A Very Unusual Governess

by Sylvia Andrew

  He got up and walked to the window. Then he turned and said violently, ‘Damn it, why did it have to happen like this, Octavia? For the first time in my life I—’ He stopped. ‘Never mind! What’s done is done. You can go in the gig. Jem will take you. In an hour?’

  She nodded and went to the door. He said abruptly, ‘I’ll explain as best I can to the girls. They’ll miss you.’

  Octavia couldn’t speak. She nodded again and went out.

  The windows of Wychford had a number of faces at them as Octavia Petrie left. Julia smiled as the gig went down the drive. She would have been failing in her duty to her nieces if she had allowed that…that harlot to stay on!

  Lisette watched with a troubled face. She was old enough to wonder what lay behind Miss Petrie’s sudden departure. It was more than her aunt’s simple dislike of her, she was sure.

  Pip was at the window of her tower room, but she could not see for tears. She hated her aunt! What was the use of being good when you lost one of the people you liked best in the world?

  Edward’s face was not at the window. He was bent over his papers in the library, determinedly not thinking of honey-gold hair, eyes alight with laughter or dark with desire, the feel of a woman’s slender body in his arms…With a curse he threw his pen away and stared at his desk. He would master this. He had been perfectly happy with his way of life before he met Octavia Petrie, and he would be perfectly happy with it again. This terrible sense of loss was not to be borne!

  There were only three of them at dinner that night. Pip had stayed upstairs. When the meal was nearly finished, Lisette regarded her uncle and said quietly,

  ‘Why did you let Miss Petrie go, Edward?’

  ‘I told you,’ he said curtly. ‘She found she had some urgent business at home.’

  Lisette flinched at his tone, but went on bravely, ‘I think that was an excuse. Neither Pip nor I can believe she would leave us so suddenly, not without explaining things to us herself.’

  ‘Leave it alone, Lisette!’ her uncle said.

  ‘I think Lisette is old enough to know the truth,’ said Julia. ‘You should tell her. It will rid the girls of this admiration for a woman who doesn’t deserve it.’ Edward remained silent and after a pause Julia turned to Lisette. ‘We did not consider Miss Petrie a fit person to have charge of you, Lisette. There! I’ve said it for you, Edward.’

  The colour rose in Lisette’s cheeks. ‘I don’t believe that!’ she said. ‘I think she had to go because you didn’t like her, Aunt Julia!’

  Edward gazed in astonishment at his gentle, well-behaved niece. Lisette never criticised, never argued with anyone!

  Julia’s face coloured, though not as prettily as Lisette’s. ‘Well!’ she said. ‘It’s a fine thing when my own niece can say such things to me! I am more shocked than I can say at your rudeness, Lisette. But I know who is to blame! It is yet more proof of Miss Petrie’s bad influence—if any proof were needed! Miss Petrie left of her own accord, but if she had not, I confess freely, I would have dismissed her. It was as well that she did not have the impudence to ask for a reference, for I should not have been able to give her one!’

  ‘Julia, I hardly think—’

  ‘No, Edward, you heard what Lisette said. My own niece, a girl I have cherished like my own child, has accused me of spite. It is only fair that she knows the truth.’ She turned to Lisette. ‘Your precious Miss Petrie was having a clandestine relationship with a young man, Lisette, and that is something no responsible guardian could condone in a governess. She was even seen kissing him!’

  The flush in Lisette’s cheeks faded and she grew pale. She asked, ‘The young man—who was he? What was his name?’

  Edward’s eyes narrowed at this strange question. What lay behind it?

  ‘There’s no need for you to know—’ began Julia.

  ‘Smith,’ said Edward. ‘Harry Smith.’

  Lisette jumped up. ‘And you sent Miss Petrie away because of that!’ she exclaimed. ‘How could you! Oh, how could you!’

  ‘What’s the matter, Lisette? What do you mean?’

  ‘Edward! Harry Smith is Miss Petrie’s brother! You’ve dismissed the kindest, nicest person Pip and I have ever known, someone we really loved, because she kissed her brother!’

  Chapter Twelve

  Lisette burst into tears and ran sobbing to the door, but Edward leapt up and fetched her back.

