Child of Fire by Maureen Peters

Author:Maureen Peters [Maureen Peters]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780719815706
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 2014-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

No answer came. Anne had returned to the Robinsons; Emily was occupied with sorting and mending ready for Charlotte’s going to Rawdon. Then a letter came from Henry Nussey. Reading it, Charlotte experienced the most intense relief. Ellen had refused Mr Vincent and stuck to her decision though Henry confided she had cried a little.

Poor silly Ellen to imagine that any husband could ever take the place of a friend! Charlotte seized a pen to write consolingly to her and then laid it down again. It was Henry who had broken the news. Ellen had sent no word. Ellen therefore could wait. When she was settled at Rawdon, she would write as if nobody named Osman Parke Vincent had ever existed.

Upperwood House at Rawdon was, she decided when she arrived, a handsome building with a large garden, and her two pupils seemed, if noisy and too boisterous, friendly enough. Charlotte unpacked her trunk, looked round her plainly furnished bedroom and prepared herself for a season of governessing.

She had meant to delay longer before writing to Ellen but a valentine card from William Weightman altered her mind. No doubt he’d sent a similar card to Ellen and Ellen must be in a fragile emotional state at present. Charlotte wrote to her at once, letting her know that she too had received a valentine again and guessed that Ellen had. The joke was still an excellent one and she was sure nobody would take his protestations in any serious spirit for they all knew that Mr Weightman was the biggest flirt in Yorkshire! When the long-awaited letter from Ellen arrived she opened it eagerly. Dear Ellen! No mention of Mr Vincent who had presumably left the district, no reproaches, only an invitation to visit Brookroyd as soon as possible and the gift of a miniature pair of cuffs, fashioned in silk but sewn together. Ellen’s mind must have been elsewhere when she made them!

‘A whole day off, Miss Brontë?’ Mrs White raised her eyebrows as Charlotte made her request. ‘To see the Nusseys? Are you then acquainted with that family?’

‘Since my schooldays, ma’am. Ellen is like a sister to me.’

‘One of her brothers is a physician I understand?’

‘Royal physician to Her Majesty the Queen, ma’am. He has been in London for many years of course but he has always been assiduous in encouraging our friendship.’

‘On Saturday? How will you—?’

‘Miss Nussey will send a gig for me.’

‘And you will be back in time to put the children to bed?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Very well.’ Mrs White sounded reluctant but resigned.

And on Saturday there was Ellen waiting to greet her and the coldness of the past months dissipated without a word spoken!

The day itself went far too quickly. Ellen wanted to hear all about the Whites and how long Charlotte meant to stay in her post and whether she had heard of Mary Taylor’s plans to travel abroad.

‘More than plans,’ George Nussey put in as he caught part of their conversation. ‘I had it from Joe that Martha has already left.

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