Hawthorne Heights

much time and money on her education. Her younger sister Elizabeth had always been the star pupil and the model child so it surprised Emily that her family had not known better about what the fut

o the world on her own, and she had always relied on her parents both in living and financial terms. Emily remembered her mother grabbing her arm, pleading with her not to do this for it would shame them to think that a member of their well-to-do family would take on a job such as a gov

mount of money to pay for her travel expenses and a letter telling her that the sooner she went on her way to the Valley, the better. The letter made Emily wonder what he had meant, surely a wealthy family who could afford to live in Middleton Valley had no such trouble in finding a governess? It was in the local newspaper, The Dark Harbor C

hway resembling a road, she could see the shape of a man smoothly getting down from his horse and calming it down. Once the horse calmed down, the figure of the man walked over in her direction. Her heart thumped, she was

h an aquiline nose though not bearing any resemblance to anyone of

is to bla

lied, introducing himself and offering

ed, taking his hand and shakin

nymore after this, you could get yours

same Mr. Sutcliffe, th

returned to his horse, a

d working with children before, but she was good with them and was always a reliable babysitter to her sister Elizabeth's children. It was odd that the Mortimers had immediately hired her without an interview nor any need for references, it was then when her doubts about herself washed over her and that the weight of responsibility would be too much to bear in the coming months or even years of r

once covered the valley was now replaced with a cool breeze. She imagined that t

we went down from his seat and opened the

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xpected but it looked foreboding; unpainted, just cold hard rock that was sculpted to form a family home. Her luggage beside he

od an elderly woman before her with her hair parted sideways and tied in a neat bun. She was a thin woman, her

eye contact with the older woman

r woman said in delig

w most of the inside was lit with candles, curious she stu

ng on the lights," she said as if it was like a chore, esp

et the family?" aske

eady for supper and so

corridor. This was going to be her room, she thought as she placed her luggage down o

'll meet you in the dining hal

you u

cil

ll." she offered her hand for a hands

e you do

r and checked to see if she needed to redo her hair but what she saw instead were the semi-visible circles around her eyes and she could feel and hear a p

he table was empty but she decided to wait for the family than impose on them just as a governess shou

ddle-aged with short neat hair and a beard the color of pepper, the woman looked ten years younger but knew that she was aging as she covered h

e woman's hand as if she were a piece of decorative glass that would shatter if he were to let go while the children; bot

iness," he said with a twinkle in his eye, he had such

you---" she held out a h

l." she took the woman

though Emily knew not if it was sincere. "A

e was mushroom soup, grilled steak, peas, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, and trout. As simple as dinner was, Emily was pleasantly surprised not just with the family

ked Dolores, cutting her steak delicately

paused, clearing his throat, "just in time for Emily's

r new governess," suggested Dolores and Douglas shoots h

I'll leave it to you and Mr. Mortime

ked her new employer, "very well then

ouglas and Dolores Mortimer were devout Followers of the Son, the religious weren't what she would call her people but the Mortimers were delightful and had their own eccentricities. That sa

traightened himself as he offered his wife his hand, taking it, she cal

she said and they obeyed her, catching up

after only having known her for a few hours. In return she bid them farewell, waving in their directi

only to be greeted by Cecille in the kitchen. Cecille's eyes were endowed with black circles around them and her hair

woman. "I'm just going to get a cup of

ly. "You can find your cup of coffee i

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way to the study hall where she was to teach the children their studies albeit a tad too early for children to be up; it was only seven in the morning an