The Mitford Girls 3 (Chapters 3-4)

 

The book mentions that Decca and Debo created a secret society, called Society of Hons. The name derived directly from the chickens (hens) that the two sisters raised on the family estate. Jessica and Deborah managed dozens of hens, selling the eggs back to their mother to earn their own personal income. Consequently, the "H" in "Hon" was always pronounced out loud, exactly like the word "hen".

In 1921 after much begging Nancy was sent as a boarder to Hatherop Castle School. 

The Mitfords had bad news that summer. First, Aunt Natty, Lady Blanche Hozier, lost her son Billy, who committed suicide because of his gambling debts. 

Lady Blanche Hozier was  best known as the mother of Clementine Churchill (wife of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill). Her life was marked by scandalous aristocratic affairs, persistent rumors surrounding her children's paternity, and a dramatic, bohemian later life.

Sydney also lost her father. He died on 12 January 1922 while on a holiday at Algeciras and is buried in Gibraltar.

Nancy Mitford made her society debut in the 1920s, officially marking her entry into high society at the age of 18. Her entry into society began with a grand 18th birthday ball in November 1922.  In June 1923, she was formally presented to King George V at Buckingham Palace. Following her presentation, she dove headfirst into the London Season.

After her debut, she had a large circle of young male friends. One was Lord Henry Weymouth. Henry Frederick Thynne  (26 January 1905 – 30 June 1992) Viscount Weymouth between 1916 and 1946, was a British aristocrat, landowner, and Conservative Party politician.

She was also friends with many young men who were called the Brideshead Generation. The "Brideshead Generation" refers to a circle of British writers and artists who came of age between World War I and World War II, sharing a disdain for modern bourgeois life. 

Nancy's friends were:

Charles Randolph Mark Ogilvie-Grant (15 March 1905 – 13 February 1969) was a British diplomat and a botanist. He was one of the closest friends and confidant of Nancy Mitford, became a frequent guest at Mitford's family house at Swinbrook and he inspired the character of Sir Ivor King in the 1940 novel Pigeon Pie.

John Sutro (23 April 1903 – 18 June 1985) was a British film producer. He was a close friend of the Mitford sisters and was a regular part of the group of artists and intellectuals with whom they regularly associated in the 1920s and 1930s.

Robert Byron (26 February 1905 – 24 February 1941) was an English travel writer. 

Sir Harold Mario Mitchell Acton (5 July 1904 – 27 February 1994) was a British writer, scholar, and aesthete. 

Brian Christian de Claiborne Howard (13 March 1905 – 15 January 1958) was an English poet.

George James Henry Lees-Milne (6 August 1908 – 28 December 1997) was an English writer and expert on country houses. Lees-Milne was friendly with many prominent intellectual and social figures of his day, including Nancy Mitford.

The Mitfords rented a house in London at 26 Rutland Gate. 26 Rutland Gate is a large, detached house on Rutland Gate in the Knightsbridge district. In the 1920s and 1930s, the house was the London home during the Season of the Mitford family, who acquired the lease on the house for £28,000 after selling Asthall Manor, their country house in Oxfordshire.

Davud sold Asthall House and bought a new house, Swinbrook House, which the girls didn't like as much as Asthall. In 1926, David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale had Swinbrook House rebuilt 2.4 km north of the village.