up above .
All of us must pray they will come to us and stay
To bring much love and joy for every girl and boy .”
As Arliva read her poem, she could see that they were listening intently.
Then Daisy said excitedly,
“I’m sure I can write a poem.”
“Well, don’t make it too long,” Arliva told her. “Then we can go up to the swimming pool, which I know you are longing to do.”
She watched the clock and ten minutes later she asked,
“Have you now finished your poems? I am ready to hear them.”
“I think so,” Daisy answered. “Rosie and I have done it together.”
“That was very sensible of you. Now read it.”
“I will read it,” Daisy insisted, as she picked up the piece of paper and read,
“ We love the fairies and the fairies love we .
We saw a fairy riding on a bee .
If Rosie and I catch a big bee ,
We will fly to the top of the big oak tree .”
The spelling was appalling, but at least the girls had tried and Arliva could only say,
“I think that is very very good. You have tried hard and have written it down well, now Johnnie what about yours?”
Johnnie, who had been sitting with his back to her, had been drawing, so she was not surprised that his poem was very short.
He picked up his piece of paper and read,
“ Fairies are for girls ,
Goblins are for me .
If I find a goblin ,
I’ll ask him home for tea .”
The children all laughed.
“I suppose I will have to call that a poem,” Arliva said, “but I suspect you have drawn a very pretty fairy sitting on a bee.”
“How did you guess?” Johnnie asked. “But it’s not as good as I would like it to be. Anyway men don’t write poems.”
“There you are quite wrong. Some of the very best poems we have were written by men like Wordsworth’s beautiful Daffodils and The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. But lessons are over for today and you can all run to the lake.”
They had gone almost before she finished speaking and she laughed as she followed them.
That evening after she had dined alone, she went to the library and found two male poets whose words she wanted Johnnie to read.
She also found a book of drawings that she thought would help him.
Then she put them on one side and started to find the books she wanted to read herself.
It was two o’clock before she finally left, having found in the library some magnificent old volumes that she had never thought she would hold in her hands.
She left the three books beside Johnnie’s bed as he was fast asleep when she tiptoed into the room.
As she went to her room, she thought how lucky the children were to have such a magnificent library, which they would undoubtedly enjoy when they were older.
‘At the moment they are living in an exciting and thrilling world, which is different from anything they have known before,’ she thought. ‘When they are older, it will be something to look back on and remember.’
As she snuffed out the candle and turned over on her pillow, she knew it was something she would always remember too.
*
The following week even more people came to The Hall.
They drove in from all parts of the country and now it was not only the mothers and children who arrived but the fathers came too.
Arliva could not help being aware that they looked at her in a very different way and they made every possible excuse to talk to her.
‘I must be very careful,’ she thought. ‘If anyone who has been in London recognises me, I might have to leave here and that would break my heart.’
Relations, who had never bothered in the past about Lord Wilson, turned up and wanted to stay, not for one night but for several.
There were young cousins with their husbands and young men who were distant relations and Lord Wilson had not seen them for years.
Mrs. Lewis had to take on four more housemaids as the relations expected to stay the night.
And Mrs. Briggs had three more helpers in the kitchen than when Arliva first
All of us must pray they will come to us and stay
To bring much love and joy for every girl and boy .”
As Arliva read her poem, she could see that they were listening intently.
Then Daisy said excitedly,
“I’m sure I can write a poem.”
“Well, don’t make it too long,” Arliva told her. “Then we can go up to the swimming pool, which I know you are longing to do.”
She watched the clock and ten minutes later she asked,
“Have you now finished your poems? I am ready to hear them.”
“I think so,” Daisy answered. “Rosie and I have done it together.”
“That was very sensible of you. Now read it.”
“I will read it,” Daisy insisted, as she picked up the piece of paper and read,
“ We love the fairies and the fairies love we .
We saw a fairy riding on a bee .
If Rosie and I catch a big bee ,
We will fly to the top of the big oak tree .”
The spelling was appalling, but at least the girls had tried and Arliva could only say,
“I think that is very very good. You have tried hard and have written it down well, now Johnnie what about yours?”
Johnnie, who had been sitting with his back to her, had been drawing, so she was not surprised that his poem was very short.
He picked up his piece of paper and read,
“ Fairies are for girls ,
Goblins are for me .
If I find a goblin ,
I’ll ask him home for tea .”
The children all laughed.
“I suppose I will have to call that a poem,” Arliva said, “but I suspect you have drawn a very pretty fairy sitting on a bee.”
“How did you guess?” Johnnie asked. “But it’s not as good as I would like it to be. Anyway men don’t write poems.”
“There you are quite wrong. Some of the very best poems we have were written by men like Wordsworth’s beautiful Daffodils and The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. But lessons are over for today and you can all run to the lake.”
They had gone almost before she finished speaking and she laughed as she followed them.
That evening after she had dined alone, she went to the library and found two male poets whose words she wanted Johnnie to read.
She also found a book of drawings that she thought would help him.
Then she put them on one side and started to find the books she wanted to read herself.
It was two o’clock before she finally left, having found in the library some magnificent old volumes that she had never thought she would hold in her hands.
She left the three books beside Johnnie’s bed as he was fast asleep when she tiptoed into the room.
As she went to her room, she thought how lucky the children were to have such a magnificent library, which they would undoubtedly enjoy when they were older.
‘At the moment they are living in an exciting and thrilling world, which is different from anything they have known before,’ she thought. ‘When they are older, it will be something to look back on and remember.’
As she snuffed out the candle and turned over on her pillow, she knew it was something she would always remember too.
*
The following week even more people came to The Hall.
They drove in from all parts of the country and now it was not only the mothers and children who arrived but the fathers came too.
Arliva could not help being aware that they looked at her in a very different way and they made every possible excuse to talk to her.
‘I must be very careful,’ she thought. ‘If anyone who has been in London recognises me, I might have to leave here and that would break my heart.’
Relations, who had never bothered in the past about Lord Wilson, turned up and wanted to stay, not for one night but for several.
There were young cousins with their husbands and young men who were distant relations and Lord Wilson had not seen them for years.
Mrs. Lewis had to take on four more housemaids as the relations expected to stay the night.
And Mrs. Briggs had three more helpers in the kitchen than when Arliva first
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