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Post by Monday on Jan 25, 2010 13:10:59 GMT -5
Nicky thoughts focused back on the present as she pondered the same question. Why had she decided to go to London to find employ? She had told her father that it was the best place to look for her first position, which was more than likely true, but the thought never even occurred to her until she realized her father was expecting a reason that wasn’t completely nonsensical. Or was the excuse ‘I just had a good feeling about London’ more crazy than illogical? Whatever the reason, she was here now and it was pointless to dwell on questions she had no answers to. She turned away from the busy streets below her and tried to think of how a proper governess would dress and came up blank.
~*~*~*~
Bracken sighed as Mrs. White led their eighth applicant out of the room with a promise to contact her within the next day or two if she received the position. The day had been a long one, and though many of the ladies they had interviewed thus far seemed well qualified for the job, none of them had particularly struck him as perfect for it. He supposed that such a quality was highly unlikely to surface in anyone who sought the position, even if he interviewed a hundred women, shutter the thought. Whatever had possessed him to willingly take up the post of finding Sebastian a suitable governess, was completely beyond him. Of course, he could be cross about it now, after having such a trifling time about it. But more likely than not, he would find it to be all worth it in a few days after plenty of time to recover from such an assault on his nerves as these ladies had proved to be.
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Post by Monday on Feb 11, 2010 1:24:23 GMT -5
Truth be told, many of the potential governesses were quite frightening to behold. And he was a grown man, quite in possession of his good senses, at least in his opinion! He couldn’t very well have someone who smelled of spirits and believed all little boys to be rotten to the core with the only cure being to have the sense literally beat into them take charge of his eight-year-old nephew. However a person like that had even made it so far as to be interviewed was beyond him. By the time Mrs. White had returned with the ninth applicant of the day, Bracken had resigned himself to just take the best of what he had before him and if things didn’t work out between the lady and Sebastian, he would solve that problem when he came to it. Bracken stood as the two ladies entered the room. “May I introduce a Miss Nicole Hughes,” said Mrs. White just as she had pronounced eight other times that day with eight other names. The woman really was a saint, Bracken thought, for putting up with all the frivolities of some of the ladies they had seen today, a few of whom didn’t appreciate being questioned and judged by a lady of their own class. But Mrs. White’s heart was too involved with the boy that was Bracken’s charge to let anyone but the best take care of him, even if that meant sitting through some rather painful interviews. Fortunately, Miss Hughes seemed to have no such compunction against Mrs. White and even smiled demurely at her after she performed a delicate curtsy upon her introduction. The young woman then glanced up at Bracken and he couldn’t help but feel something akin to recognition although not quite that. “Pleased to meet you,” replied Bracken politely and gestured for her to take her seat. He knew that he had never met her before, for how could he forget someone with as striking an image as she? A woman with such a pleasing figure and ink black curls would be hardly forgotten by any man. But it was her face, and particularly her eyes that arrested him. They were both gorgeous and intelligent and Bracken couldn’t help himself from thinking once again, familiar.
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Post by Monday on Feb 11, 2010 2:20:01 GMT -5
((8,715 words written on Microsoft Word so far!!! :-) ))
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Post by Thursday on Feb 11, 2010 8:22:40 GMT -5
((impressive. excellent post. Your use of adjectives was particularily wonderful. The word usage was very approriate to the time period.))
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Post by Monday on Feb 11, 2010 13:07:00 GMT -5
((thanks! ;D ))
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Post by Monday on Feb 12, 2010 14:10:12 GMT -5
Though the gentleman didn’t take care to notice the unsuitable amount of time it took for him to take in her appearance, Mrs. White thankfully did. It wasn’t until she cleared her throat, not once, but twice, that Bracken was able to remember himself. “Please forgive me, Miss Hughes, but it seemed to me as if we might have met on some prior occasion, maybe?” Bracken had not meant to ask but after finding himself quite embarrassed, he felt it necessary to make some excuse, however ridiculous sounding it may be. The woman in question’s brow furrowed ever so slightly, but it was obvious that she did not recognize him in the slightest, and Bracken felt more the fool. “I am not quite certain, sir. I have never been to town before, but perhaps you have had occasion to visit my home county of Somersetshire?” Bracken shook his head in reply and banished the notion altogether. There were many ladies of his acquaintance who looked similar to Miss Hughes. He glanced down at her information and was unsurprised, considering her obvious youth, to see she had little experience other than caring for a couple of nieces and nephews for a few months. What he did find surprising was the fact that she had come from a respectable family and, though only boasting a very modest budget, could expect a fairly decent marriage proposal with her obvious beauty. Perhaps her family’s financial states were not as good as her modesty would allow admitting on her application? But all that was none of his concern and he set about to the task at hand.
