by Abigail Agar
“I-I don’t want this one,” she said suddenly, stopping in the middle of a sentence.
Victoria eyed her, wondering why she had so quickly changed her mind about the lesson.
“I prefer the one you chose for me to read outside of lessons,” Marian pushed.
“That is for your entertainment, Miss Marian. This book is for learning. You must read this for our lessons and the other you may enjoy during your break,” Victoria replied.
Marian groaned.
“But I do not wish for it. I’ll not read another word,” she threatened.
“Then you shall have no break. Would you like to sit here in a stalemate until you are willing to finish your reading from here? I shall not allow you to leave your seat until you have completed the chapter,” Victoria warned.
“You cannot keep me here,” Marian retorted.
“As it is my job to be your governess and I am in charge of your education, I think you shall find that I can indeed keep you here,” she replied.
Marian’s face fell, aware that Victoria was correct. Not only was she correct, but she was maintaining authority, something that had evidently lacked in Marian’s previous governesses.
“Fine,” she spat, taking the book in her hands again. She finished the chapter and Victoria gave her a break to indulge in the other book.
All in all, the strategy was working well. By incentivising the other book, she was instilling in Marian an appreciation for reading that no one might have otherwise expected her to grow into.
Nearly two weeks into the position, Victoria was amazed by the difference she was seeing in Marian’s attitude. It was still far from where it ought to be, but she was growing, learning to respect Victoria’s authority and now even enjoying the concept of books.
Victoria had found the right balance of stern authority and graceful patience, watching as Marian softened. Before long, she was determined that the two would find an ease in their communication and a better way of interacting.
“Do you like the book?” Victoria asked after another break in the day.
“Very much,” Marian nodded eagerly.
“I am glad to hear it. It was one of my favourites when I was your age. You are reading it rather quickly and I think I shall have to find another for you very soon,” she grinned.
“Are there more like it?” Marian asked.
“My dear, your father has an entire library filled with books. I have seen many that shall be wonderful for you to read and will make it my mission to keep you well entertained,” Victoria promised.
That evening, she went into the library and pulled another five books from the shelves that Marian might be able to enjoy. She was certain that this was the best option for encouraging a further love of reading and so far it had worked.
A sound behind her startled Victoria and she turned to see the Earl standing in the doorway with a look of surprise on his face.
“Oh, hello Miss Jamison,” he greeted, a gentle laugh of surprise escaping his lips.
“My lord, good evening. Forgive me if I’ve startled you,” she said.
“It is nothing. May I help you?” he offered.
“I think I am finished, but thank you. I was searching for books that Miss Marian may enjoy,” she told him.
The Earl scoffed. “I wish you luck with that. She is not much for reading,” he remarked.
“Yes, but she has enjoyed one volume I suggested for her and I am pleased to say that she is going through it rather quickly. I thought it best to make a few further selections for her,” Victoria told him.
The Earl simply stared at her as if she were mad, hardly believing what she was saying.
Victoria stood uncomfortably in the silence.
The Earl shook his head, as if coming back to himself.
“Well then, I suppose if that is the case, I ought not to keep you. Very well, enjoy your evening,” he said, making his way to a shelf on the other side of the library.
“And you as well,” Victoria replied, taking the books and leaving the library.
The Earl was very difficult to read, but she could not help her curiosity about him. She hoped only to please him when he saw the impact of her teaching his daughter. If she could do it well, Victoria was rather convinced that all would go well for her in the home.
It had to go well. She had no other choice.
Chapter 12
“Papa, did you know that Miss Jamison is positively the most intelligent woman who ever lived?” Marian asked, rather nonchalantly.
Reginald looked at his daughter from the book in his hands, rather taken aback. It was one of the first times he had ever managed to convince his daughter to sit with him in the library, indulging in a book suitable for her age.
But even that had not prepared him for these words of approval in reference to her new governess.
“You don’t say?” he questioned, an eyebrow cocked in near suspicion.
