by Evie Grace
‘Of course. I’m more than happy to arrange lessons around the family’s timetable.’
‘We don’t want to go back to the schoolroom,’ Elizabeth said. ‘It is insufferably dull.’
‘Miss Linnet is employed to finish your education,’ their mama said. ‘You must do as she says. She comes highly recommended.’
‘By whom?’ said Charlotte.
‘By her previous employer. Miss Linnet, I should appreciate a weekly report of each of my daughters’ progress, something I omitted to ask for with our previous governess.’
‘I can certainly do that for you,’ Agnes said.
‘Girls, you must go,’ Lady Faraday decided.
After a prolonged farewell between Elizabeth and her mama, and Charlotte’s slow remove from the chair with the dog in her arms, they finally left the parlour and made their way to the schoolroom. Agnes decided not to insist on leaving the dog outside on this occasion. She’d always wanted a lapdog, but not in her schoolroom, she thought.
‘The dog may accompany you if he sits on the floor while you concentrate on your studies.’
‘Oh, he never sits on the floor. And he has a name – he’s called Sunny,’ Charlotte said.
‘Isn’t he the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen?’ said Elizabeth.
‘Not really, but he seems like a nice dog,’ Agnes ventured, softening towards the creature. ‘But you must put him down on the floor so that he doesn’t lose the use of his legs. Now!’ she said firmly. She would not have rebellion in the schoolroom. ‘Take a seat and write your names on the paper in front of you.’
She watched her charges as they argued over who should take which place. Elizabeth won, taking the seat nearest the window. Agnes smiled to herself. She would have to watch that she didn’t get distracted by what was going on outside. She turned, listening with one ear for any disruption, while she wrote the plan for the day on the blackboard.
‘Etiquette?’ she heard Elizabeth sigh. ‘We have already done etiquette to death.’
‘In that case, you can show me how well you deport yourselves during the day. I look forward to learning something from you.’
They sat, one in silence and the other pouting while the dog chewed its paws and licked itself rather indiscreetly in the middle of the floor.
‘Please push your tables close together so you are side by side.’ Agnes took the Bible and opened it. ‘I should like you to copy this passage in your best handwriting.’ As she saw Elizabeth open her mouth to protest, she glared at her. ‘It’s so I can see where you are with your learning and find out what you need to help you to improve.’ She could hear Nanny’s words ringing in her ears. She thanked God that she had had such a conscientious governess for her education.
‘We have no ink,’ Elizabeth said. ‘We never have any ink.’
‘I filled the wells you have in front of you earlier this morning. It will not have dried out quite yet.’ Agnes was amused at her wiliness. ‘Go on. Try them. Charlotte? You as well.’
Elizabeth reached out her pen and dipped the nib into the well in front of her and withdrew it. She touched the nib to the paper and the ink flowed. She looked up at Agnes and smiled.
‘You see. Now, it’s your turn, Charlotte. Let us see who can write the quickest and neatest.’
Charlotte’s pen scratched across the paper as she wrote, her tongue sticking out between her lips as she concentrated. Elizabeth was slower, but she finished first. Agnes’s forehead tightened. How could that be? She walked across and looked over the girl’s shoulder and began to read.
‘You have missed out a whole paragraph here,’ she said, running her forefinger down the page. ‘You have been either careless or deliberate. Which is it?’ When her pupil didn’t respond, she went on, ‘You had better do it again. From the beginning.’
She noticed how Elizabeth’s spine stiffened. ‘I will not waste my time,’ she said.
‘And you will not waste mine with any more silly tricks,’ Agnes said sternly.
‘I will tell Mama, if you make me do it again,’ Elizabeth said, getting up from her chair.
‘You may do whatever you like. You may go running off telling tales and hiding behind your mama’s skirts like an infant or you can apologise for your insolence and return to the task I have set you. I would strongly advise you to take the latter course of action, or be considered a telltale. Go on. Do as you wish.’
