Chapter 70

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: A New Life (1)
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Part 2. Yorkshire

Tap. Tap.

The grating noise drew Miss Pendleton’s gaze to the window. As the carriage entered a narrow lane, the tangled branches of densely packed trees on either side scraped against the windowpanes.

How many hours had they been traveling? She checked the time on her modest leather-strapped wristwatch. Over an hour had passed. That was how long she had been in this carriage.

‘When will we arrive?’

She clasped her gloved hands together, trying to calm her heart, which had been beating faster than usual.

Three days after accepting the governess position offered by Ian Dalton, a letter from him arrived. It instructed her to take a train to Yorkshire the following Monday. Mrs. Fairfax, despite knowing all her circumstances, had willingly accepted her as a governess.

She had felt a sense of relief upon receiving the letter and spent the next few days preparing for her departure to Yorkshire. She bid farewell to her close friends, including the Mortons and the Fairfax siblings, packed her belongings, selected books suitable for teaching, and purchased a few more inexpensive garments to supplement her wardrobe.

Enclosed in his letter were the departure time for her train and a detailed map of the station where she was to alight in Yorkshire. Following his kind instructions, she traveled for a full day by train and arrived in Yorkshire.

When she reached the station and exited, a carriage from Dunville Park was waiting for her, just as he had described. The coachman treated her with the utmost courtesy, as if she were a noble lady, helping her into the carriage before setting off at a slow pace.

The coachman was taciturn. Exhausted from the long train journey, she was grateful that he did not try to make conversation. Her mind was a whirlwind of anticipation, excitement, and anxiety. Her first governess position, life in a new place, new people. Everything was a first.

Her heart tightened with tension. She pictured the unfamiliar situations that lay ahead. The awkward first meeting with her new family. Mischievous children. A small, shabby bedroom. The life of an employee—free, yet constrained.

Far from having a fanciful nature, she conjured up only the most realistic scenarios. It would by no means be a pleasant or comfortable life. But, having made her choice, she was determined to adapt. She could do it. If she had survived high society, surely she could survive anywhere.

What truly made her anxious was the question of whether she could properly fulfill her new role. It was her first time undertaking paid work. During her school days, she had occasionally taught spelling to the younger girls, but that could hardly be called experience. The moment she would be tested in the role of ‘teacher’—a role she had never truly filled before—was fast approaching.

The carriage traveled through a narrow forest path and over two or three hills. It crossed a river and entered another wooded lane. It was a very long forest. They drove for so long that she began to wonder if it would ever end.

But every road has an end. The dense trees gradually thinned, and a wide, open field appeared before her. From the top of the field, she could see a mansion surrounded by a grove of trees. Even from a distance, it exuded a grand and imposing presence.

Laura checked her appearance once more. She adjusted the flat lady's hat with its brown ribbon and checked for any stray hairs escaping from the black hairnet that held her coiffure. She checked her green tartan dress and the maroon shawl draped over it for any dust, and glanced at her navy gloves to ensure no seams were coming undone.

The carriage passed through the forest, across a field of green grass and past a lake, before pulling up in front of the mansion, which was surrounded by neatly kept gardens. She took the coachman's hand as he lowered the step and alighted from the carriage.

Laura looked up at the mansion. It was a four-story structure made of light brown stone. With its wide, sprawling structure, it looked sturdy enough to withstand any natural disaster.

A man standing in front of the mansion approached and bowed his head to her. He introduced himself as the butler of the estate. She quickly returned the greeting. The butler said that Mrs. Fairfax was waiting and guided Laura into the mansion.

Opening the front door revealed a spacious and pleasant hall. It had the characteristic scent of wood and stone found in old mansions. Laura wanted to take her time looking around, but she didn't have the leisure. She followed the butler down a corridor to the right. They stopped before a room with double doors at the end of the corridor. The butler asked Laura to wait at the entrance for a moment and went inside. His voice could be heard from within.

“Madam, the new governess has arrived.”

A woman's low voice answered from inside. Soon, the butler emerged from the room and told Laura she could enter. Laura entered the room.

As soon as she stepped inside, Laura recognized it as the drawing room. The vast space held a sofa large enough to seat twenty people, a grand piano, and a small bar against one wall, complete with spirits and an icebox.

Despite it being early summer, a fire was blazing in the hearth. And a middle-aged lady was seated near the fireplace, doing embroidery. Laura approached the lady. She was a woman with a strong jawline and striking black hair. She immediately curtsied and bowed her head.

“Good day, madam.”

“Welcome.”

The lady smiled warmly.

