Rachel's Story

Chapter 4

The story progresses. Our heroine arrives at her new home!

CHAPTER 4

Rachel’s first glimpse of the house, where she would hopefully spend some years, was unfortunately shrouded in darkness. Night had fallen and, though lights were twinkling inside, the grounds and the exterior of the house remained shadowy and as a result, appeared a little sinister to the tired new governess. But she sensibly told her overwrought imagination to recede firmly until it was capable of forming impartial judgments. With a valiant smile on her lips, Rachel descended from the vehicle to approach the back-door. Her luggage was unobtrusively deposited beside her, but she had no time to thank the coachman as the door opened then, revealing a gaunt woman dressed in stern raiment with an expression to match.

“So you are the new governess. Your name is Miss Warren? I hope this kind of unpunctuality is not a common practice of yours – weren’t you supposed to reach in the afternoon? We do not tolerate such laxity here.”

Rachel hurried to soothe the woman’s ruffled feathers, though she really did not feel up to it at the moment. “I’m very sorry Madam, I missed the morning coach since I was unaware of its departure time, and had to wait for the afternoon one. I will try my best not to repeat this mistake in the future.”

“Humph,” the woman appeared a little mollified by this instant and graceful apology, “I am Mrs. Hutchens, the housekeeper of Carillon Hall. I suppose you must be tired out by your journey, especially if you caught that rattling old coffin which plies in the afternoons from London. Would you like a dish of tea first, or would you like to go directly to your room to rest?”

Accepting the tea gratefully, Rachel followed Mrs. Hutchens into a small room which she deduced to be the housekeeper’s sitting room, and sunk down into the proffered chair by the fire with a barely-suppressed sigh of pleasure. She could see that under her severe demeanor, Mrs. Hutchens was a kindly soul and would be an ally if treated properly. After making some stilted conversation about London and the weather of the past few days, they discovered a surprising mutual acquaintance – Mrs. Hutchens’ sister’s niece by marriage was none other than Cassie, the Warrens’ erstwhile maid. All of the good woman’s defenses fell instantly on discovering this fact.

“So you are the Miss Rachel at whose place Cassie works…pardon me, used to work? Why, God bless my soul, I have heard so many stories of you from her! She fair seems to idolize you in particular, Miss Warren. Sad was the day when your good father died. I remember how miserable the poor girl was after you people left –my sister swears that her letters were puffy with dried tears for days afterwards.”

Rachel’s own eyes started watering at these words. Mrs. Hutchens decided to change the topic with the characteristic English dislike of emotional displays, and started describing the household for the young woman’s benefit.

“Ah well, you must be fretting about the people you will be living with now, I warrant. Let me tell you a bit about everyone. As you might know, the family consists of Mr. Herringford, Mrs. Herringford, Master Ashley, Miss Diana, Miss Alicia and Master Brian. I believe you have already met the master? Well, he is a kindly soul if ever there was one. Very conscientious about everyone’s welfare, and even the servants have never had to hear a cross word from him. He loves his children a lot, and that is more than I can say for most men in his position. The mistress, now…”

Mrs. Hutchens paused at this point and looked at Rachel with an appraising eye. What she saw in the latter’s face must have reassured her, for she leant forward slightly and continued, “You will not be repeating what I say here to anyone, will you Miss Warren? Fact is, you must take care to remain on the Mistress’ good side. She’s a lady to her feet, being the daughter of a Baronet and all; but she is a dark horse where her emotions are concerned.