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Post by Monday on Feb 13, 2010 21:41:30 GMT -5
“We have but a few questions to ask of you, Miss Hughes, and nothing that should prove to be too taxing, I hope.” She nodded calmly in reply, so he continued. “What induced you, in the first place, to apply for this position?” As she was thinking of her response, Bracken could almost imagine hearing what she would say. It would follow along the same lines as what most of the applicants had said, and was nothing but to be expected. The proper procedure, it seemed, was to exclaim at the brilliance of the family’s good name and what an honor and privilege it would be to work for such a gentleman as himself. However, Bracken had the trouble of being caught off- guard once again. “I believe it was the circumstance surrounding the young boy that most caught my attention. To lose ones so close to your heart, and at such a young age, is a tragedy I have thankfully not had to endure. But I thought if I might try to help him somehow, that would be a great pleasure.” Bracken was just glad to be thinking clearly enough as to not have his mouth hanging agape after such a speech as that. Mrs. White, on the other hand, was on the verge of tears, in admiration of the young woman, no doubt. Finally, he cleared his throat. He would not be won over by such an emotional response, however unique it was, for obviously it was tactfully placed to secure her job with him. His face must have given something away of his irritation, because before he could move on, Miss Hughes was apologizing profusely for such an insensitive statement, that she had only been thinking of the boy’s pain upon her reply, and thoughtlessly overlooked the hurt he himself must share in it as well. Indeed, she was flushed with embarrassment and her words seemed quite sincere. “It is no matter at all, Miss Hughes,” Bracken assured her, though he wasn’t quite certain he could believe her earnestness completely as of yet. At this they heard a rather large crash from bellow and Bracken could only think of one cause for it. He was about to go find out what was the matter, when Mrs. White gestured for him to stay seated. “I’ll see too it, sir,” she said standing up. As she exited the room, Bracken decided that the best route would just be to move forward before this day could get any worse.
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Post by Monday on Feb 14, 2010 2:25:51 GMT -5
When he looked back at Miss Hughes, he was pleased to see that she did not look too distressed at the mysterious commotion, more worried than anything. She would need steady nerves for this job. On that thought, he charged right into the next question. “What experience do you have with caring for children?” Her mouth set in a way that Bracken knew she was trying to find just the right way to word her answer this time, as if she didn’t mean to embarrass herself again. Either she was a very good actress or she really was in earnest when she had spoken of Sebastian earlier… Finally, she said, “Unfortunately, I have never had the duty of being someone’s governess before, but I have watched over my eldest sister’s two children before several times, and I believe those occasions went quite well. Indeed, my sister said that she’d gladly let me take them home with me.” Miss Hughes snapped her mouth shut after getting out one short, nervous laugh. She looked quite mortified at this point. However, Bracken was quite enjoying himself. He got the impression that Miss Hughes was the type of woman who was seldom put in a situation where speaking her mind could be considered an impertinence. Of course, he could explain to her that he valued her honesty far more then the laws of propriety but the anxious look on her face was endlessly diverting. The longer he continued to stare at her, the more she seemed to fret, and Bracken found it hard to imagine why she could be this nervous. After a long pause between them, Miss Hughes spoke again. “Of course, she was only joking sir. My sister didn’t really want me to take her children away…” She trailed off at the end rather awkwardly. Bracken tried to keep the smile of amusement off his face.
