Wait for Me!
by Deborah Mitford
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
For Mitford sisters' fans, Deborah is essential reading.
The youngest, she achieved the highest rank, as Duchess of Devonshire. She was
too young to know the earlier Mitford households, Batsford House then Asthall
Manor, which were mythologised as 'Alconleigh' by sister Nancy in the
bestselling semi-autobiographical novel The Pursuit of Love.
Instead, Deborah grew up at Swinbrook, which their father
built and the older Mitford girls despised due to its lack of historic charm or
communal library (which had been most of their autodidactic bedrock).
In some ways therefore a standalone, Deborah lacked her
siblings' unfulfilled yearnings for formal education, instead relishing her
rural childhood and many animals. She loved horse riding and many of her
father's country interests, which the others (except for 2nd eldest Pam) longed
to escape.
Perhaps because of these adored formative years, she was
arguably the most well-adjusted Mitford girl and was noted for always treating
people of every social stratum equally.
When She married Lord Andrew Cavendish, younger son of
the 10th Duke of Devonshire, in 1941, there was no thought of him inheriting
the dukedom, the couple living in various bucolic settings on the fringes of
her in-laws' estates. She otherwise went around England with her army husband,
whose military pay was pretty ordinary.
Only when Andrew's older brother William, Marquess of
Hartington, was killed in action in 1944 did he unexpectedly become heir. When
Andrew became the 11th Duke of Devonshire on his father death in 1950, Deborah
was a Duchess!
Post-war inheritance taxes of 80% approx. (a bill of £7
million or £220 million in 2016) meant selling off much of the vast Dukedom of
Devonshire estate to pay for retaining the jewel in its crown, historic
Chatsworth House.
As the new Duchess, Deborah faced the mammoth task of
restoring Chatsworth, for centuries the Cavendish family seat, which would open
to the public to pay for its upkeep. From scratch she learned to restore and
maintain one of Britain's foremost stately homes, becoming the face of
Chatsworth for decades, at times manning Chatsworth's ticket office herself.
These projects later extended to other heritage listed
sites in the estate. In those restorative arts, and in running a stately home,
she became an expert, writing around a dozen books on Chatsworth itself, plus
numerous works of personal memoir. In 1999, she was appointed a Dame Commander
of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO) by Queen Elizabeth II, for her service to
the Royal Collection Trust.
She became Dowager Duchess on her husband's death in 2004
and died herself in 2014 aged 94, the last surviving Mitford sister.
Her memoir Wait for me! takes its title
from her being the youngest and therefore the last in early family outings and
activities, always running behind trying to catch up on her tiny young legs.
Her teasing eldest sister Nancy always said down to earth Deborah had retained
the mental age of an eight- or nine-year-old, never acquiring the airs and
graces expected of a grand duchess. Of course, this was Nancy's way with all.
Deborah (nicknamed 'Debo' from an early age) entertained
and befriended everyone of world importance, from the Kennedys in the '50s and
'60s to Prince Charles and Camilla in the new millennium, yet always had some
small anecdote about even the humblest servant.
This striking humility, with her gratitude for the good
fortune she enjoyed (and quiet stoicism over the losses of three of her seven
babies), makes her writing immediate and engaging. Like most of her famous
sisters, she had a natural talent for writing and storytelling and was a true
eccentric, at strokes fascinating, moving and hilarious.
Not the fanciest Mitford sister, the wittiest or the
archest, Debo is the most solid and grounded of those published. Her
photographs from over the decades, from angelic infancy to tulle and diamante
bedecked debutante, to hostess of twentieth century world leaders, are
breathtaking.
Of all Debo's books, this one in particular is the icing
on the cake for any Mitford canon devotee. She does not disappoint!
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