“I am Margaret Fairfax, the mother of the two children you will be teaching. I am generally known as Mrs. Robert Fairfax.”

Miss Pendleton nodded. Mrs. Fairfax gazed steadily at Laura's face.

The eyes that stared intently at her were as dark as her hair. She soon recalled a certain gentleman who shared blood with the lady before her. Their appearances were entirely different, but that dark color was exactly the same. For some reason, she felt a sense of familiarity, though this was her first time meeting her employer.

After observing Laura carefully, Mrs. Fairfax spoke gently.

“Would you like to meet the children first, or would you prefer to rest? It must have been a long journey, so I recommend the latter.”

“I would like to meet the children first, madam.”

“There's no need to feel pressured by the choice.”

“I feel I won't be able to rest easy until I've met them.”

Mrs. Fairfax asked the waiting butler to bring the children.

While they waited, Mrs. Fairfax had Laura sit on the sofa beside her.

“So, I hear this is your first time as a governess?”

“Yes, madam.”

“My sons are quite a handful. They're mischievous, have short attention spans, and don't listen well. I must say, Miss Pendleton, you've had some bad luck with your first post.”

“One can't expect boys of that age to listen well to adults.”

“I don't expect it in the least. I'll consider it a miracle if they just manage to sit properly at their desks.”

The butler returned with two boys. The children were neatly dressed and had wavy, chestnut-colored hair. They were tall for their age and looked suitably sturdy, but with no signs of puberty yet, they had none of the air of young men—they were, in a word, just children.

“Now, let me introduce the children. This is George, and this is Daniel.”

They bowed their heads awkwardly in greeting. Laura gave them a gentle smile.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, boys.”

Miss Pendleton looked at each of them in turn. They regarded their new teacher with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

“These two rascals are the students you'll be in charge of. My thirteen-year-old daughter, Olivia, has tutors for dancing and drawing who visit twice a week, so you needn't worry about her education.”

Laura nodded. She then began to ask Mrs. Fairfax for information about the two boys. Whether they'd had a governess before, what level their studies were at, and which public school they were planned for.

Mrs. Fairfax answered without reservation. She said the two boys knew little beyond the alphabet—enough to write their own names—arithmetic—enough to calculate their share of sweets on a plate—and geography—enough to know that Britain and the European continent were separate.

“I'm of the mind that boys should be allowed to run wild when they're young. Lads are like hunting dogs; you have to let them off the leash to keep them out of trouble. Thanks to that, these two aren't scrawny in the least—they're big-boned and sturdy as ponies, wouldn't you say?”

Laura looked at the well-developed boys and nodded.

“Indeed. They're tall for their age and look very healthy. They might do well in rowing when they go to public school, madam.”

“That's something to think about after they're admitted. My concern is whether they'll be able to keep up with their lessons, seeing as they've never really studied a day in their lives.”

“We'll have to start with the basics of Latin, so we have a mountain of work ahead. May I begin lessons today?”

“Oh, there's no need for that. Why don't you take this week to get accustomed to the house? Look around, take some walks. The walking paths at Dunville Park are quite lovely.”

She was a truly relaxed woman. Daniel, the eldest, was eleven, which meant he had less than two years until he was due to enter public school.

“Thank you for your consideration. I will rest today, then. But I would like to begin lessons tomorrow. Even if we don't start studying right away, I want to help the boys get into the habit of gathering at their desks at a set time.”

Mrs. Fairfax suddenly burst out laughing.

“Boys, I wanted to give you the week off as you asked, but it seems your new teacher says no. What's to be done? You'll be trapped in the schoolroom, memorizing Latin verbs. Your good old days are over.”

Mrs. Fairfax teased her sons with surprising mischievousness. The boys, who had been looking glum while listening to the discussion about their lessons, appeared even more dejected at their mother's teasing words.

Laura, who had been silently watching Mrs. Fairfax tease her sons, spoke to them kindly.

“The actual lessons will begin next week. I just want to take some time to get to know you. My biggest concern right now is figuring out how we can have a fun time together.”

But the boys' expressions did not brighten. She spoke even more gently.

“I promise. I won't make you sit at your desks all day. It might not be as much as before, but you'll have plenty of time to run and play outside. I also believe that growing children need to play.”

The smaller of the two brothers, who she guessed was George Fairfax, asked.

“So, we don't have to stare at a blackboard all day and memorize Latin verbs?”

“That's right.”

“And we don't have to solve math problems every day?”

“Of course not.”

“And you won't hang us from the ceiling and beat us with a stick every time we get a problem wrong, will you?”

Laura could only blink in astonishment. Hang them from the ceiling? Children?