My review of Wait for Me! by Deborah Mitford
For Mitford sisters' fans, Deborah is essential reading.The youngest, she achieved the highest rank, as Duchess of Devonshire. She wastoo young to know the earlier Mitford households, Batsford House then AsthallManor, which were mythologised as 'Alconleigh' by sister Nancy in thebestselling semi-autobiographical novel The Pursuit of Love.
Instead, Deborah grew up at Swinbrook, which their fatherbuilt and the older Mitford girls despised due to its lack of historic charm orcommunal library (which had been most of their autodidactic bedrock).
In some ways therefore a standalone, Deborah lacked hersiblings' unfulfilled yearnings for formal education, instead relishing herrural childhood and many animals. She loved horse riding and many of herfather's country interests, which the others (except for 2nd eldest Pam) longedto escape.
Perhaps because of these adored formative years, she wasarguably the most well-adjusted Mitford girl and was noted for always treatingpeople of every social stratum equally.
When She married Lord Andrew Cavendish, younger son ofthe 10th Duke of Devonshire, in 1941, there was no thought of him inheritingthe dukedom, the couple living in various bucolic settings on the fringes ofher 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 ofHartington, was killed in action in 1944 did he unexpectedly become heir. WhenAndrew became the 11th Duke of Devonshire on his father death in 1950, Deborahwas a Duchess!
Post-war inheritance taxes of 80% approx. (a bill of £7million or £220 million in 2016) meant selling off much of the vast Dukedom ofDevonshire estate to pay for retaining the jewel in its crown, historicChatsworth House.
As the new Duchess, Deborah faced the mammoth task ofrestoring Chatsworth, for centuries the Cavendish family seat, which would opento the public to pay for its upkeep. From scratch she learned to restore andmaintain one of Britain's foremost stately homes, becoming the face ofChatsworth for decades, at times manning Chatsworth's ticket office herself.
These projects later extended to other heritage listedsites 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, plusnumerous works of personal memoir. In 1999, she was appointed a Dame Commanderof the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO) by Queen Elizabeth II, for her service tothe Royal Collection Trust.
She became Dowager Duchess on her husband's death in 2004and died herself in 2014 aged 94, the last surviving Mitford sister.
Her memoir Wait for me! takes its titlefrom her being the youngest and therefore the last in early family outings andactivities, always running behind trying to catch up on her tiny young legs.Her teasing eldest sister Nancy always said down to earth Deborah had retainedthe mental age of an eight- or nine-year-old, never acquiring the airs andgraces expected of a grand duchess. Of course, this was Nancy's way with all.
Deborah (nicknamed 'Debo' from an early age) entertainedand 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 somesmall anecdote about even the humblest servant.
This striking humility, with her gratitude for the goodfortune she enjoyed (and quiet stoicism over the losses of three of her sevenbabies), makes her writing immediate and engaging. Like most of her famoussisters, she had a natural talent for writing and storytelling and was a trueeccentric, at strokes fascinating, moving and hilarious.
Not the fanciest Mitford sister, the wittiest or thearchest, Debo is the most solid and grounded of those published. Herphotographs from over the decades, from angelic infancy to tulle and diamantebedecked debutante, to hostess of twentieth century world leaders, arebreathtaking.
Of all Debo's books, this one in particular is the icingon the cake for any Mitford canon devotee. She does not disappoint!
