The Reckoning by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles Read Free Book Online Page B

ma'am, anyone else would have dismissed me a year ago, when Sophie ceased to need a governess! I have been racked with guilt ever since, taking such a great salary from you and doing nothing to deserve it. This is my cunning plan, don't you see, to have you keep me on a little longer.'
    ‘ But indeed, I could not do without you,' Héloïse exclaimed. 'I have been in fear that you would grow bored and decide you wanted to leave, and then what should I do? First Mathilde married her John and went away, and then my dear Marie accepted her Mr Kexby, who has been asking her for so long – and of course I am very, very happy for her to have an establishment at last – but I could not at all do without you, and for my own sake, I hope you will stay for ever.'
    ‘ If you managed my poor Fanny,' James put in, 'I'm sure you can manage Benedict, imp though he is.'
    ‘ Thank you,' Miss Rosedale smiled. 'I'm sure he will plague me just as much as Fanny did, but my experience being greater now, I hope to survive it. Is it decided then?'
    ‘ Yes – if Nicholas likes it,' Héloïse said. 'I should not wish to send him to school against his will.’
    But Nicholas had been delighted with the idea. He saw it as an adventure: exciting, different – a change of scene, new faces. Now the choristers had gone, there was only his little brother at home to lord it over; at St Edward's, he would be king of a whole new court. Master Morland of Morland Place – the heir to the whole estate – the most important person in the area – he would lead, and others would follow.
    Benedict, who was four, condemned to stay at home under Miss Rosedale's charge, sulked furiously for the first week, the more so because Nicholas came home every day full of stories – many of them wildly exaggerated – about the wonderful times he was having. But they had settled down at last, and Benedict had benefited from the close personal attention Miss Rosedale was now able to give him, and from the more liberal regime she favoured. Under Father Aislaby, there had been rather too much sitting still for a very young boy full of natural energy, which had meant that when he was let out of the schoolroom and into the charge of the nursery maids, he had run amok. Miss Rosedale wisely incorporated a sensible amount of physical activity into the lessons, and kept him on a much more even keel.
    At the moment Miss Rosedale was away in Scarborough, chaperoning Sophie and Rosamund. It had been thought necessary for Sophie's health and spirits that she should have a change of scene and the benefit of sea air, and Scarborough was the nearest genteel watering-place. Héloïse would by no means countenance the girls' going even to such a respectable place chaperoned only by Rosamund's maid. Either she or Miss Rosedale must accompany the young ladies; but Héloïse had a strong aversion to Scarborough. It was a place she didn't like even to think about, much less visit.
    ‘ It won't hurt Benedict to miss his lessons for a week or two,' Héloïse had said. 'The maids can look after him, and I can spend a few hours with him every day. I can teach him French,' she added on an inspiration. She was only too aware that her education was infinitely inferior to Miss Rosedale's. With such a teacher, her son may well have surpassed her already in every other subject.
    Benedict didn't much want to learn French, or anything else, from his mother, but he was always glad to see her, and was happy to play with her, or to be taken out for a drive or a walk. Héloïse was glad simply to have the opportunity to romp with him, and enjoy his affection.
    He was a happy little boy, quite ready to take pleasure and love wherever he found them. He had recently come out of dresses and into trousers – always a shock to the maternal system. The cropping of his baby curls had made Héloïse feel suddenly old, for she would never have another baby now.
    On James the transition had the opposite effect. A baby