Elizabeth’s eyes flashed with rebellion and for a moment Agnes thought she would call her bluff and run to her mother, but she changed her mind, sat down at her desk and picked up her pen.
‘Thank you.’
‘You are very strict, Miss Linnet.’
‘Knowledge is important. You never know when you might need it. When you have finished, we will go out for a walk. Charlotte, Sunny may accompany us.’
‘Oh no, why on earth would we want to do that?’ Elizabeth exclaimed. ‘It has been raining. We’ll get mud on our shoes.’
‘Fresh air and exercise are good for the constitution. A healthy body is a prerequisite to a healthy and receptive mind.’
‘How can you have any idea about what is good for you when you are barely a year older than Charlotte?’
‘I don’t know who gave you that impression.’ Agnes had told Lady Faraday that she was twenty-one. ‘All I will say – because it’s inappropriate for a person in my position to reveal how old she is – is that I have always looked younger than my age. There you are – I’m proof of the principle. Come on. A breath of country air will bring the colour to your pale cheeks, Charlotte, and a walk will settle your restlessness, Elizabeth.’
‘It sounds like an improvement on lessons, I suppose,’ Elizabeth said with some semblance of a smile.
‘I would prefer to remain at home and read my book,’ Charlotte said.
‘You can read later. You do recall that I have to make a report each week to your mama, demonstrating your progress?’
The young ladies nodded.
‘You wouldn’t dare put anything bad in it, or derogatory, or Mama will send you packing,’ Elizabeth said.
‘I will write and speak the truth,’ Agnes said.
‘I think she means it,’ she heard Charlotte whisper.
‘Yes, I most certainly do. You will complete the task I have set within the next twenty minutes. If you are not finished, that will go on your report. Then we will put on our walking shoes and coats and go out.’
‘I don’t see the purpose of copying out the Bible,’ Elizabeth tried again, reminding Agnes of her own attempts to divert Nanny in the past.
‘I will ask Lady Faraday for some more books,’ she said.
‘What would we want with those? I should much prefer a new dress,’ Elizabeth said lightly.
‘Oh, you are so superficial,’ Charlotte retorted. ‘Have you no interests apart from the purchase of clothes and the pursuit of young gentlemen?’
‘That is unfair.’
‘I’ve seen you with that friend of Felix who came to stay last summer. Oh, George, shall we take a turn around the room? Oh, George, do you play croquet?’ Charlotte mocked, and then, like a snail sensing danger, slid back into her shell of silence.
‘Is Felix your brother?’ Agnes enquired, thinking of her brother Henry.
‘Yes. He is away at university, studying philosophy. He wishes to follow in Papa’s footsteps – it is something to while away his time until he takes over the running of the estate,’ Elizabeth said.
Agnes wondered why a son should have so much opportunity compared with daughters who were merely waiting to make advantageous marriages and produce heirs and spares.
‘I’m diverting you from your work,’ she said, and she waited patiently while Elizabeth finished the task she had set, and turned a blind eye when Charlotte picked up the dog and placed it on her knee.
‘It’s done. I hope it’s to your satisfaction,’ Elizabeth said.
‘Thank you.’ Agnes perused her efforts. ‘It is a good star
t. I’m pleasantly surprised. You will do very well if you apply yourself.’
Elizabeth flushed as though she was unaccustomed to such praise.
‘Do either of you have a favourite subject of study?’ Agnes asked.
‘We have no need for learning.’ Elizabeth sat back in her chair and dropped her pen on to the table.
‘You need enough knowledge to be able to listen attentively – it isn’t right that you think that the pinnacle of womanhood is the renunciation of intelligence.’
‘But I don’t want to grow up odd and eccentric,’ Elizabeth protested.
‘How about you, Charlotte?’ Agnes said.
She refused to look up and meet her eye.
‘You must speak when you are spoken to,’ Agnes said, feeling frustrated. ‘You are, what, seventeen years old? Where are your powers of speech?’
She shrugged.
