Rachel's Story

Chapter 9

 I thank my two new voters for getting me back on the charts of Wattpad. I hope that you would continue to like the forthcoming chapters as well, and vote (and perhaps comment?) if they meet with your approval. 

And now we meet someone new, and rediscover someone we saw earlier (and perhaps didn't like too much).

CHAPTER 9

The weeks passed peacefully by without much incident as Rachel swiftly became entrenched in the ways of the Herringford household. Though Sally still continued to give her a sniff and preferred not to converse with the governess unless necessary, the other people had taken the friendly young girl to their hearts. She developed the habit of indulging in early morning rides around the estate since the girls preferred to walk in the evenings rather than equestrianism. By the end of the first fortnight, even the horses and dogs in the stables had learnt to recognize the swish of her riding skirts and would wait for her eagerly every morning.

Her companion on such rides was usually the stable-boy since Andrew (she could not but think of him as such) would be busy doing sundry odd jobs in the house at such an early hour; but she managed to have a handful of perfectly impersonal conversations with him which would leave her smiling for hours. And this dangerous tendency bothered her greatly. Since the night she understood her attraction towards the man, Rachel often tried to break the fascination by showing herself that he was simply a commonplace pleasant young man.

“For heavens’ sake girl, he is a mere coachman, a person who works in stables for a living,” she admonished her traitorous mind whenever she caught it slipping into improper daydreams. “Even if he were higher-born than his position, it still would be foolish to consider him your equal. You are investing him with a silly and unseemly glamour. You can snap out of it.” She attempted to prove it by spending as much time as she could in his company, talking about all kinds of subjects.

In the deepest corners of her heart, she cherished each memory of Andrew with a fervor which would have frightened her if she ever tried to analyze it.

She got on fine with her employers as well. Mr. Herringford liked to converse with her and therefore, Rachel was occasionally invited to become a third party at the dinner table on quiet evenings. She had requested an audience with him at the first opportunity and asked about procuring a music teacher for Diana and perhaps a drawing master for Alicia. To her surprise, he was not very supportive of the idea, and instead suggested that the girls should get used to studying under Rachel before moving on to advanced studies in their preferred fields.

Catching the surprise on her face before she could erase it away, he smiled kindly and explained himself further. “It is not that I don’t want to hire the tutors, Miss Warren. I want my daughters to develop their skills to the maximum of their abilities, and I promise that they will have all the professional help they require by next year. But I believe that since their regular studies have suffered to some extent with their past governesses, they should be got back on the academic track before further advancement can take place. They are still young…there is time enough for specialization later. Do you not agree?”

Rachel was struck with his well-thought out argument and agreed wholeheartedly with his assessment. It reminded her anew that though she might have understanding born of learning, she was still young in the ways of the world and people like Mr. Herringford had wisdom born of experience. She was very lucky to have someone intelligent like him to interact with.

Though Mrs. Herringford was not as forthcoming or welcoming as her husband, she was nonetheless as gracious as a lady should be towards a dependant – and Rachel accepted it to be such. She was aware that they would never become intimate since their natures were too different, and she knew not to ruffle Norma Herringford’s temper.