“You would be shocked, Papa. She is cleverer than any of the others. And stronger as well. You ought to see her,” Marian continued.
He was still rather surprised by the suddenness of the conversation and continued to eye his daughter with wonder at this new behaviour.
Of course he had noticed that Miss Jamison was all of these things. But Marian was never one to give credit to a governess. Whatever had led her to speaking highly of the woman was a strange event to be sure.
“Well then, my dear, you must tell me what it is about Miss Jamison that has you so enraptured,” he said. In truth, he wanted to know more about the woman anyway and this gave him an ideal opportunity.
“When she reads, she does so in a way that makes the book come alive. I didn’t like it at first. It was too strange, like going to a play that I could only see in my mind. But then I remembered that you never let me go to plays and it could very well be as close as I might get,” she complained.
Reginald laughed. “So you decided you ought to enjoy it anyway?”
“I didn’t have to simply try to enjoy it. In the end, it was enough that I was listening closely before I even realised it. So I kept listening. Now, when she forces me so dreadfully to repeat a poem, I do so the way that she does it,” Marian expressed.
Reginald was impressed. He couldn’t imagine how no one had ever thought of a strategy with his daughter before to simply make the lesson entertaining. Were there no other governesses in all of England who understood a child or had he merely missed them all until now?
Either way, he recognised how Miss Jamison was clearly the best option for Marian. She had been there less than two weeks and already his daughter was claiming to enjoy the recitation of poetry. Perhaps Miss Jamison was not a governess at all, but rather a miracle worker.
With the significant improvements he had seen already, he wondered if she might have been teaching based on her own experiences in life. Perhaps it was because of the very fact that she had once been in a position similar to Marian that she was so well equipped for this role.
“That is all very well, my dear. I had not realised your affection for your new governess,” he remarked.
“Papa, I never claimed to like her. I only told you what I have begun to observe,” Marian said, guarding her feelings. “But…I suppose she isn’t so bad.”
He tried not to chuckle at his daughter’s imminent denial. It was only further evidence that she really did care for Miss Jamison that she was so utterly quick to try and refute it before he recognised that he had finally found the one who could teach her.
Reginald only wished her words about his fiancé were of the same ilk.
No, unfortunately Marian truly disliked his betrothed and there seemed to be nothing he could do to sway her.
At first he had lied to himself, declaring that it was only her longing to have her own mother return that pushed her away from the woman. But Marian had been painfully honest with him about other details.
He saw that there was simply no love between them.
/> How a child could be so brash but so observant befuddled him. How was Marian able to see that the two were marrying only for the sake of society’s benefits?
Of course, he cared for Lady Ingles very much, but it was not the same as he had hoped for. They got along very well and were an ideal match.
Nevertheless, there always seemed to be some unspoken pact between the two of them. They both knew that theirs was a marriage of convenience. They were content to acknowledge that they were together for reasons other than love. But it was still a union of purpose.
He would marry Lady Ingles even if it was not for his own desires, even if it was not something that he sought. He was not looking forward to being forced to let go of the past. And he felt no love for the woman.
And yet Marian needed a mother, whether she wished for one or not.
“I think that Miss Jamison and Lady Ingles shall get along quite well, don’t you?” he asked, trying to associate someone his daughter clearly respected with someone he only wished for her to care about.
“I certainly hope that Miss Jamison shall continue being the one to teach me and not her. You would not do that to me, Papa, would you?” she asked.
It seemed she still disliked his betrothed.
“No, my dear,” he sighed. “A mother is not the same as a governess and I shall never have your new mother teach you.”
“Very well, because Miss Jamison is far preferable,” she remarked, returning the subject to her governess.
They continued to speak about her and Reginald asked questions, realising that he wished to know more about the woman with such a convoluted past.
“Has she told you much about her own childhood?” he inquired.
“Very little. I think it makes her sad, Papa. But as I said, she is strong. Very strong. And I do not think she would want me to know it makes her sad. So she only reminds me to study and continue learning that I might never be wasted as she has been,” Marian said.
