Chapter Thirteen
Mealtimes at Seddon Academy were always considered formal occasions, which, like any type of ceremony, required an element of decorum and discipline.
Once seated, the girls were allowed to speak to each other, but only with those sitting on either side of them or directly opposite. No one was to call across the table like some common fishwife, as the headmistress put it.
All meals were served by the lower sixth, supervised by the head chef, the excellent Miss Humphries.
She was a rather large and fleshy woman, who commanded her kitchen staff with a withering contempt she was not afraid to display, no matter who might be present.
It was often said that she ran her kitchen with a military precision that would make a sergeant major proud.
The dining room boasted a serie
