Friday 7 August 2009

Imperial Dreams

I am feeling rather pleased with myself - I may have worked about 60 hours this week but I have finished - which gives me tomorrow to explore exciting city rather than going back to the office. To celebrate we went out for dinner at a totally fabulous hotel, which in the glory days was the peak of Imperial hospitality and hobnobbing. It was also quite simply beautiful, with many of the period features still in tact.

All of this got me thinking that those walls must have seen some interesting sights in their time...

- The spanking of the sulky daughter of an ambassador of a distant province the night before she enters the International School in the capital. Angry and resentful, she would rather stay at home where she is cared for by a maid than go back to her strict school, ran in the traditional English way with traditional English punishments...

- Some rather unorthodox disciplinary measures for a young female attache in the late Imperial period...perhaps for behaving inappropriately at one of the great banquets that were served at the hotel, drinking too much, flirting with important politicians?

- Numerous chastisement's and corrections for the hotel maids - the hotel had exceedingly high standards and only the very best would do and any failure to perform would be punished in the traditional English manner...

Yum. Am all floaty and dreamy imagining congresses between Mountbatten and Ghandi, sumptuous dinners and the such like.

2 comments:

Abel1234 said...

These are all gorgeous little scenarios. I think the idea of the attache behaving inappropriately is my favourite - and a really original idea.

Lovely post!

Paul said...

Rebecca, I love your imagination,
with you around one would never be lost for a scene.
Warm hugs,
Paul.