The breakfast order

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Mrs Alder sat at the head of the breakfast table, where for twenty years a raised eyebrow had been enough to silence conversation. This morning, her nephew Thomas continued describing the fair while she waited with one hand beside her cup. “The window,” she said at last, looking towards Clara. Clara finished buttering her bread before she rose to close it. No apology was offered; Mrs Alder straightened the spoons, although they were already in line.

When the cook entered carrying a note about dinner, she did not walk to Mrs Alder’s chair. She crossed to Clara and asked whether six o’clock would suit. There was a brief pause. Mrs Alder opened her mouth, but Clara answered first. “Six will do.” The cook nodded and left. Mrs Alder picked up her cup. “Precisely what I was going to say,” she remarked. Yet she did not drink, and at the other end of the table Thomas began his story again.

Analyse the ways in which the writer uses language and structure to present Mrs Alder’s weakening control of the household.

In your answer, you should consider:

• the contrast between the past and the present
• the changes in how other people respond to Mrs Alder.

Support your answer with references to the passage.