Taming Jane

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

The next day was the day that the rest of the Alcott family arrived in Nottingham. Jane had a mixture of nerves and excitement fluttering around inside of her as she awaited her family’s arrival. Kassandra had promised to come for dinner with Peter and Daniel had willingly agreed. He seemed to be in excellent spirits after his discussion with Sabine. She hadn’t wanted to intrude, but from their body language she could tell that it went very well.

Jane decided that she wanted to look especially proper for Sebastian and Emilia’s arrival. She knew there would be rumours flying around London about her stay with Daniel and she didn’t want her brother and sister – in – law to believe a word of it, even if she might’ve been thinking about it.

She dressed conservatively, donning a pale green dress that covered up to her collar bones. She pulled her hair into a neat twist on the back of her head and fixed a few loose curls beside her face. She then chose a white shawl to match her dress and looped it around her arms. When she was satisfied that she looked as innocent as possible she exited her bedchamber and descended the stairs.

As she reached the bottom she heard a sudden bustling. She turned to see Miss Porter storming down the stairs carrying two material bags in each hand. Her face looked furious as she nearly pushed Jane over to get to the door.

“Miss Porter, wait!” called Daniel from the top of the stairs. “Oh, Jane, are you alright?” he suddenly asked as he saw her stumble away from Miss Porter.

Miss Porter glared at Jane hatefully. “Hire her!” she snapped and juggled her bags to open the front door. She closed it quickly behind her and left Southerby House.

Daniel reached the bottom of the stairs and placed his hand lightly on Jane’s back to make sure she was not stumbling. “I am so terribly sorry,” he said apologetically.

“What on earth did you say to her?” Jane gasped.

“I told her that things needed to change around here, I said that there are rules in place for Sabine that were too strict and I wanted to change them. She didn’t like it,” he replied.

“That’s an understatement,” Jane shook her head.

“Nevertheless, it was her decision to quit; now I must find another governess for Sabine,” he sighed and hung his head. “She didn’t even wait for a reference; I fear I insulted her quite terribly.”

Jane could believe that Daniel had spoken quite plainly in his opinion on Sabine’s rearing. He may not have realised it but he might’ve. Jane could identify with that, she often was told that her thoughts escaped her mouth without any hesitation.

“Perhaps she will come back after she had time to cool down?” Jane suggested. Daniel’s hand still hadn’t left her back and she was very aware of it.

“Perhaps she is right ... I should hire you to guide and teach Sabine,” he said, smiling.