“She believes herself to be wasted?” he asked, sadly.
“Oh she has never said that, I did, Papa. She is clever as I told you but all she has made of it is to become another governess,” Marian remarked contemptuously.
Reginald gave his daughter a glare.
“Why must you be so cruel to your governesses?” he asked.
“Because until now, governesses were worthless. Does one good governess among dozens of dreadful ones mean that I’m to change my opinion of the lot of them?” she asked.
The innocent question was rife with curiosity, wisdom, ignorance, and lack of understanding. A contrast of childish wonder that amazed him still.
But Reginald had no real answer for his daughter other than to say, “We must judge people based on who they are rather than simply their profession or place in society.”
Marian nodded, as if trying to grasp the concept.
“If that is what you say, Papa,” she acquiesced.
The Earl sighed, watching Marian go back to her reading. The changes were remarkable and he credited Miss Jamison for them, but it was impossible to not wonder more about her.
His curiosity was only growing.
At the dinner he had hosted Miss Jamison had seemed uncomfortable, but he had his assumptions as to why. It could not have been easy for her to be a governess amongst those who were once her peers. He knew that she was likely struggling to engage in her new position within society and Reginald pitied her.
But he also noted that she was strong and that was something to be admired. Even with her regret over her family’s story, he sensed that she could overcome what others thought of her and that made him admire her all the more.
“Your Miss Jamison, is she happy?” he asked Marian, causing her to look up from the book at him.
Her face squished in annoyance that he had disrupted her.
“I do not know, Papa. You must ask her that if you wish to know it. What am I to say on the matter? I cannot read her thoughts,” Marian grumbled, never at a loss for words.
“Has she complained to you at all about the work she is doing?” he asked, trying to pry further.
“No, she only lectures me on why I must study and learn. I have never heard her complain about anything,” Marian replied.
“That is good at least,” he said, nodding to himself.
“Why should she complain?” she asked, interested in learning more.
“She shouldn’t, I simply wished to know,” he replied vaguely.
Reginald had already told Marian about the fact that her new governess had come from a situation like her own, but didn’t wish to linger on it. He wanted Marian to appreciate what she had but feared that if he told her too much regarding Miss Jamison’s change in status, she might look down on the governess.
That was already far too easy for Marian to do.
But he saw that his daughter was not content with his words and she was searching her mind for an answer. Reginald simply went back to his book, trying to focus on the words before him, until he was certain that Marian had given up and gone back to reading her own.
When a significant amount of time had passed, he looked over and saw her eyes drooping with sleep. She was tired and the evening had passed them by.
“My dear, let us get you upstairs,” he whispered gently to her.
Marian opened her eyes as much as she was able and nodded in acquiescence. They walked up the stairs and Miss Franklin joined them to ensure that Marian was dressed and readied for bed before Reginald returned to give her a quick kiss on the cheek and wish her a good night.
From there he returned to the library, and looked through the stack of five books that Miss Jamison had chosen for his daughter when he had found her in the library earlier in the day.
It was an ideal selection for a child like Marian. They were exciting and adventurous, at a reading level that he knew his daughter to be capable of, even if she had expressed a hatred of reading books that were so advanced.
Pride swelled in his heart when he noted that Miss Jamison must have recognised that his daughter was capable of so much. She had been far more supportive than any of the previous governesses had been.
To know that Marian would be reading these works, that she would be excited by them, he wondered why he had not encouraged her sooner to indulge in books as entertainment rather than as simply for learning.
But everything was changing and that was relief enough for him. Soon, he would have a home with a daughter who was obedient, a wife to act as her mother, and things that would be as expected by society. He would have to be satisfied with that; after all, it was the best he could ask for.
Chapter 13
Victoria and Miss Franklin ate their dinner in Victoria’s bedroom that evening, enjoying the privacy of conversation as they got to know one another better.
“Tell me about these rumours I have heard of your family,” Miss Franklin finally jumped in with the question that Victoria knew was coming.