“Maybe,” said Felicity. “I hope so.”
“I think she will,” said Elizabeth firmly. “I’m sure she will, someday.”
Felicity smiled at her. Elizabeth was going to be a good friend, a very good friend.
The girls were having such a good time writing and talking about horses, they were surprised when Miss Manderly said it was time to go home.
“Young ladies,” said Miss Manderly. “At home this evening I would like you to practice writing invitations. Please pretend that you are inviting each other to tea. Write proper invitations in your copybooks. Use your best penmanship. At our next lesson, I will check your work. You may go now.”
“Come along, Bitsy,” said Annabelle in her bossy way.
Elizabeth started to say something to Annabelle, then waved and called, “Good day, Felicity!” instead.
“Good day, Elizabeth!” Felicity answered. She hurried home full of excitement. She could not wait to tell Mother and Nan about her afternoon.
Nan hopped up to greet Felicity when she came home. “What are the lessons like? And what is Miss Manderly like?” she asked eagerly.
“Miss Manderly is lovely,” said Felicity. She sank into her chair with a happy sigh. “I hope I can learn to be like her.”
“And the two girls from England?” asked Nan.
“The younger one, Elizabeth, is very fine,” said Felicity. “She is just my age. But I don’t like her older sister, Annabelle. She is a snob. She acts as if I am not as good as she is because my father owns a store. I’m supposed to write Annabelle an invitation to tea, to practice my writing. I’m not going to do it.”
“You must do it,” said Mrs. Merriman.
“Oh, but a proper invitation would say that I request the favor of her company,” said Felicity. “And I don’t like Annabelle’s company.”
Mrs. Merriman handed Felicity her copybook and the inkstand with the quill pen, inkwell, and sander. “We must often be with people we might not choose as company,” said Mrs. Merriman. “A gentlewoman is kind to everyone.”
“But Annabelle is rude,” said Felicity. “She treated me badly because I am a colonist. She thinks colonists are uncivilized!”
“Then you must be perfectly polite,” said Mrs. Merriman. “You must show her that we colonists are indeed civilized.”
“Very well,” grinned Felicity. She picked up the quill pen and dipped it in the ink. “I’ll do it to show Annabelle how wrong she is.”
Tea in the River
Felicity beamed. She was proud of the invitations. She had practiced over and over again, until she was sure she could write the words perfectly. She forced herself to be slow and careful when she wrote in her copybook. Felicity was determined to show snobby Annabelle that she was just as accomplished and well mannered as any gentlewoman in England.
As the weeks went by, Felicity grew to enjoy her lessons with Miss Manderly more and more. She especially loved teatime. It was a peaceful part of the day when nothing rude or unsettling could happen. The tea tray was beautiful, with blue china cups as delicate as flowers and shiny spoons in the lovely china spoon boat. Felicity memorized Miss Manderly’s graceful movements as she measured the tea out of the caddy. She longed to use the caddy spoon and to pour the steaming water into the pretty teapot. Sometimes Miss Manderly asked her to hand around the cups and offer the milk and sugar. Felicity was very careful. She couldn’t wait until it was her turn to prepare and pour the tea herself. She wanted to do it perfectly.
Felicity still loved to run and play out of doors. She was still quite often too lively to be ladylike. But at lessons, Felicity tried to keep her voice low and her back straight and her teacup balanced. She remembered to laugh softly and ask polite questions. She began to enjoy being on her best behavior at tea. Elizabeth and Felicity always had a great deal to say to each other. But Miss Manderly insisted they discuss questions of general interest. That meant they had to include Annabelle in their conversations. Annabelle was not very interesting. But she usually tried to be pleasant at teatime. She was almost always polite in front of Miss Manderly.
But one day at teatime, Miss Manderly left the room for a moment. Annabelle heaved a big sigh. “Well,” she said. “Soon we won’t have any tea to drink if these uncivilized colonists have their way.”
“What do you mean?” Felicity asked.
“Haven’t you heard?” asked Annabelle in a mean voice. “A few days ago in Yorktown, a mob of colonists threw chests of tea into the river. The tea was on a ship that had come from England.”
“But why did they do it?” asked Felicity.
“Because they are hotheads!” said Annabelle. “They were a wild mob!”
“They didn’t hurt anybody,” Elizabeth said to Felicity softly.
“Quiet, Bitsy!” snapped Annabelle. Elizabeth shrank back. Annabelle went on. “The colonists destroyed the tea because they did not want to pay the king’s tax on it. I’ve always said these colonists are ungrateful for all our king has done for them. I’ve always said—”
Just then, Miss Manderly returned. Annabelle stopped talking. She smiled sweetly at Miss Manderly.
Felicity did not know what to think. Could Annabelle be right? It was surely wrong for colonists to destroy tea they did not own. But wasn’t the king’s tax wrong, too? She looked down into her tea and said nothing.
Felicity was still quiet as she and Elizabeth walked home after lessons. They always hurried ahead of Annabelle so that they could talk.
“Lissie,” said Elizabeth kindly. “It wasn’t you or your family who threw the tea into the river. You shouldn’t feel bad about what those other colonists did. It’s not your fault.”
“I know,” said Felicity. “But Annabelle makes me so angry. She thinks colonists are no good.”
Elizabeth smiled a little. “I know one colonist Annabelle admires,” she said quietly. “Your father’s apprentice.”
Felicity stopped. “Ben?” she asked. “Annabelle likes Ben?”
“Aye,” nodded Elizabeth. “Annabelle thinks he is handsome. And she found out that he is from a wealthy family. So she admires him.”
Felicity laughed. “So that’s why she lurks around the store and flutters