  ‘Wait a minute, my girl,’ he said sternly. ‘You can’t say something like that and then disappear. How do you know that Mr Smith is Miss Petrie’s brother? Did she tell you?’

  ‘No,’ sobbed Lisette. ‘He did. His name is Harry Petrie, not Smith at all.’

  ‘This man told you himself? When? When did you meet him, Lisette?’

  Julia started to say something, but Edward cut her off. ‘I’ll deal with this Julia,’ he said brusquely. ‘This has gone beyond the question of Miss Petrie’s behaviour. Lisette has been in my care for very nearly the past two months, and, as her guardian, my concern at the moment is what has been happening to her.’ He turned his attention to his niece, saw the state she was in, and made an effort to speak more gently.

  ‘Sit down, Lisette, and try to calm down. Do you want a drink of water?’ Lisette shook her head, but she did make an effort to compose herself. After a moment Edward went on, ‘Tell me, where did you meet Harry Petrie?’ He paused. ‘At the inn? Did you…did you ever see him at the inn?’ Lisette shook her head vigorously.

  ‘Where, then?’

  ‘We…we met in the woods. Here at Wychford.’

  ‘Did Miss Petrie introduce you?’ asked Julia.

  ‘No! Harry and I met by accident.’

  ‘Harry! You called him Harry, did you, when you met him in the woods? Fine goings-on!’

  ‘Julia, I would like you to stop interrupting, and allow me to deal with this. Lisette will tell us the truth in her own time, I know she will. Please keep quiet. Now, Lisette, you said you met Harry Petrie in the woods, by accident.’

  ‘Yes. Miss Petrie didn’t know anything about it. I was collecting specimens for my notebook. It was after Pip was ill and we went out for an airing behind the house. Pip got tired and Miss Petrie decided to take her indoors, but she knew I wanted some leaves and things for my drawings. So she gave me a quarter of an hour to look by the drive. There are better ones there.’ She threw a glance at her aunt. ‘It was just a quarter of an hour!’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘He was in the woods near the drive. He startled me. But his behaviour was very gentlemanly, and after a while I…I liked him.’

  ‘What did Miss Petrie say when you told her you’d met her brother in the woods?’

  ‘I didn’t know that he was Miss Petrie’s brother! He told me his name was Smith. Like the hero.’

  ‘She knew, of course. She’d arranged it!’ said Julia with a sniff.

  ‘She didn’t! I didn’t tell her about it at all at first. I’m sorry, Edward, I really am. I knew you wouldn’t approve, but I didn’t mean any harm! He was perfectly polite and…and respectful.’

  ‘When did you tell Miss Petrie about it?’

  ‘After our second meeting. He told me then that he didn’t want to lie to me. His name wasn’t Smith, it was Petrie. He was Miss Petrie’s brother.’

  ‘Ha!’

  ‘Julia!’ warned Edward. He turned to Lisette again. ‘What did Miss Petrie say?’

  ‘She was very annoyed. With both of us. She said it was very wrong to meet her brother secretly, and that you would be angry if you knew. And that she would agree with you.’ Lisette added sadly, ‘She said I mustn’t see him again—she wouldn’t even let me say goodbye.’

  Edward thought for a moment. ‘So did you? See him again?’

  ‘Oh, no!’ said Lisette. ‘Of course not, Edward! Miss Petrie said I wasn’t to. She was quite clear about that.’

  ‘Well, it seems to me that very little harm was done, though I am surprised you said nothing about it to me, or your aunt
.’

  ‘I was afraid you’d think he wasn’t good enough for me,’ said Lisette simply.

  ‘You’re quite right! Your governess’s brother! What a fine match that would be!’ said Julia sarcastically. ‘Of course, it would be wonderful for him! One cannot blame Miss Petrie for wishing to promote such a windfall for her brother.’

  ‘He was just a friend! And Miss Petrie had nothing to do with it! Why are you so unpleasant about her, Aunt Julia? What has she done to make you so unkind towards her? I don’t believe for a minute that she would plan anything of the sort.’

