An Inconvenient Arrangement

Chapter 2: Sylvie

So, if she loathed the very principles of this institution, why had she sold her soul to work here? She'd had a comfortable life working as a governess, handsy employers aside. It had stimulated her mind, most families had allowed her to borrow from their libraries and no one cared if the spinster governess enjoyed taking the occasional lecture on Roman history or astrology. She had lived in bright and exciting London, instead of the relatively somber city of Carlisle where she had been raised.

The answer was simple, she had done it for Jane. Her adorable niece whom she had raised from when she had been just a babe. People did not like their governess's to come with a charge of their own and she had soon found herself without work with next to no one willing to hire her. If it hadn't been for Raphael's father, the Marquess of Lindsey, she would have found herself little better than a beggar.

"Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Smyth. You have been an important part of our institution for many years," Mrs. Pinehurst replied diplomatically.

Sylvia wanted to roll her eyes. Mr. Smyth couldn't stand being governed by a woman and clashed frequently with the iron-willed headmistress. Sylvia knew why those two were buttering up their employer more thoroughly than day-old toast. It was why she was sitting here with a pleasant smile on her face, nodding in polite agreement with whatever flattery the other two were muttering even as it killed her a little bit to do it.

"Now that I have made my decision to retire, we must talk about the matter of my succession."

And there it was, trust Mrs. Pinehurst to speak like an abdicating queen about choosing her replacement. It was right there, so close that Sylvia could smell it; the goal she had been working toward for the last seven and a half years, the dream to one day take reigns of this place. She had endured much for it, she had sacrificed her personal beliefs to play the long game. Each year spent pretending that she did not enjoy unladylike pursuits, every year of being complicit in the way these people wrung out spirit and originality from young, impressionable girls would come to fruition if she could become headmistress. She had such grand plans for it, starting with doing away with the habit teachers had of rapping delinquent students across their knuckles with sticks. Slowly, slowly, she would introduce a wider array of subjects using the school's respectability as a shield against potential disapproval from parents. One day, if the girls here wished to study higher mathematics or astronomy or geography along with their lessons in comportment, she would find a way to make it so.

That is what she wished to do with her life; to create a place where girls did not have to be ashamed of their intelligence. Where they did not have to hide it. 

There was going to be a time when women were allowed in universities. Nay, there was going to be a time when women would teach in universities and Sylvie was going to be one wave in the tide of time that would bring that change. And perhaps she would not go down in the annals of history, maybe no one would know of her minuscule rebellion. But perhaps she would look down from heaven at women walking the halls of Cambridge and know that she had had a part in bringing them there.

"As you know, the three of you are among my most experienced staff and you have all been with this institution for a long time," Mrs. Pinehurst began as all three of them sat up a little straighter. "And it ought to come as no surprise that I intend to choose one of the three of you to take my place."

Mrs. Bootlicker smiled smugly, doubtlessly assuming that she was the obvious choice, she had been at the school longer than both Sylvia and Mr. Smyth. The dance instructor, on the other hand, naturally thought he was the obvious choice as he was male.

Typical.

But, Sylvia had merits the other two did not have. While Mrs. Bootlicker had the advantage of experience, she had crossed her fiftieth year a while ago, it would not be long until she needed to retire as well. Sylvie, just shy of thirty, still had many years left ahead of her. Additionally, Sylvie had a far better rapport with the student body, a fact that the headmistress knew well.

As for Mr. Smyth, the fact of the matter was, for all her flaws, Mrs. Pinehurst did not wish to leave her charges in the care of a man. She was convinced that the boarding school was a comfortable place for young women because it was mostly staffed and led by a woman. He was only here out of courtesy and leaving him out of consideration was not worth the commotion he would have caused.

"Given our winter break is coming next month, I will carefully observe your performance over the next several weeks. Before the start of our spring term in March, I shall announce my choice and then the selected candidate will shadow me for the term as senior mistress. I wish you all the best of luck."

But Sylvie would not need luck. Sylvie was a lover of science and logic, if she were to succeed, she would need dedication and the will to work hard, both of which she had in spades.