‘She can’t help it.’ Elizabeth was suddenly protective of her older sister. ‘She is naturally shy.’
‘Let her speak for herself. The more you practise, Charlotte, the easier it will become. Tell me, what do you like to study most?’
She peered out from beneath her fringe, which fell forward from a central parting.
‘I like to read,’ she whispered.
‘Thank you. I shall recommend some suitable books to help improve your confidence.’
‘I like to choose my own reading material,’ Charlotte muttered.
‘She likes to bury her head in novels,’ Elizabeth said scathingly.
Agnes’s heart sank. Teaching was going to be harder work than she had imagined. How was she to teach the young ladies of Roper House if they had no interest in anything? How was she to inspire them? She began to have doubts about whether she was up to the job. She was, as her ladyship had suggested, too young and inexperienced, but she had no choice but to go on. If she gave up, she would be out on the street.
She was under pressure for the first time in her life. It was her responsibility to look after herself and her interests. She could no longer drift and make up stories, or paint at leisure, or watch the light changing on the marshes. She was a working woman.
She pictured the long-drawn-out days continuing one after the other with the insufferably spoiled young ladies until such a time that her ladyship no longer required her services and she had to move on to another place and do it all over again.
She had felt free and in charge of her own destiny when she had made the decision not to marry Philip. Now, she felt trapped by her new circumstances from which there appeared to be no means of escape.
Chapter Thirteen
An Education
She woke one morning with a start as someone knocked on the door. She slipped out of bed and grabbed a gown to cover her shoulders.
‘Who is it? What time is it?’
‘It’s only me, Evie.’ The maid pushed the door open. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Miss Linnet.’
‘It’s all right. Come on in. Are you early today? You caught me sleeping.’
‘So it appears. It’s my usual time, but I can go away again.’
‘No, don’t.’ She had felt isolated at Windmarsh Court, but here at Roper House, it was ten times worse. She had been with the Faradays since early in May. It was late June now and she hadn’t got to know anyone. ‘Come in, and call me Agnes, not Miss Linnet. I must hurry – I’m expecting to meet the young ladies in the schoolroom in half an hour.’
‘I think it’s unlikely – Elizabeth is still abed,’ Evie said.
‘Oh, I see.’ Agnes smiled ruefully, wondering how Nanny had managed to remain so patient. ‘I shall be having words with her.’
‘You would be so bold as to do that?’
‘I’m her governess. I’ve been given authority over that rebellious young woman and she will listen to me.’
‘I hope so. She is a law unto herself, that one. I don’t think she’s ever taken notice of anyone. Her mother spoils her so. I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you look a little weary.’
She didn’t like to complain about her lot, when Evie was on her feet from six in the morning until eleven at night. At least when Lady Faraday gave her other tasks, such as sewing to fill in the quiet times when her daughters were with her, she could sit with her feet up.
‘You have it far harder than I do,’ she said. ‘How long have you worked here?’
‘I went into service when I was thirteen years old. I was lucky – my younger sister started at nine. I found it tiring at first, but it’s got easier, although we are supposed to act invisible and neither sing nor laugh. It’s very strict here, and Mrs Cox takes money off your wages for breakages.’ She changed the subject. ‘How about you? Are you settling in?’
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘I expect you’re used to it. I’ve heard that you worked in London before.’
‘Yes. Yes, that’s right.’
‘Pell has bin telling us about you. He said he’d bin making enquiries about your previous employment. Oh’ – she flushed – ‘I wasn’t sure if I should say anything, but I couldn’t have it on my conscience to keep it back. You must watch out for that man. He’s trouble.’
‘What do you mean?’ Agnes bit her lip. The last thing she needed was the butler digging up her past.
‘He took against one of the footmen not long ago, and set him up as a thief. He planted two silver spoons in his pocket then accused him right in front of the master.’
‘Didn’t somebody say something?’ Agnes said, aghast.
‘The rest of us wanted to keep our places. Besides, who would have believed us against Pell? He is a snake lurking in the grass.’
