arrived.
‘I am a success, a real success,’ she told herself one evening when they had had a record number of visitors to the wood and there were as many as nine relations staying in the house.
One of them had a son who was the same age as Johnnie.
‘I am clever, very clever,’ she told herself proudly.
At the same time, if there were too many visitors who were not near neighbours, it could be dangerous for her.
Therefore when it was sunny and there were a lot of strangers around she took to wearing her dark glasses.
“You look like a boogly-woogly,” one of the twins said and Johnnie remarked,
“When we were out swimming yesterday, two men asked where you came from as you are so pretty and when I told them I did not know, they went off to ask someone else.”
‘I must be careful,’ Arliva thought. ‘If anyone in London has the slightest suspicion of where I am, I will have those fortune-hunters descending on me and I will have to run away again.’
The mere idea made her shiver and yet she could not help but know that it was a distinct possibility.
That night, when the dinner she had eaten all alone was finished, she decided to go into the garden.
The house party was still in the dining room and, even with the door of the schoolroom shut, she could hear their voices and laughter.
Lord Wilson’s cousin had arrived during the day with her little girl of seven years of age. She also had a son of twelve who was rather overwhelming to Johnnie.
Besides he and his sister there were two middle-aged male relations staying in the house who had turned up out of curiosity bringing with them a girl of eighteen.
There was also another child who was nearly ten.
They all ate in the dining room, but Arliva had been wise enough to insist on having her meals alone in the schoolroom.
‘If I have meals with them,’ she thought, ‘they will think I am pushy, besides they might become curious about me which would be a disaster.’
She then went down the backstairs and let herself out into the garden through a side door.
The moon was coming up over the trees, the stars were shining in the sky and there was the scent of flowers.
As soon as she had arrived at Wilson Hall, she had asked if the fountain could be repaired.
Now it was throwing its water high into the air from a cupid holding a tall cornucopia and the water was glittering with a thousand colours as it fell back into the curved basin.
‘How beautiful it is,’ Arliva sighed to herself as she moved forward.
As she did so, a man came out of the shadows and joined her.
He was one of the guests staying in the house from whom she had kept a distance because she was afraid that he might recognise her.
He was in fact very smart and she had heard from Evans that he was in the Grenadier Guards.
Now, as he joined her, he said,
“I expected to see you at dinner. Do you dine alone because you find our company so distasteful?”
“Of course not,” Arliva replied. “But you must not forget that I am the Governess and Governesses might join the family at luncheon but never at dinner.”
The man laughed.
“What an absurd rule, especially when a Governess looks like you.”
She knew she was beginning to hear compliments that she had heard so often before.
But now surprisingly they were being paid to her as a nonentity and not as a rich heiress.
“I hope you are enjoying yourself, sir,” she said. “It’s good for the household to have visitors after it has all been so silent and empty for so long.”
“I heard my relatives saying that you had made all the changes,” the man said. “And I think it is very clever of you. My great-uncle was very lucky to find you.”
He looked at her as he spoke with an expression in his eyes that she knew only too well.
“I am sorry to seem rude,” she said, “but I have to go and see if the girls need anything. They were just going to bed before I came outside and they will now want to say goodnight to
‘I am a success, a real success,’ she told herself one evening when they had had a record number of visitors to the wood and there were as many as nine relations staying in the house.
One of them had a son who was the same age as Johnnie.
‘I am clever, very clever,’ she told herself proudly.
At the same time, if there were too many visitors who were not near neighbours, it could be dangerous for her.
Therefore when it was sunny and there were a lot of strangers around she took to wearing her dark glasses.
“You look like a boogly-woogly,” one of the twins said and Johnnie remarked,
“When we were out swimming yesterday, two men asked where you came from as you are so pretty and when I told them I did not know, they went off to ask someone else.”
‘I must be careful,’ Arliva thought. ‘If anyone in London has the slightest suspicion of where I am, I will have those fortune-hunters descending on me and I will have to run away again.’
The mere idea made her shiver and yet she could not help but know that it was a distinct possibility.
That night, when the dinner she had eaten all alone was finished, she decided to go into the garden.
The house party was still in the dining room and, even with the door of the schoolroom shut, she could hear their voices and laughter.
Lord Wilson’s cousin had arrived during the day with her little girl of seven years of age. She also had a son of twelve who was rather overwhelming to Johnnie.
Besides he and his sister there were two middle-aged male relations staying in the house who had turned up out of curiosity bringing with them a girl of eighteen.
There was also another child who was nearly ten.
They all ate in the dining room, but Arliva had been wise enough to insist on having her meals alone in the schoolroom.
‘If I have meals with them,’ she thought, ‘they will think I am pushy, besides they might become curious about me which would be a disaster.’
She then went down the backstairs and let herself out into the garden through a side door.
The moon was coming up over the trees, the stars were shining in the sky and there was the scent of flowers.
As soon as she had arrived at Wilson Hall, she had asked if the fountain could be repaired.
Now it was throwing its water high into the air from a cupid holding a tall cornucopia and the water was glittering with a thousand colours as it fell back into the curved basin.
‘How beautiful it is,’ Arliva sighed to herself as she moved forward.
As she did so, a man came out of the shadows and joined her.
He was one of the guests staying in the house from whom she had kept a distance because she was afraid that he might recognise her.
He was in fact very smart and she had heard from Evans that he was in the Grenadier Guards.
Now, as he joined her, he said,
“I expected to see you at dinner. Do you dine alone because you find our company so distasteful?”
“Of course not,” Arliva replied. “But you must not forget that I am the Governess and Governesses might join the family at luncheon but never at dinner.”
The man laughed.
“What an absurd rule, especially when a Governess looks like you.”
She knew she was beginning to hear compliments that she had heard so often before.
But now surprisingly they were being paid to her as a nonentity and not as a rich heiress.
“I hope you are enjoying yourself, sir,” she said. “It’s good for the household to have visitors after it has all been so silent and empty for so long.”
“I heard my relatives saying that you had made all the changes,” the man said. “And I think it is very clever of you. My great-uncle was very lucky to find you.”
He looked at her as he spoke with an expression in his eyes that she knew only too well.
“I am sorry to seem rude,” she said, “but I have to go and see if the girls need anything. They were just going to bed before I came outside and they will now want to say goodnight to
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