VICTORIAN ALICE 1888

BY CHRISTOPHER TOILKIEN

[ part 1 ]

Lady Alice was lonely.

Not that she had every really had been completely alone in her short ten years of life, but currently very lonely nevertheless. Her first memories were of her best friend, Mary's face as they shared a crib. The next, a slip and a slide face first down the gentle slop of new mowed grass, the smell of which had given her a love for the outdoors. She learned to ride before she learned to walk. Alice climbed the ropes that suspended the swings from the trees and finally the trees themselves. She climbed up the vines leading to her window and was finally caught walking the parapets of the great keep and brought before her mother in her study.

"You are becoming more a tomboy than your nannies wish a proper young noblewoman of your high station to become" Her mother informed her. "True?"

"Yes mom" Alice answered.

"Do you wish to be properly trained to enjoy all the things you are doing?"

"Yes mom" Alice answered again.

"See to it" Her mom instructed Alice's current nanny, and she was dismissed.

So by the time she was ten, Alice had been taught to climb ropes, run along a tightrope, and climb anything from a tree to a cliff. She could fence with both a foil and a saber, with and without a dagger in either hand. She could fire a gun and through knives. Her tenth birthday gifts from her father were a brace of pistols her size and a small six shot derringer with a matching stiletto dagger from her mother.

All this was beside the normal schooling Alice and Mary as well as a few locals, of none blue blood girls were given at the manor. Only Alice attended the tomboy classes, as Mary's future would be occupied by other concern's, Alice was informed. Mary featured more prominently in her life than anyone else. She always eventually came up with the answer to any of Alice's questions, and was there to smooth out any problems her willful nature caused between her and the adults that were controlling her life. Alice's parents were someone who you were dressed up for and presented to every Sunday at dinnertime. A brief audience were you were told "How pretty you looked" and "How you had grown", etc. Then you were dismissed until next week and brought out, to do it all over again.

This spring she had been carefully quaffed, dressed, complete with tiara and presented to The Queen Empress Victoria herself. Victoria, dressed in black silk sitting on the throne in the audience chamber, surrounded by the Imperial Court in all their finery, actually reached down and lifting Alice's face up by her chin with one silken-gloved hand, commented.

"Your are the image of your mother at the same age" Victoria Rex proclaimed. "And as she was Lady in Waiting to me, you shall henceforth be known as Lady in Waiting to my youngest daughter Elizabeth"

That Alice was now officially part of the Royal court, confirmed in everyone's eyes when Victoria sent her own physician, Sir William Henry Gull to tend to her when after being caught in a sudden downpour when she was out riding, came down with a chill.

Alone with him in her bedroom, the good doctor carefully examined Alice's firm young body. He required her to first pirouetted nude in front of him and next, she lay on her bed as he probed and examined her body, rubbing sweet scented oil with his strong experienced fingers from her toes to her head. As Alice made no comment on his requests and examination, when done the great man inquired why her young body had been switched and her pert bottom spanked recently.

"My British riding master spanks me when I do not live up to his expectations" She replied. "And my German fencing instructor switches my nude body, if I commit errors as I practice"

"And your parents response to this punishment" The good doctor inquired.

"My mother replied. "That those of our station, if we are expected to lead, must learn how to ignore any of our physical pains in order that those we lead follow as we instruct" Alice calmly replied.

"Our next door neibor in London, Lewis Carroll, earlier this year asked me to pose for him first wearing very odd clothing. And later prance nude dressed only in gossamer wings as a fairy for him as he took pictures of me from every angle, with one of those new devices from America called a camera"

"Lewis is a good friend of mine too" The doctor replied. "Next time we meet at our special club, I will ask him to present a display of his photographs for our members"

After that, he ordered to dress and after tucking her back in her bed, kissed her on the forehead. "Our Empress send her blessings, Lady Alice" He informed her, and departed.

Alice's daily routine that carefully scripted by endlessly changing nannies, housekeepers and private tutors had come a cropper. She was called before her father and informed her mother was very ill again and it was necessary to send her to the London house for a while. Mary was away at some special course of her own or something and would join her in a few weeks.

So here Alice was, dressed in her new school uniform, being driven by a perfectly matched four in a brogan, through the gates of the high wall surrounding her new very exclusive private school for girls. Two of her guards sitting across from her and two more riding outside.

"Welcome to our school" The headmistress informed Alice as she led her down a brightly-lit hall.

"I believe our new teacher Miss Vicki will be the one who's class you will be joining.

For her part, Alice missed Mary, but soon made friends with another young girl, Connie Blunt, who, like Alice came from a well to do family in the same clubs and circles. Connie was 11, but her parents had held her back an extra year so Connie and Alice were in the same grade. Since both were 'tomboys' their friendship grew quickly as they actively sought each other out as soul mates rather than the more 'prissy' girls.