mistress

“The wardrobe mistress always needs help. People scarcely know how to sew on a button anymore, it seems. And they call that progress! Come inside and wait. I’ll see if she’s busy.”

There was little chance that the spoiled young mistress of Ashton Place would become a benefactor to Swanburne—or Swansong, as she sometimes glibly called the school.

“Of course they will join us,” her mistress said through gritted teeth.

Mrs. Clarke was a sturdy sort of woman, stout in both build and character, and yet there was a wobble of fear in her voice as she answered her mistress.

As the pop melodies continue to ebb and flow, Allen reveals accusations of infidelity, the complications of being in an open marriage and mentions a pseudonym for a mistress on a track named “Madeline.”