3.jul.1870
got my pay. i can save so much faster now that i'm not having to buy my own clothing so often. and it leaves me a bit more to spend on helping my street girls. fewer of them are showing up because classes have been so scattered. must put some thought into this. with my current employer, things tend to happen fast. there is no time to do anything normal.
classes have been going well back at ottos. the girls have begun to remember their old exercises. a few of them have bruises because they forgot them.
ms witnells and miss namastes fighting skills have greatly improved. I can tell that ms witnel was practising during her stay in the country. i only had to correct a few mistakes that she had been trying to teach herself. miss namaste can actually score on samalin hand to hand combat. very interesting. ms witnel has also asked to take more classes. now myself, ms witnell, and miss namaste practise both in the early morning and the evening before reitiring as well as the normal school. ms witnel has been letting me work out with her fine sword. it is the best piece of equipment i have ever used. perhaps our employer will aquire something like it someday and i will be allowed to use it...
i am learning some hindi as well as french during morning classes. ms witnell gave me many words to memorze in hindi. i did not want to until she gave me a translation and i realized they are all weapon words. of course i had to learn them after that. now i can tell if someone is talking about weapons in hindi.
working with edward has also gone much better. i was not very helpful in his mechanical work until he found out how to ask for the tools. he just describes them now instead of asking for them by name. give me the small one that looks like a curved dagger. he is very creative with his descriptions.
the ladies had a sari day. they showed up for class in different colored loose gowns. we were all very surprised, but samalin said it was good to fight in different types of clothes. i watched as he showed them things and was much impressed. i tried on one after school and was very happy with it. i used my turkish trousers under the folds of the sari and was able to move quite well. much better than in crinolin and corsett. however, unlike the corsett, there is nothing to deflect weapons. must put some thought into this. how to combine the movement and comfort of a sari with the protection of proper english undergarments?
i have reconsiled (slightly) my new dress.
i was told that i needed to be more flexible in moving between
worlds. sometimes i woulld need to look the part of a fine lady
(to be less visible) and could not do that in servants clothes.
i don't really know why. no one ever notices the servants... anyway.
i will just remember that the dresses really belong to sir cosmo
and treat them accordingly. of course, i will have turkish trousers
on underneath. and extra petticoats under. miss sinclare has been
coaching me in how to move in one of the cages. i can get out
of the skirts right enough, but there is not enough room under
the bodice for another. i shall just have to be extra carefull
not to soil, tear, or otherwise damage our employers property...
Proceed to Much weirdness
This page copyright 2003 by Jeri Lynn Cornish. All Rights Reserved.