Annie Trent Runs Away from Boarding School

Anne Elizabeth Trent’s escape from Miss Tynge’s finishing school turns a season of enforced confinement into an improvised journey home. She leaves before anyone else is awake with only a toothbrush and nightgown, travels alone toward Washington, D.C., and returns two days later. The experience helps her reject finishing school and make a different plan: to study in New York City with Ada Washburn.

The School and the Decision to Leave

Anne Elizabeth Trent had initially been excited about traveling north for a year of finishing school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Miss Tynge’s soon became, in her eyes, a miserable place. The other girls mocked her clothes and talked about Newport, Southampton, and matinée idols she had never seen; she felt alienated from their interests and company.

At night she cried, thinking how much she hated the school and fearing that Joe Washburn would never like her. When Christmas vacation arrived, she was left behind with the two Miss Tynges and teachers who lived too far away to go home. She decided she could no longer endure staying there. Before anyone was up one morning, she left the house, walked to the station, bought a ticket to Washington, D.C., and boarded the first westbound train. Her small handbag contained only a toothbrush and a nightgown.

The Journey West

At first, traveling alone frightened her. At Havre de Grace, where she had to change trains, she met Paul English, a young Virginian and West Point cadet. They quickly fell into easy conversation, laughing and talking together. In Washington, D.C., he courteously asked permission to escort her, then took her to the Capitol, the White House, and the Smithsonian Institute. He treated her to lunch at the New Willard and put her on the train for St. Louis that night.

The encounter gave the escape an unexpected social turn: what had begun as a frightened girl’s solitary flight became an enjoyable excursion with a new acquaintance. Anne Elizabeth Trent remembered Paul English’s appearance, the way his hair was parted, and the confident grip of his hand when they said goodbye. Though initially nervous, she felt that they had been like old friends from the start; he was courteous and gentlemanly, and she regarded him as her first pickup.

Return and Consequences

Two days after leaving, Anne Elizabeth Trent walked in on her father and brothers at breakfast on a sunny winter morning. They were astonished. Her father tried to scold her, but she could tell he was pleased to see her, and the relief of being home mattered more to her than the reprimand.

After Christmas, she made clear that she would not return to be finished. Instead, she wanted to go to New York City, stay with Ada Washburn, who was studying at Columbia University, and take courses that would teach her something substantial. Her father had hoped she would complete the finishing-school path and argued with her, but she eventually persuaded him. She left for New York City rather than return to Miss Tynge’s.

Significance of the Escape

The episode makes the difference between the future chosen for Anne Elizabeth Trent and the education she wants concrete. The school’s social world leaves her lonely and homesick; her response is not to wait for permission to make the situation bearable, but to leave with almost nothing and find her own way home. Her father’s mixed response—an attempted scolding alongside evident pleasure at her return—does not erase the conflict, but the later argument over New York City shows that her decision has lasting force. The escape is both a brief adventure and the first step in redirecting her education toward a course she believes will genuinely teach her.