Page 26 of The Precious Secret of a Loving Governess
“You don’t say?” he questioned, an eyebrow cocked in near suspicion.
“You would be shocked, Papa. She is cleverer than any of the others. And stronger as well. You ought to see her,” Marian continued.
He was still rather surprised by the suddenness of the conversation and continued to eye his daughter with wonder at this new behaviour.
Of course he had noticed that Miss Jamison was all of these things. But Marian was never one to give credit to a governess. Whatever had led her to speaking highly of the woman was a strange event to be sure.
“Well then, my dear, you must tell me what it is about Miss Jamison that has you so enraptured,” he said. In truth, he wanted to know more about the woman anyway and this gave him an ideal opportunity.
“When she reads, she does so in a way that makes the book come alive. I didn’t like it at first. It was too strange, like going to a play that I could only see in my mind. But then I remembered that you never let me go to plays and it could very well be as close as I might get,” she complained.
Reginald laughed. “So you decided you ought to enjoy it anyway?”
“I didn’t have to simply try to enjoy it. In the end, it was enough that I was listening closely before I even realised it. So I kept listening. Now, when she forces me so dreadfully to repeat a poem, I do so the way that she does it,” Marian expressed.
Reginald was impressed. He couldn’t imagine how no one had ever thought of a strategy with his daughter before to simply make the lesson entertaining. Were there no other governesses in all of England who understood a child or had he merely missed them all until now?
Either way, he recognised how Miss Jamison was clearly the best option for Marian. She had been there less than two weeks and already his daughter was claiming to enjoy the recitation of poetry. Perhaps Miss Jamison was not a governess at all, but rather a miracle worker.
With the significant improvements he had seen already, he wondered if she might have been teaching based on her own experiences in life. Perhaps it was because of the very fact that she had once been in a position similar to Marian that she was so well equipped for this role.
“That is all very well, my dear. I had not realised your affection for your new governess,” he remarked.
“Papa, I never claimed to like her. I only told you what I have begun to observe,” Marian said, guarding her feelings. “But…I suppose she isn’t so bad.”
He tried not to chuckle at his daughter’s imminent denial. It was only further evidence that she really did care for Miss Jamison that she was so utterly quick to try and refute it before he recognised that he had finally found the one who could teach her.
Reginald only wished her words about his fiancé were of the same ilk.
No, unfortunately Marian truly disliked his betrothed and there seemed to be nothing he could do to sway her.
At first he had lied to himself, declaring that it was only her longing to have her own mother return that pushed her away from the woman. But Marian had been painfully honest with him about other details.
He saw that there was simply no love between them.
How a child could be so brash but so observant befuddled him. How was Marian able to see that the two were marrying only for the sake of society’s benefits?
Of course, he cared for Lady Ingles very much, but it was not the same as he had hoped for. They got along very well and were an ideal match.
Nevertheless, there always seemed to be some unspoken pact between the two of them. They both knew that theirs was a marriage of convenience. They were content to acknowledge that they were together for reasons other than love. But it was still a union of purpose.
He would marry Lady Ingles even if it was not for his own desires, even if it was not something that he sought. He was not looking forward to being forced to let go of the past. And he felt no love for the woman.
And yet Marian needed a mother, whether she wished for one or not.
“I think that Miss Jamison and Lady Ingles shall get along quite well, don’t you?” he asked, trying to associate someone his daughter clearly respected with someone he only wished for her to care about.
“I certainly hope that Miss Jamison shall continue being the one to teach me and not her. You would not do that to me, Papa, would you?” she asked.
It seemed she still disliked his betrothed.
“No, my dear,” he sighed. “A mother is not the same as a governess and I shall never have your new mother teach you.”
“Very well, because Miss Jamison is far preferable,” she remarked, returning the subject to her governess.
They continued to speak about her and Reginald asked questions, realising that he wished to know more about the woman with such a convoluted past.
“Has she told you much about her own childhood?” he inquired.
