throat.
‘Come here, child.’
It was the last thing she wanted, but Uncle Albert was not the sort of man you dared to disobey. Her feet dragged, her legs were like jelly, she hung her head because she could not bear to look into his eyes but there was no escape. His big hand tilted her chin and she had to look up at him.
Her head was spinning. She felt faint. He was so tall and grim and angry that she couldn’t bear it. But as he moved her head from side to side, she realized that the angry glare was fading from his eyes. He was looking at her now with a curious expression, half wonderment and half something else – pain, perhaps?
‘Yes,’ he muttered to himself. ‘It’s quite definite. I can’t think why I didn’t see it before. It’s Florence all over. Florence reborn.’
She found her voice. ‘Who, who is Florence?’
‘Eh? What? But surely you know, child? Surely you know! Florence was your mother. My sister. And you are the spit and image of her.’
He let her go and turned away. A shudder seemed to pass through him. The shadow in the room had gone. Dorothea could breathe again.
‘I think,’ he muttered, ‘I think for now it would be best if you stayed here, with us.
‘Until, until Papa comes back?’
‘Yes, yes. When—if—he does. Or maybe….’ He cleared his throat. ‘It’s not a bad place, once you get used to it. Not bad at all.’
He sounded almost as if he was trying to convince himself, and Dorothea remembered Henry’s words:
he’s an interloper
…
he’s not one of us
….
‘No more running off, now, do you hear me, child? There’s no knowing what might have happened if young Fitzwilliam hadn’t come along. Do you promise?’
‘I, I promise, Uncle.’
‘Good. Good. And now, well, talking of Fitzwilliam, he had rather a bright idea. A governess, he said. To keep you in line. To
improve
you.’
A governess? What was a governess?
Dorothea did not have chance to ask. Uncle Albert, with one last keen glance, departed as abruptly as he’d arrived.
She was to have a governess. But what did that mean? If Henry had suggested it, surely it couldn’t be too bad.
Nanny soon put her right on that score.
‘It’s no more than you deserve, my girl. If you’d behaved yourself properly, it needn’t have happened. Running away like that! Mrs Brannan was most put out. Spoke very sharply to me, she did. Well, I can’t be everywhere at once. I haven’t got eyes in the back of my head – which she doesn’t understand, seemingly.’
Nanny glared at Dorothea. (
Don’t take any notice,
Henry had said:
it’s her job to be horrid
.)
‘Wilful disobedience, is what I call it. And see what’s come of it! You’ve been such a naughty, wicked girl that only a governess will do. You needn’t think that a governess will be all kindness and charity like dear old Nanny! Gracious me, no! A governess will beat you as soon as look at you. Why, I knew one as used to hold her boy’s head under water for two whole minutes at a time, to teach him his manners. So just you watch out, little madam! You’ll soon be put in your place, make no mistake!’
THREE
‘ WHATEVER SHALL I do?’ said Dorothea in despair. She had just been given the terrible news. As if it wasn’t bad enough that all governesses were monsters, the one who was arriving at Clifton Park tomorrow was a
foreign
monster. Nanny had been breathless with horror, having heard it from Cook who’d got it from Mrs Bourne who knew every last detail of the business of the house.
The boy Richard, propped on his pillows, looked at Dorothea with his big dark eyes, guarded. ‘Tell them to send her away. That is what I would do.’
‘No one will listen. There is no one to tell.’ Only Nora, who had no standing at all, or Nanny, who never took heed and who might either brush you aside or lash out, give you a hiding. Dorothea knew that she had not been forgiven yet for her
wilful disobedience
in running away. ‘You don’t
‘Come here, child.’
It was the last thing she wanted, but Uncle Albert was not the sort of man you dared to disobey. Her feet dragged, her legs were like jelly, she hung her head because she could not bear to look into his eyes but there was no escape. His big hand tilted her chin and she had to look up at him.
Her head was spinning. She felt faint. He was so tall and grim and angry that she couldn’t bear it. But as he moved her head from side to side, she realized that the angry glare was fading from his eyes. He was looking at her now with a curious expression, half wonderment and half something else – pain, perhaps?
‘Yes,’ he muttered to himself. ‘It’s quite definite. I can’t think why I didn’t see it before. It’s Florence all over. Florence reborn.’
She found her voice. ‘Who, who is Florence?’
‘Eh? What? But surely you know, child? Surely you know! Florence was your mother. My sister. And you are the spit and image of her.’
He let her go and turned away. A shudder seemed to pass through him. The shadow in the room had gone. Dorothea could breathe again.
‘I think,’ he muttered, ‘I think for now it would be best if you stayed here, with us.
‘Until, until Papa comes back?’
‘Yes, yes. When—if—he does. Or maybe….’ He cleared his throat. ‘It’s not a bad place, once you get used to it. Not bad at all.’
He sounded almost as if he was trying to convince himself, and Dorothea remembered Henry’s words:
he’s an interloper
…
he’s not one of us
….
‘No more running off, now, do you hear me, child? There’s no knowing what might have happened if young Fitzwilliam hadn’t come along. Do you promise?’
‘I, I promise, Uncle.’
‘Good. Good. And now, well, talking of Fitzwilliam, he had rather a bright idea. A governess, he said. To keep you in line. To
improve
you.’
A governess? What was a governess?
Dorothea did not have chance to ask. Uncle Albert, with one last keen glance, departed as abruptly as he’d arrived.
She was to have a governess. But what did that mean? If Henry had suggested it, surely it couldn’t be too bad.
Nanny soon put her right on that score.
‘It’s no more than you deserve, my girl. If you’d behaved yourself properly, it needn’t have happened. Running away like that! Mrs Brannan was most put out. Spoke very sharply to me, she did. Well, I can’t be everywhere at once. I haven’t got eyes in the back of my head – which she doesn’t understand, seemingly.’
Nanny glared at Dorothea. (
Don’t take any notice,
Henry had said:
it’s her job to be horrid
.)
‘Wilful disobedience, is what I call it. And see what’s come of it! You’ve been such a naughty, wicked girl that only a governess will do. You needn’t think that a governess will be all kindness and charity like dear old Nanny! Gracious me, no! A governess will beat you as soon as look at you. Why, I knew one as used to hold her boy’s head under water for two whole minutes at a time, to teach him his manners. So just you watch out, little madam! You’ll soon be put in your place, make no mistake!’
THREE
‘ WHATEVER SHALL I do?’ said Dorothea in despair. She had just been given the terrible news. As if it wasn’t bad enough that all governesses were monsters, the one who was arriving at Clifton Park tomorrow was a
foreign
monster. Nanny had been breathless with horror, having heard it from Cook who’d got it from Mrs Bourne who knew every last detail of the business of the house.
The boy Richard, propped on his pillows, looked at Dorothea with his big dark eyes, guarded. ‘Tell them to send her away. That is what I would do.’
‘No one will listen. There is no one to tell.’ Only Nora, who had no standing at all, or Nanny, who never took heed and who might either brush you aside or lash out, give you a hiding. Dorothea knew that she had not been forgiven yet for her
wilful disobedience
in running away. ‘You don’t
Similar Books
