{"id":4996,"date":"2016-10-31T17:17:56","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T06:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/?p=4996"},"modified":"2017-03-16T16:16:25","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T05:16:25","slug":"autumn-term-part-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/autumn-term-part-seven\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Autumn Term\u2019, Part Seven"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter Fifteen: A Form Meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n

Third Remove have a meeting to discuss the play and figure out the casting, even though Tim hasn\u2019t finished writing it yet:<\/p>\n

\u201cTim liked doing things which could be finished in a swift, concentrated rush; and she had found, with some dismay, that a play demanded sustained effort.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(You probably shouldn\u2019t try writing a novel, then, Tim.) Anyway, Tim explains what the play\u2019s about, which is helpful because although I\u2019ve read The Prince and the Pauper<\/a><\/em>, it was such a long time ago I can\u2019t remember much of it. Lawrie is going to play Tom Canty, the beggar boy who changes clothes with Prince Edward for fun, then finds himself stuck in the Palace and regarded as the prince after Edward is mistakenly thrown out by the guards. When King Henry dies, Edward has to fight his way back to Westminster Abbey to be recognised as the true King and be crowned. Nicola is Edward, of course, Pomona is Henry, Marie is John Canty and the rest of the form play a variety of beggars, guards and courtiers. Tim is going to be the narrator and do the lighting and curtains and direct everyone. To Tim\u2019s annoyance, Pomona turns out to be really good at acting. No great surprise, she\u2019s had more experience than anyone else\u2026<\/p>\n

Chapter Sixteen: A Question of Elocution<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is such a good chapter! Nothing terribly exciting happens \u2013 they just rehearse their play \u2013 but there\u2019s so much going on in terms of characters interacting and revealing fascinating parts of themselves and how their little society works. Even the minor characters start to blossom in unexpected ways (for example, \u201cElaine Rees, who at her own request had been given the smallest parts available, was gradually achieving courage enough to speak above a whisper\u201d). Tim has the pleasure of watching her words (well, her and Mark Twain\u2019s words) come to life on stage and Lawrie is revealed to be a genuinely gifted actor. Nicola\u2019s devotion to duty comes to the fore and she enjoys painting all the backdrops, with the help of Miss Jennings, the art mistress. (Miss Jennings is the Cool Teacher. She is \u201cruefully amused\u201d at her students\u2019 artistic incompetence, telling Third Remove \u201cthat their efforts, poor as they were, were too funny to be depressing.\u201d)<\/p>\n

There is only one problem, but it\u2019s a big one. Tim finally takes her part in rehearsals to read the prologue and it\u2019s a disaster:<\/p>\n

\u2018Your voice is all wrong,\u2019 said Lawrie, too distressed on the play\u2019s account to consider Tim\u2019s feelings. \u2018I can\u2019t explain, but you don\u2019t make one see<\/strong> things. D\u2019you remember how Lois read on the hike, Nick? That\u2019s the proper way. Yours is awful.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I can see why Third Remove like Nicola more than Lawrie. Lawrie\u2019s so self-absorbed. The play is her thing and she doesn\u2019t care about anyone else\u2019s feelings. And whenever there\u2019s a crisis, she just bursts into tears and expects Nicola to do all the work of fixing things. You can tell Lawrie\u2019s always been the baby of the family.<\/p>\n

Nicola tries to help Tim, but can\u2019t really explain how Lois Sanger read so well. Tim bravely decides she\u2019ll go and ask Lois for some tips. \u201cEven the Upper Fifth have the elements of humanity in them, I suppose,\u201d she thinks dubiously. (Remember when you were in Year Seven, or First Form, or whatever it was called at your school, and the senior students seemed so grown-up and terrifying? And then you finally got to wear a blazer and have your own common room and treat the juniors as adorable idiots \u2013 uncomfortably aware that you were about to enter the adult world and would soon be starting at the bottom all over again?)<\/p>\n

Anyway, Lois agrees to listen to Tim read (and agrees Tim is awful) and provides a demonstration (and Tim sees what the twins mean, but knows she\u2019ll never be able to read as well as Lois). Tim is sunk in gloom. Will they have to give up the play? And listen to the other Third Formers gloating about Third Remove\u2019s failure? But then, a miracle! Lois says:<\/p>\n

\u2018Look. I\u2019ve been reading this. I think it\u2019s immensely good. If you can\u2019t think of any other way, would you like me to do the reading for you?\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, there\u2019s lots going on under the surface. By doing this tremendous favour, Lois gets to help the \u201cMarlow brats\u201d without having to acknowledge the injustice of her actions at the Court of Honour. It also turns out the rest of her Guide patrol are now passive-aggressively undermining Lois, presumably because Jill, the second-in-command, told everyone what happened. (Except why didn\u2019t Jill<\/em> say something at the Court of Honour? She knew the truth.) Tim is pleased because the play is saved and having a senior involved will soothe Miss Cartwright, who’s starting to make anxious noises. There\u2019s a lovely bit where Tim and Lois separately acknowledge how alike and Machiavellian they are. Lois ends the chapter<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026with a faintly uneasy twitch of nerves that Tim\u2019s mental processes and her own were not unlike. And it was disconcerting and not too pleasant to hear it done aloud.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Next, Chapter Seventeen: The Prince and the Pauper<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter Fifteen: A Form Meeting Third Remove have a meeting to discuss the play and figure out the casting, even though Tim hasn\u2019t finished writing it yet: \u201cTim liked doing things which could be finished in a swift, concentrated rush; and she had found, with some dismay, that a play demanded sustained effort.\u201d (You probably … Continue reading \u2018Autumn Term\u2019, Part Seven<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-4996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-antonia-forest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4996"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5198,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4996\/revisions\/5198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}