[Full] Miss Pendleton - Chapter 62

Laura swallowed hard as she looked at the sign. There had been many uncertain moments in her life, but this was her first new challenge like this. She hadn’t been this anxious even when she first entered society.

She smoothed her hair, straightened her collar, and stepped inside.

Upon entering, she found herself in a waiting room. It was bright with good lighting, but the state of the furniture and wallpaper gave it a somewhat gloomy atmosphere. Long chairs were placed against the walls, with several modestly dressed young ladies sitting and waiting for their turn.

Laura approached the desk where a woman sat and said she was a first-time visitor looking for employment. The woman quickly scanned her face and attire from top to bottom, then told her to have a seat in the waiting area.

Laura sat down in one of the chairs. Her heart was pounding loudly. Her hands were sweating so much that her brown gloves were soaked through. Soon after, several names were called, and the ladies who had been waiting went into the office beyond the desk.

She waited patiently for her turn. When there were no ladies left in the waiting room, her name was called.

“Miss Laura Sheldon.”

Laura immediately stood up and entered the office.

The office was much more presentably furnished than the waiting room. The wallpaper and cabinets were clean and new, and the sturdy beech desk with the nameplate “Annie Stopper” on it even gave an air of luxury.

The middle-aged Miss Stopper, the owner of the office, greeted her politely.

“Welcome, Miss Sheldon. You’re looking for a governess position, correct?”

Laura smiled awkwardly.

“Yes.”

“Have you done this work before?”

“No.”

“Oh dear. Then you won’t have any letters of recommendation. That’s essential for getting a good position. Well, what can you teach?”

“Everything that can be learned in a regular school.”

“You mean arithmetic, geography, literature, history, French, German? Along with some drawing and music?”

“And Latin and Greek as well.”

Miss Stopper stared at her blankly for a moment.

“Latin and Greek?”

“Yes.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, to what extent?”

Laura opened a few notebooks she had brought in her bag. Miss Stopper scanned the dense Latin text and the translated New Testament beneath it. She flipped through the pages in amazement, then looked at another notebook. It contained a full English translation of Homer’s famous epic, the Odyssey.

“Where did you learn all this?”

“I studied at Grant School for Girls for seven years.”

“Grant School for Girls. You attended a prestigious girls’ school!”

Miss Stopper tugged at her earlobe for a moment as she looked at Laura.

“You’re in mourning. May I ask if you’ve lost a family member?”

“Yes. My grandmother.”

“Is that related to your decision to become a governess? Even in part?”

“I can’t say it isn’t.”

“Hmm…”

She crossed her arms and thought.

“You graduated from a prestigious school, and at twenty-nine you have no experience as a governess… Are you perhaps a noble young lady who’s fallen on hard times and entered the workforce?”

Laura shook her head with an expressionless face. The woman stared at Laura’s face intently and then nodded.

“Whether that’s true or not, keep answering that way. No matter who asks. No one wants to hire a noblewoman who’s become a governess. Now then, let’s find a position for the capable Miss Laura Sheldon.”

She rummaged through her files.

“Well, you’d be welcome in any household with both sons and daughters. However… to be frank, there’s a tendency to prefer male tutors for boys’ education. Somehow, Latin grammar seems less credible when taught by a female governess. But tutors are expensive. A household on a tight budget would welcome you with open arms if they could get Latin and Greek instruction for the price of a governess. Hmm, there’s a position with the Raisin family for a governess for seven children. It pays 50 pounds a year. How does that sound?”

Miss Pendleton shook her head. 50 pounds was the typical salary for a governess. It didn’t make sense for that pay to be responsible for seven children.

Seeing her clearly uninterested expression, Miss Stopper continued to flip through her files.

“Hmm, here’s a letter from the Denise household looking for a governess for two children. Both boys. They want someone to help with preparatory studies before the boys enter public school, and they say they’d gladly hire a governess who knows Latin and Greek. They’re offering an annual salary of 60 pounds.”

“That’s 10 pounds above the going rate.”

“Indeed. However, one must be careful with this household. Mr. Denise is quite a miser. After working you diligently for a year, when it’s time to pay up, he might try to foist off an unused carpet or some strange vase as payment. A few years ago, a governess was cheated like this and threatened to sue, but in the end, she couldn’t get her money. Oh my, to think such people exist!”

