Dangerous Letters

Chapter Twenty-Two

Letter XXXVIII

February 09, 17--

To the Right Honourable Marquis -----------,

It has been my personal privilege and joy to serve in your household as governess to young Villette -----------. I am tremendously grateful for the goodness that you have shown me and it is with deep regret that, I must humbly submit my resignation. Please do me the honour of believing that you would never receive this letter if I had the power to remain in your service. I have felt unwell as of late and now attribute this to both the clime of the region and a yearning for the familiar abode of my parent's home, where I have lived most of my life.

Subject to your preference, I can continue on at Chateau ---------- for the customary notice period of four weeks from the date of above; please let me know if that is suitable. I will make my own travel arrangements accordingly.

I thank you again, Sir, and remain your humble servant always,

Yours sincerely,

Charlotte B---

Letter XXXIX

February 14, 17--

Dearest Hannah,

I arose this morning with the firm resolution that my time at in the Marquis' employment was duly at an end. I sat down with great immediacy and penned a letter of resignation which I delivered down to his study with haste; greatly relieved when I thought the deed was done.

With a calmness that has eluded me these past days, I sat down to teach Villette for the first time since my fever struck. My young Mademoiselle was much pleased and we spent a very pleasant morning with lessons on geography (using a pair of globes from the library), conducting some repetitions in history, grammar, &c, and then, when that grew tedious, writing and arithmetic succeeded. I was once again struck by her precociousness as we flew from one topic to the next; her ability in the arts may soon exceed my own.

The weather had changed by the afternoon, and the first signs of springtime, set on very early in the year, were too tempting to ignore so we went out for apple picking. It had turned into a beautiful day; skies so pure, the harsh winds of winter cooled to a steady breeze. The gardens all around were a lush green, freshly shorn, the roads white and dusty, the trees renewing their dark prime, hedge and wood - with sprouting leaves, deeply tinted - contrasted well with the sunny hue of the cleared meadows between. I was sad that I would not see the full splendour of a midsummer-eve on the estate. Villette, grown weary from apple-picking half the day, went to bed with the sun. I tucked her in, watched her drop asleep and, when I left her, locked the door behind me.

It was now the sweetest hour of the twenty-four: - "Day its fervid fires had wasted," and I was irresistibly drawn back into the garden. I went a different way, to one of the ledges that overlooked the glorious scene of the valley below, where the sun had gone down in simple state behind heathy mountains – pure of the pomp of clouds – spreading a solemn purple, burning with the light of red jewel and furnace flame at one mountain peak, and extending high and wide, soft and still softer, over half the heavens. The east had its own charm or fine deep blue, and its own modest gem, a casino and solitary star: soon it would boast the moon; but she was yet beneath the horizon. Contemplation of this vista had the most extraordinary effect and, suddenly overwhelmed by the sublime magnificence of all I beheld, I was compelled to turn from the glorious sight and came back towards the duller scenery of the chateau. I was careful in my wonderings; I had no desire to visit certain parts of the garden and remained close to the building.