Lorna At Wynyards
Spoilers
Bess Carey loves her youngest daughter dearly but finds it difficult to show her feelings. Her son John is missing, lost at sea and his widow Lizette is very frail after an attack of typhoid. Then her eldest daughter Angel has suffered a nervous breakdown, the true cause of which Angel has confided only to Kath Arnold. As a result Lorna has been left much to her own devices and feels that no-one cares for her very much.
When Lorna quarrels with Meg Thompson and gets a bad report, her mother feels it is her duty to refuse Lorna leave to come home for half-term. Kath Arnold finds it very difficult to explain to Lorna that this is not because her mother doesn't love her, but her way of being a good parent.
Although Ardath carries out her head girl duties rather too seriously at times, she is also prone to forgetting some of the responsibilities associated with the post. When she misses a game practice - with Lorna's Upper Third crew, of course - Ardath is particularly irritated by Kit's rather tactless reminder. Thereafter Ardath tries to pile extra duties on to Kit and her friends, which is quickly noticed by Lorna and the rest of Upper Third. After a run-in with Upper Third in which Ardath tries to inflict far too harsh a punishment, her stand-in headship is brought to an abrupt end.
The death of Lorna's father leaves her family in straitened circumstances. With her sister-in-law Lizette still very ill, Lorna's mother agrees to take Lizette to Madeira for the warm climate - the Arnolds will have Lorna for as long as the Careys are away. Lorna's growing maturity is rewarded with an all-round good report at the end of term - and Kit earns an unexpected academic reward as well.
Links to the Chalet School series
Lorna is very envious of Kit's collection of books by Josephine M Bettany - especially Gipsy Jocelyn, in which Jo has written a personal inscription to Kit. The Arnolds met Jo on a holiday in Brittany and Jo has been sending Kit a copy of one of her books each Christmas since. At the time when Lorna goes to live with the Arnolds, Kit tells her that she knows that Jo Bettany is now Mrs Maynard and has four children: the triplets and baby Stephen.
Contributed by Christina Erskine, England __ working from a hardback edition
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