Agnes Grey

nest prosecution of my studies, to recover what I had lost during my stay at Wellwood House, and to lay in new stores for future use. My father's health was still very i

ed and so carefully saved, in the hope of sharing it with them. By dint of pinching here, and scraping there, our debts were already nearly paid. Mary had had good success with her drawings; but our father had insisted upon her likewise keeping all the produce of her industry to herself. All we could spare fr

n case of his death, I am convinced that dreaded event would not have taken place so

ts from your mind, you would live as long as any of us; at least you would live to see the

d my father: but his laugh s

ess things!' said he; 'wh

e can devise a thousand honest ways of making a livelihood. And I wonder, Richard, you can think of bothering your head about our poverty in case of your death; as if that would be anything compared with the cala

ep repining as I do, but I cannot

of her words was undone by the earnest affection of her tone and pleasant smile, t

tle, and cannot last long; if I could increase it, it would lessen papa's anxiety, on one subject at lea

ld actually try

dly, I

ld have thought you h

rybody is not like Mr.

se,' interrup

all children are not like theirs; for I and Mary

ls after all: Mary had a fund of quiet obstinacy, and you were somewhat

too; for then I could have understood them: but they never were, for they could not be offended,

not their fault: you cannot expec

utterly thrown away: they could neither return it, nor value, nor understand it. But, however, even if I should stumble on such a family again, which is qu

ell you, you are a good deal paler and thinner than when you first left home; and we ca

, for I was in a constant state of agitation and anxiety all d

o obtain his consent. Meantime, I searched, with great interest, the advertising columns of the newspapers, and wrote answers to every 'Wanted a Governess' that appeared at all eligible; but all my letters, as well as the replies, wh

uld say, 'and you must not throw them away. Remember, you promised to be patient: there

n advertisement, myself, in the pa

amily in that of some genuine, thoroughbred gentleman; for such are far more likely to treat you with proper respect and consideration than those purse-proud tradespeople and arrogant upstarts. I have known

do vastly well, she said, if I would only throw aside my diffidence, and acquire a little more confidence in myself. I was just to give a plain, true statement of my acquirements and qualifications, and name what stipulations I chose to make, and then await the result. The only stipulation I ventured to propose, was that I might be allowed two months' holidays during the year to visit my friends, at Midsummer and Christmas. The unknown lady, in her reply, made

ut, unwilling to be balked again, I overruled them all; and, having first obtained the consent of my father (who had, a short time previousl

not in a manufacturing district, where the people had nothing to do but to make money; his rank from what I could gather, appeared to be higher than that of Mr. Bloomfield; and, doubtless, he was one of those genuine thoroughbred gentry my mother spoke of, who would treat his governess with due consideration as a respectable well-educated lady, the instructor and guide of his children, and not a mere upper servant. Then, my pupils being older, would be more rational, more teachable, and less troublesome than the last; they would be less confined to the schoolroom, and not require that constant labour and incessant watching; and, finally, bright visions mingled with my hopes, with which the care of children and the mere duties of a governess had little or nothing to do. Thus, the reader will see that I had no claim to be regarded as a martyr