“Miss Cranleigh,” she cried.
“Do come in. Thank you, Mrs. Ford. Sit here. Miss Cranleigh, and we can have our little talk.”
She was immensely affable. Clearly she was very eager that I should accept the post. She must be desperate, I thought, and I shuddered to think what the child might be like.
“Mrs. Ford tells me that you want to come here to teach my daughter.”
“It was suggested to me that you were in need of a governess,” I replied.
“Kate’s last governess had to leave in rather a hurry and naturally I do not want her studies to be interrupted too long.”
“No, of course not. I must tell you that I have never taught before.”
“Well, we all have to start somewhere.”
“Your daughter is eight years old, I believe … or is it nine?”
“She is just nine.”
“She will be in need of advanced education soon. Do you propose to send her to school in the near future?”
I saw a look of dismay in the green eyes. Was she imagining this daughter of hers being expelled from school after school ?
“We had no plans for a school yet.”
We? That would be Tristan, the girl’s stepfather. Images flashed into my mind. I saw him, coming into the farmhouse . finding his brother dead and Simon standing there with the gun in his hand. I must stop my mind from wandering on. This house would be full of such reminders.
But this was what I had wanted. Those people who had been nothing but names to me were now going to take on flesh and blood, and I had to assess their part in the drama if I were to find out the truth.
She was saying: “Mrs. Ford tells me you are very good with children.”
“She would be referring to the two at Trecorn Manor. They are only four years old.”
“Oh yes … Trecorn Manor. You are visiting there. We met, didn’t we? Those sheep. What a terrible time Mr. Lorimer had. That ghastly shipwreck.”
“Yes,” I said.
“I was shipwrecked too.”
“What a dreadful experience! I heard about it from Mrs. Ford. But you have emerged, fortunately, in better shape than poor Mr. Lorimer.”
“Yes, indeed I was more fortunate.”
She was silent for a few seconds denoting sympathy. Then she said brightly: “We should be so happy if you came. It would be good for Kate to have a … lady … to teach her. Mrs. Ford tells me that you have had an excellent education.”
“There was nothing outstanding about it.”
This was becoming a most unusual interview. I seemed all the time to be stressing why she should not employ me and she seemed determined at all cost that she should.
“We have rather pleasant nursery quarters here. You know, the family’s children have been brought up there over the years. That makes a difference … some how.”
I was trying to shut out of my mind images of that frightened little boy being brought into the nursery by a determined Sir Edward and by good fortune falling into the hands of loving Nanny Crockett.
It was obvious that my next words unnerved her.
“Perhaps I could meet your daughter.”
It was the last thing she wanted. There was apprehension in the green eyes. She was clearly thinking that one look at the little monster would be enough to make me decline. I felt almost sorry for her. She was so anxious to find a governess any governess, I imagined for her daughter.
Never could a prospective governess have been in such a position. I was amused at the feeling of power which came over me. It would be entirely my decision. I knew I was not going to enjoy my work, but at least I should not have to cringe before my employer. I knew I was coming to this house for Simon’s sake and I was certain that I should discover some of its secrets which, with luck, might lead me to the truth.
“She may not, of course, be in her room,” she said.
“I think we should meet before we make the decision,” I said firmly, and I somehow managed to convey that this was an ultimatum.
Reluctantly she went to the bell rope and in a few moments a maid appeared.
“Would you bring Miss Kate to me?” she said.
“Yes, my lady.”
Lady Perrivale looked so nervous that I wondered what I was going to discover. If she is quite impossible, I thought, I shall at least have a chance to look around and if it is really bad I can always follow the example of the other governesses and leave.
When she came, I was surprised rather agreeably, but that was perhaps because I was expecting something worse.
She was very like her mother. Her hair was a little less bright, her eyes a little less green. There was a hint of blue in them but that might have been because she was wearing a blue dress; her lashes and brows were inclined to be sandy and her mother owed a great deal to her dark brows and luxuriant lashes for her arresting good looks. But it was obvious at once that she was her mother’s daughter.
“Kate, my dear,” said Lady Perrivale.
“This is Miss Cranleigh. If you are lucky she may be your new governess.”
The girl looked at me appraisingly.
“I don’t like governesses,” she said.
“I want to go away to school.”
“That’s not very polite, is it?” asked Lady Perrivale mildly.
“No,” said her daughter.
“And shouldn’t we be?”
“Perhaps you should, Mama. I don’t want to be.”
I laughed and said boldly: “I can see you have a great deal to learn.”
“I never learn unless I want to.”
“That’s not very clever, is it?”
“Why not?”
“Because you will remain ignorant.”
“If I want to be ignorant, I’ll be ignorant.”
“It is your choice, of course,” I replied mildly, ‘but I never heard of any wise person wanting to be ignorant. “
I looked at Lady Perrivale and I could see her fear that I would reject her daughter was growing.
“Really, Kate,” she said.
“Miss Cranleigh has come all the way from Trecorn Manor to see you.”
“I know. And it’s not ” all the way”. It’s not really very far.”
“You must assure her that you will try to be a good pupil or she may decide not to come.”
Kate shrugged her shoulders.
I was surprised to find myself feeling almost sorry for Lady Perrivale. I wondered why she, who looked as though she might be the sort of woman to have her own way, could allow a child to behave so.
I fancied Kate felt a certain antagonism to her mother and at the root of her behaviour might be a wish to discountenance her. I wondered why.
I said: “If I am coming to teach Kate, I think we should get to know each other. Perhaps she could show me the schoolroom.”
Kate turned to face me. I could see she was finding me very different from the governesses to whom she was accustomed. I imagined those poor needy women desperately eager for the post and fearing to do anything that might mean losing it.
I felt more alive than I had for a long time. I was actually in Simon’s old home and these were the people who had figured in the drama. Moreover, I was a little stimulated at the prospect of battles to come with this
