscuits and queen cakes out to Felicity. Felicity took the smallest biscuit she saw. Miss Manderly smiled. “A wise choice. Hard biscuits don’t shed crumbs the way cakes do,” she said. “And remember, you are not drinking tea because you are thirsty or eating because you are hungry. The tea is offered to you as a sign of your hostess’s hospitality. If you refuse tea, you are refusing her generosity.”
“Oh, I would never refuse!” Felicity said. “You make the tea ceremony look so very pretty.”
“Thank you, my dear,” smiled Miss Manderly. “But you may not wish to drink tea all afternoon! There is a polite way to show that you have had enough tea. Merely turn your cup upside down on your saucer and place your spoon across it. That is a signal to your hostess that you do not wish to take more tea. And the correct phrase to say is, ‘Thank you. I shall take no tea.’”
Felicity took a small bite of the hard biscuit. As soon as she chewed, she knew it was a mistake. Her loose tooth fell out and landed—plop! clink!—in her cup of tea. Felicity stared down at it. She didn’t know what to do or say. No one else did either, not even Miss Manderly. The silence was very long.
Oh, dear, thought Felicity. I’m sure dropping your tooth in your tea breaks all the rules of polite behavior!
Felicity felt terrible. But then Elizabeth started to giggle quietly, in a way that made Felicity smile, then giggle with her.
Miss Manderly was laughing, too. Her eyes were sparkly. “Well!” she said. “I am afraid I do not know the polite thing to say when your tooth falls into your tea!” She turned to the maidservant. “Please take away Miss Merriman’s teacup,” she said. “But do return the tooth.” Miss Manderly smiled, and Felicity felt fine.
When the tea tray was cleared away, Annabelle went off to practice writing fancy capital letters. Miss Manderly wrote out a phrase for Elizabeth and Felicity to copy into their copybooks:
Miss Manderly sat back and read it aloud, “‘Think ere you speak, for words, once flown, once uttered, are no more your own.’ I would like you to practice writing this phrase,” she said. “The word ‘ere’ means ‘before.’ The phrase tells you to think before you speak. And I think it is a good idea to think before you write, too.” She smiled, then left to help Annabelle.
Felicity grinned at Elizabeth. “My mother is forever telling me to think before I speak and think before I act. She says I just gallop into everything with no more thought than a wild pony.” Felicity dipped her quill pen in the inkwell she shared with Elizabeth. But instead of writing, she sketched a horse in her copybook.
Elizabeth looked at Felicity’s sketch. “Oh, I love horses,” she said. She asked shyly, “Do you?”
“More than anything,” said Felicity. “Once I had a horse. I mean, once I had a horse for a while.” She told Elizabeth about Penny. “I wanted to keep her, but she didn’t belong to me. Her owner beat her, and she ran away. The truth is, I helped her run away. But