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Post by Monday on Feb 14, 2010 2:29:13 GMT -5
It was not fair to treat such an obviously sincere lady as such so Bracken decided to end her torment. “Miss Hughes?” “Yes?” she replied faintly. “Are you quite alright?” Her fair cheeks turned rosy once again and Bracken could easily admit that the color looked quite lovely on her. “Yes, sir. I’m just a little bit nervous, I suppose. I can’t seem to make myself stop saying the most impertinent things.” “If I may enquire, why are you so anxious?” Her face went blank. “Isn’t everyone this way when they are being questioned by you?” Bracken chuckled softly. If nothing else, what she said always managed to surprise him. “Not usually. But then again, ‘everyone’ tends to stick to some manufactured script according to what they think I’ll like to hear most. It’s… refreshing to hear someone actually answer my questions truthfully.” Miss Hughes sort of half smiled bemusedly. “I’m glad I could be of service to you, sir.” Her reply had an almost ironic tone to it. Bracken smiled again. Then he remembered the way she had phrased something in one of her last statements. He leaned forward slowly and she reacted automatically by doing the same, as if they were in some secret conference. “And what exactly did you mean when you said ‘being questioned by you’? Is there something about my person that you find particularly distressing?” “Well, I… what I meant to say was…” Her face seemed suddenly very close to his. “Yes?” he urged her on, glancing down at her appealingly full lips. “That you intimidate me a great deal… I suppose.” She blinked twice the tips of her dark eyelashes just brushing her cheeks. “Just one last question,” he almost whispered, “and I’ll release you.” Bracken said this in a nearly literal sense as his gaze seemed to be fixed on her clear grey eyes. “Why is it that you chose to be a governess at all?” Later, Bracken would ask himself why he had asked this, as it had just popped in his head at the time. He would tell himself that pure curiosity had spurred him to enquire why a gentleman’s daughter would take up such a position. But he honestly knew that his true motive was to understand why such a lady would not be married yet. Whatever the reason behind the question, she certainly gave him an answer, and to credit the lady, it was one that surprised him yet again. Miss Hughes straitened up in her seat, the cloud of fogginess that had moments ago been written on her face fleeting. She replied almost dully, “There are very few options, it seems, for a woman of small fortune who does not wish to marry.”
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Post by Thursday on Feb 14, 2010 11:26:51 GMT -5
((excellent. That should be the end of the second chapter.))
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Post by Monday on Feb 20, 2010 1:18:12 GMT -5
(( I think you're right, but i'm going to add this one last post to wrap up the chapter. tell me what you think))
A little while later, as Bracken glanced outside of his office window to see Miss Hughes being handed into a chase, he couldn’t help the shudder that ran through him. The last half hour or so that he had spent with the young lady had seemed oddly surreal. He tried to reason that it was just his reaction to the fatigue that had made him feel so strange but he couldn’t help himself from wanting to blame the woman specifically. Why had he wanted to kiss her, someone who was almost a perfect stranger? Had he simply imagined the energy between them? And the worst of it was Miss Hughes was obviously the best choice out of the applicants. Mrs. White had told him so herself, and her good opinion was not easily won. And Bracken wanted what was best for Sebastian, no matter how uncomfortable the young lady made him feel. The best he could hope to do would be to ignore her presence as much as possible and keep what little conversation they did have on the topic of his nephew. Bracken considered how long this compromise might last and wasn’t very hopeful…
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Post by Thursday on Feb 21, 2010 15:21:37 GMT -5
((this confuses me. When was he fatigued, when was there almost kissing?))
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Post by Monday on Feb 21, 2010 19:19:23 GMT -5
((ok, i re-read the post and it was worded a little weirdly. you should look at it again. the fatigue, is refering to his mental fatigue from having to interview all of those ladies, and this is the almost kiss: He leaned forward slowly and she reacted automatically by doing the same, as if they were in some secret conference. “And what exactly did you mean when you said ‘being questioned by you’? Is there something about my person that you find particularly distressing?” “Well, I… what I meant to say was…” Her face seemed suddenly very close to his. “Yes?” he urged her on, glancing down at her appealingly full lips. “That you intimidate me a great deal… I suppose.” She blinked twice the tips of her dark eyelashes just brushing her cheeks. “Just one last question,” he almost whispered, “and I’ll release you.” Bracken said this in a nearly literal sense as his gaze seemed to be fixed on her clear grey eyes.
better?))
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Post by Thursday on Feb 21, 2010 20:25:13 GMT -5
((much))
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Post by Tuesday on Mar 5, 2010 17:46:30 GMT -5
((first off lol can you explain what a chase is haha I thought she was being chased away for a second there. I totally got the kissing reference and loved it. I hope that we will learn more about Sebastian and his mother death later))
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