There was nothing the new governess couldn』t do if she put her mind to it.
That』s how it seemed at first, anyway.
But after a time difficulties did begin to emerge. The first thing was her argument with the Missus. Hester, having tidied and ed rooms ahem locked behind her, ut out to discover them unlocked again. She called the Missus to her. 「What need is there,」 she asked, 「for rooms to be left opehey are not in use? You see what happens: The girls go in as they please and make chaos where there was order before. It makes unnecessary work for you and for me.」
The Missus seemed eo cur, aer left the interview quite satisfied. But a week later, once again, she found doors open that should have been locked, and with a frown called the Missus once again. This time she would accept no vague promises but was determio get to the heart of the matter.
『It』s the air,「 explaihe Missus. 」Without the air moving about, a house gets dreadful damp.「
Hester gave the Missus a suct lecture in simple terms about air circulation and damp a her away, certain that this time she had solved the difficulty.
A week later she noticed again that doors were unlocked. This time she did not call the Missus. Instead she reflected. There was more to this problem of door-log thahe eye. She resolved that she would study the Missus, discover by observation what lay behind the unlog of doors.
The sed problem involved John-the-dig. His suspi of her had not escaped her notice, but she was not put off. She was a stranger in the house, and it to her to demonstrate that she was there for the good of all and not to cause trouble. In time, she knew, she would win him over. Yet though he seemed to get used to her presence, his suspi was uedly slow to fade. And then one day suspi flared into something else. She had approached him over something quite banal. In arden she had seen, or so she maintained, a child from the village who should have been at school. 「Who is the child?」 she wao know, 「Who are his parents?」
『Nothing to do with me,「 John told her, with a surlihat took her aback.
『I don』t say it is,「 she responded calmly, 」but the child should be in school. I』m sure you』ll agree with me on that. If you will just tell me who it is, then I will speak to the parents and the sistress about it.「
John-the-dig shrugged his shoulders and made to leave, but she was not a woman who would be put off in this manner. She darted around him, stood in front of him aed her demand. Why should she not? It was airely reasonable one and she was making it in a civil fashion. Whatever reason would the man have to refuse?
But refuse he did. 「Children from the village do not e up here」 was his only response.
『This one did,「 she went on.
『They stay away out of fear.「
『That』s ridiculous. Whatever do they have to be afraid of here? The child was in a wide-brimmed hat and a man』s trousers cut down to fit. His appearance was quite distinctive. You must know who he is.「
「I have seen no such child,」 came the answer, dismissively, and once again John made to leave.
Hester was nothing if not persistent. 「But you must have seen him—」
「It takes a certain kind of mind, Miss, to see things that aren』t there. Me, I』m a sensible fellow. Where there is nothing to see, I see nothing. If I were you, Miss, I would do the same. Good day to you.」
With that he left, and this time Hester made no attempt to block h