A Vindication Of Miss Everlee

Chapter 17

Three years later, 1795.

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To the left was a batch of woods where pinecones scattered the dusty ground and to the right was a stretch of beach ended only by the pearl waves that frothed into white cloud when they fell onto the shore. In between there was a head of curls bobbing up and down along the edge of a sandy path, whose body kept on slipping as the sand disappeared under the added weight. Spring was in the air; its dewy wind cooled the air with soft shades and turned the hills into a joyous celebration of life. Consequently, Midge and Daniel were flying about after months of dreary weather.

As they ran, Daniel's outstretched arm kept on pointing up to the sky as he shouted back to Midge anything that came to his mind. "That one looks like a pawn!" he said. His hand drifted along the sky before landing on another cloud before them. "And that one looks like a jam jar,"

"How on earth does it look like a jam jar?" she called to him. He stopped so abruptly that she almost ran into him, causing him to laugh as she lost her balance.

"Look," he said once he steadied himself. He look her hand and directed it to trace the edges of the cloud as he labelled its form. "And tilt your head to the side a bit," he instructed.

"Oh yes, I see!" she said. She questioned him on how he had such a knack for spotting these bizarre shapes, but stopped herself from being too ardent in her praise for fear being too condescending. She had to be careful of such things now he was older. When she first became his governess she was able to congratulate him on the littlest of achievements but recently he had learnt how to feel exasperated. Sometimes he got exasperated by any excess, though his character remained amiable in that he displayed it only in amused smiles and a roll of the eyes. That's the method he took on in that moment.

"I really do think you're quite remarkable, you know," she told him sincerely as she took his hand.

He smiled awkwardly and squeezed her hand back. Sensing her sincerity, he responded the affection for a moment, before pulling her into a run once more and surveying the skies.

They were gone for hours, far longer than Mr Walden ever allowed them. However, he had stopped picking them up on their disappearing acts quite a while ago after realising how much good it did Daniel. He had grown so fresh and quick in his mind, whilst his strength was a thousand times more than it had been before, especially seeing as the terrain was more tumultuous in Devon than in Bath and they hadn't returned there for the past years.

Mr Walden had let them stay at Calogan each summer whilst he and his wife went to Bath, though he always returned a month or so earlier because he missed Daniel too much. But what fun they had had without them! An entire manor and endless grounds all to themselves was certainly a treat, especially when her siblings came to visit.

They had to intention of repeating the same jollity that year as well, particularly seeing as it was Daniel's final year before he went away to school. That year they had started a little early for the delightful air had intoxicated them with summer bliss. Therefore, when they returned from their walk they grabbed the books and paper they needed and took them outside beneath a willow which edged the Calogan grounds.

"Couldn't you look after me during the holidays?" asked Daniel as the topic discussion steered to them parting ways.

"I'll be relieved from my duties and you'll be expected to be independent," she told him.

"And you'll be occupied with being married to Mr Bishop," he teased.

"I didn't realise being a wife was a full time occupation. Must I relinquish every aspect of individuality and interests external to marriage?" she asked, laughing a little.