  ‘You will allow that I’ve been about the world a good bit more than you, my dear. I am considerably older and wiser. Miss Petrie’s motives are perfectly comprehensible. It would be a negligent sister, indeed, who would fail to see the advantage to her brother in marrying a girl who is a considerable heiress!’

  Lisette stood up twin flags of anger burning in her cheeks. ‘Edward, I’ve told you everything now. I’m sorry for deceiving you. I’m even sorrier that my conduct has caused you to be so unfair to Miss Petrie. But if you will excuse me, I should like to go to my room.’

  Edward gave Julia an exasperated look, but merely said, ‘Of course you may go, if you wish, Lisette. You’ve been very honest with us.’ He hesitated, then said, ‘Try not to blame yourself for Miss Petrie’s departure. She had already planned to leave. Your behaviour wasn’t the only cause.’

  ‘Forget Miss Petrie and reflect instead on the possibility of other, more serious, consequences of your conduct, Lisette,’ said Julia. ‘We want no more dealings with unsuitable men. I would have thought you’d have learned your lesson from what happened on Antigua with the Arandez fellow!’

  ‘Aunt Julia! This is nothing like what happened on Antigua! If you want to know the truth, I talked to Miss Petrie about that, too, and she helped me more than you or anyone else! You just forbade me to see Ricardo again, or even to talk about him, and that left me feeling that I was somehow betraying Papa. Miss Petrie helped me to understand what Papa had really wanted.’

  ‘Marriage to her brother, I suppose?’ said Julia nastily.

  ‘No! Oh, I can’t talk to you!’

  ‘Tell us, Lisette,’ said Edward quietly. ‘What did Miss Petrie say?’

  ‘That I wasn’t to worry any more about what Ricardo had said. Papa would want me to be happy. To know the world, before I made any big decisions. I still don’t know what I feel about Ricardo, Edward, but I don’t believe any more that we are betrothed. She at least did that for me. And now you’ve sent her away!’ Lisette ran out of the room, and the door shut with a bang behind her.

  ‘Was that really necessary, Julia?’ asked Edward wearily. ‘The child was already upset enough, without being reminded of Ricardo Arandez and what was probably the most distressing experience of her life.’

  ‘Oh, I know where you stand, Edward!’ snapped Julia. ‘You’re still so besotted with the Petrie woman, you’d see your niece marry her brother without doing a thing to prevent it. But I’ll make sure she won’t, if it’s the last thing I do! In fact, I shall tell her so now!’ Julia swept out and was halfway up the stairs before Edward could catch her.

  ‘Julia!’ he shouted.

  She stopped and turned, her face contorted with spite. ‘You won’t stop me! That Petrie woman has turned Lisette against us all, and I’m not going to let her get away with it!’

  She turned to carry on up the stairs, and screamed as one of the treads gave way with a large crack and she almost fell through the hole. She was still screaming as Edward leapt up the stairs and picked her up. He checked she hadn’t seriously damaged herself, then carried her to her room. She was still kicking and screaming, swearing not to spend a moment longer in a house that showed every sign of wanting to finish her off.

  Her maid arrived, but not all their efforts could calm her down, and in the end he slapped her, not too gently.

  She stopped screaming and looked at him with loathing. ‘I shall leave this house tomorrow, Edward! It isn’t safe. It’s tried three times to kill me and I won’t wait for a fourth!’

  ‘You’ve had a bad shock, Julia, but this is nonsense,’ he said sharply.

  ‘It isn’t, it isn’t! I refuse to live here! I want to go back to London tomorrow! I shall go mad if I don’t.’

  ‘In that case it might be wiser to go.’ He thought for a moment. ‘In fact, I think it would be better for all of us. You and the girls can leave tomorrow and I shall see that the house is properly shut down and follow you in a day or two. You’d better rest now. I’ll leave you in the hands of your maid—she’ll see to you. And I’ll have a look at that stair. It will have to be put right straight away.’

  He left the room and went to the head of the stairs. One of the estate handymen was examining the damage.

  ‘I can’t understand it,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I’ve never known such a thing to happen before, Mr Barraclough. Never! Old Mrs Carstairs kept it all in such good repair!’

  When Pip heard they were leaving she begged Edward to let her stay behind with him.