Laura couldn’t understand what she found so amusing. Miss Stopper laughed for a moment, then noticing Laura’s expression, resumed rummaging through her files.

Soon after, positions paying 60 pounds, 55 pounds, and 45 pounds came up in succession. But they all involved too many children to look after or employers with very poor reputations.

Laura stood there, dismayed at the gloomy prospects clouding her career outlook.

Finally, she was introduced to a position with the Roland family, offering 65 pounds to teach eight children. Interestingly, they were looking for a governess skilled in cooking, cleaning, and caring for infants as well. It was clearly a position for a governess cum cook cum nanny cum maid.

Miss Stopper, embarrassed by the meager offerings even in her own eyes, kept tugging at her earlobe and flipping through the files that had already been exhausted. Laura said she would visit again next week and left the employment agency.

In a gloomy mood, Laura hailed a hackney carriage on West End Avenue and headed towards Waterloo Station. When she reached New Cut Street, bustling with street vendors, she immediately got out of the carriage.

Barely making her way through the throng of dozens of peddlers and shoppers, she turned a corner. She came upon an alley lined with seven jewelry shops. She visited each one in turn, emptying out the pouch of precious metals she had brought with her.

Despite being ornaments that had never been criticized at balls or tea times, none of them were willing to offer more than 80 pounds for the jewels. After hours of pleading and persuading the shop owner who seemed the most pleasant, she managed to sell all her jewelry for 83 pounds.

She walked slowly to the bank instead of taking a hackney carriage. And she deposited all the money she had received from selling her jewelry.

As a result, her current assets amounted to 583 pounds. Minus the one-pound note and a few coins in her purse, that is. And it didn’t seem likely that this deposit would grow dramatically anytime soon. A labor force worth 50 to 65 pounds a year. That was her current value.

She felt anew the life she would have to adapt to. This wasn’t a world where one spent dozens of pounds on a single dress, or hundreds of pounds to hire a good cook. It was a labor market where one had to mortgage a year of their life for 50 to 65 pounds.

And in this labor market, she wasn’t particularly valuable merchandise. The education she had cultivated amounted to little more than offering a few more mediocre options.

She walked slowly back to the inn where she was staying. It was over an hour’s walk, but after learning her market value, she was reluctant to spend even the few pence for a hackney carriage.

She moved slowly, resting her legs whenever she came across a bench or empty steps in a residential area.

By the time she reached the inn, she was exhausted. She had never walked for so long before. It was still early afternoon and she hadn’t even eaten lunch, but she was extremely tired.

She took off her clothes, neatly hung them up, and lay down on the bed. She noticed a crack in the roughly whitewashed ceiling that looked like it might shatter. She blinked, thinking. Market value 50 pounds. Work for 10 years, 500 pounds. Work for 20 years, 1,000 pounds.

At market rates, it would be impossible to make 3,000 pounds by age 50.

Laura couldn’t help but chuckle. Her uncle must have known how useful the five thousand pounds her grandmother left would be to her. That’s why he took it away, even at great cost to himself.

‘If he knew how much I’m worrying about money now, he’d probably be quite satisfied.’

She recalled how angry he had been just before she left the Pendleton house. Mr. Price’s investment withdrawal and grandmother’s will. He had poured all his anger onto her.

It seemed he didn’t want to admit to himself that all of it was the result of his own poor judgment and lack of compassion.

Miss Pendleton shook her head. The five thousand pound inheritance and her uncle were now irrelevant to her. Things of the past. She had wiped them completely from her mind and resolved not to think about them anymore. After all, dwelling on past events was of no help.

But since she wasn’t suffering from amnesia, she couldn’t completely forget the life she had lived as Miss Pendleton. Among the things she had left behind, there were many precious and important things.

The most poignant among them was her grandmother’s funeral. She closed her eyes. The image of her grandmother lying in the coffin. The mourners dressed in black. Her uncle standing with a cold expression. Even Charles standing with a bored look.

‘By now, people must be gathering for the funeral under the pastor’s guidance. No, perhaps the burial has already been completed.’

Miss Pendleton imagined the lid being closed on her grandmother’s coffin. The coffin being lowered into the deep grave. The earth being scattered over it.

‘I never once imagined that I wouldn’t be able to see grandmother off for the last time.’

Her heart clenched. She quickly got up again and sat at the desk.

She hadn’t attended the funeral, and that would arouse interesting curiosity among the people in society.