‘Well, thank you for warning me, Evie.’
‘Make sure you keep it to yourself. I don’t want him thinking I’ve bin gossiping behind his back.’
‘I won’t tell a soul,’ Agnes promised and Evie changed the subject.
‘I wonder … when you ’ave the time, if you could screeve a letter on my behalf? I’ve never l’arned to read and write, and I’d like to send word to my dear family to let them know I am well, and find out how they are. I haven’t sin them for ages, you see. It’s too far to visit them on my days off. I won’t ’ave a chance to see them until the summertime. Oh, I’m sorry. Listen to me going on. You are busy and I mustn’t hold you up.’
‘It’s all right. It seems that I have a few minutes spare to give Miss Elizabeth time to prepare herself.’ Agnes opened her writing slope, took out a piece of paper, an envelope and a pen and removed the lid of the inkwell. She dipped the nib in the ink. ‘What would you like me to say?’
‘Let me see. How about, “Dear Father and Mother, I hope you are quite well. Please send me news of my dear sisters. I am sorry to be so far away from home, but the thought that my wages help you out in your old age consoles me a little. The family do not make any trouble, but the butler and the housekeeper are strict and not often good-natured. Don’t worry, though. I know I must put up with a good deal in return for my …”’
Agnes added the word ‘remuneration’ although Evie wasn’t sure her parents would know what it meant.
‘“A new governess has come to do for the young ladies. She has very kindly helped me to write this letter to you. God bless you, my family. Your affectionate daughter, Evie.”’
‘Now you make your mark,’ Agnes said, handing her the pen. Evie made a cross at the bottom of the letter, Agnes blotted it and folded the paper. She placed it in an envelope and wrote the address which Evie dictated to her. Then, with the flickering stub of a candle, she dripped wax on to it to make the seal, letting it set before she handed it to Evie. ‘All you need now is a one-penny stamp.’
‘I’m ever so grateful.’ She smiled. ‘I hope they will reply. You know, you are making changes around here.’
‘I hope so,’ Agnes said. She felt a little better, having made a friend in the maid, although she ached with guilt for not being honest with her. She couldn’t afford to let down her guard, no
t now, not ever. She would never be able to be herself at Roper House.
She spent all day in the schoolroom, trying to engage the young ladies in their education. Elizabeth made a fair attempt at a watercolour landscape of the parkland at the front of the house, but solved only four of the arithmetical problems that Agnes had set. As for Charlotte, she felt that the dog had probably learned more from her lessons than she had. When she was supposed to be reading a book of poetry, Agnes found a novel hidden underneath.
It was no use, she thought. She wasn’t getting anywhere with them. It was infuriating. She wanted to throw her hands up and walk away, but she couldn’t because she had nowhere to go.
Instead, she waited for them to clear their tables.
‘Why is it that you have no desire to improve your minds?’ she said when she had their attention.
The clock struck four and Miss Elizabeth was up on her feet.
‘Where are you going?’
‘Lessons have finished for the day. Mama will be expecting us for tea.’
‘Oh no, you must wait until I have finished speaking—’
‘Oh, you are such a prig, Miss Linnet. Where on earth did you come from? You brag about your knowledge yet you are the dullest, most miserable creature I have ever met. The sight of your face would turn milk sour.’
‘Elizabeth, I will not tolerate your rudeness. Sit down!’
‘I will not,’ she said with an insouciant smile. ‘I shall do as I please.’ She spun on her heels and left the room with a flounce of her skirts. Charlotte stood up and followed with the dog trotting along behind her without a backward glance.
Agnes didn’t know what to say, what to think. How dare they flout her authority?
She felt sick to the stomach. How had Nanny managed to make teaching look so easy? She looked around the schoolroom and sighed. She had wanted the place to be an oasis of calm, but it had turned into a battlefield.
Was it because her lessons weren’t engaging enough? Elizabeth had said she was dull.