  ‘I’ll be good, Edward! I don’t want to go to London, especially not with Aunt Julia.’

  ‘I’m afraid you’ll soon have to go to London. We’re all leaving Wychford. But I’ll see if I can persuade your aunt to let you travel with me. It will only be a day or two longer, mind!’

  Julia, who was quite broken down by the latest accident, shuddered and readily agreed. ‘My nerves won’t take any more. The thought of being cooped up in a carriage with Philippa all the way to London appals me. By all means, let her wait for you! But Lisette must come with me.’

  ‘Of course. Try to make friends again with Lisette, Julia. She’s feeling very low. We don’t want her to fall back into the melancholy state she was in last year. When you’re feeling better you might think about dresses for her come-out. That should cheer her up.’

  ‘Oh, I have great plans for that. I shall see if Madame Rosa will make some of her wardrobe. Daisy Ledbury was not at all sure she would. It seems Madame is in great demand, and can more or less choose her own clientèle. Perhaps I can persuade Lady Ledbury to put in a word for us.’

  Edward saw them off with relief. Lisette was quiet, but she seemed to have repented of her outburst of the night before. The girl had been right, of course. There had been real animosity behind Julia’s witch-hunt. Quite why, he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure, either, what he felt about Octavia himself. He had been less than impartial when listening to the story of her meetings with her supposed lover, of course. For a moment he had been beside himself with jealousy and murderous rage, unable to think clearly at all. The unaccustomed violence of his feelings had so shocked him that he had been glad to let her go. She posed too many problems, and he had decided long ago that what he wanted was a life without them. No wife, no one to remind him of his duty, no responsibilities. Above all, no one to make him feel as uncivilised as he had for a few minutes the day before. Never!

  Except…he had a suspicion that, along with the problems, something else, something immensely important, had gone too, something he might regret.

  Edward had no time for self-questioning during the next two days. He had a thousand things to do, the most important of which was to set in motion proper repairs to the staircase. Why had that stair cracked? The handyman couldn’t explain it at all. He swore that the rest of the staircase was in excellent condition, with no sign of woodworm or decay. But what else could it have been? The idea that the house was trying to get rid of Julia was nonsense, of course! Hysterical rubbish!

  There were other things to do. Wychford was a large house, and though there were still almost four of their six months’ tenancy left, he doubted any of them would come back. Still, he wanted to leave it suitably prepared. Pip accompanied him everywhere, chatting, commenting, asking questions. Her talk was full of Miss Petrie and all the wonderful things they had done together.

  ‘Of course, she did promise that
she would see me in London. And I think she will, don’t you, Edward? I hope she does. I wonder what she’s doing now? I don’t think she’ll be a governess to anyone else. In fact, I don’t think she’s really a governess at all! She wasn’t looking for a post when she first arrived, you know.’

  Edward stopped in his tracks. ‘What was that?’

  ‘Well, she seemed surprised to find us here. And if she was hoping to be our governess she’d have known, wouldn’t she? But she knew our name. It’s funny, isn’t it? I wish she could come back!’

  On the last night, once Pip was in bed, Edward walked round the house checking that everything was in order. He came back to Pip’s room to see that she was asleep, and as he came out he stopped by the narrow staircase up to the room in the tower. He had not been up there since…since that day. He couldn’t avoid it any longer. It, too, should be checked. He went up the stairs, unlocked the door and entered the room.

  It looked dim and ghostly in the faint light of his lamp. Ashes from the fire lit by Octavia lay in the fireplace. They could stay there. He walked to the chair and looked down. What a storm of feeling had filled this little room! For a short while the world had been on fire for him here…He turned, and a flicker from his lamp was reflected in the gilt of a picture frame on the table. He went over and picked it up. Mrs Carstairs’s little daughter, Theophania. The child had been younger than Pip when she died, and there had never been any others.

  The table was crowded with other pictures—miniatures, paintings, drawings…Obviously friends and family, people she knew. His eye was caught by one particular picture, a drawing of a young woman. It looked familiar. Picking it up, he held it close to the lamp. He had not been mistaken—it was a drawing of Octavia Petrie.