Chapter 1

Talents She Didn't Know She Had

Ten years later.

Jane hauled her carpetbag up the front steps of the house which, though extremely modest by the normal standards of the aristocracy, was still very impressive to her. Even the house of her Uncle who, though not titled, was nevertheless high-born gentry, was smaller than this expansive dwelling. She rang the bell at the door and it was answered by a liveried butler who looked her up and down severely.

"I am here to see Madame deChagny." She said simply.

"Is Madame expecting you?" the butler said suspiciously, surveying her plain black coat and bonnet and scuffed, worn boots.

"Yes she is." Jane replied. "I answered her advertisement seeking a governess."

"Ah yes." The butler said, looking slightly less severe. "Come in Miss...?"

"Cravon. Jane Cravon."

"Very well Miss Cravon." He replied, mispronouncing her name. Come inside and wait and I will inform Madame that you are here."

He lead her into a comfortable, though not overly large, drawing room, then left her to wait, closing the door behind him.

It opened again in a few minutes to reveal a charming young woman whom, Jane thought, could not be too many years older than herself. She had long, golden hair which was at present gathered into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. She had wide, sapphire-blue eyes and skin as fair as that of a porcelain doll, with tiny lips like a rosebud. In short, she was beautiful; and she gave off an air of innocence. Jane could not help having the impression that, all though the woman appeared physically to be a few years her senior, she was nevertheless looking at one who was still a girl.

"Greetings Miss Cravon." The lady said in French, in a sweet, musical voice.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Madame deChagny." Jane replied, also in French. She dropped a shallow curtsey which made the lady of the house blush and look slightly uncomfortable.

"Miss Cravon, I want to thank you so much for taking this position." The lady said. "It has been so dreadfully difficult to find a governess for Joseph-Philippe. All those whom we tried from around here were either too severe, or they could not speak French, or they could not teach music. That is why we advertised so far afield."

"Well Ma'am, I needed the position and was happy to take it. I'm certain that I shall enjoy working with my pupil and that I can instruct him in all those subjects over which you expressed concern."

"Excellent!" the lady cried, looking very pleased. "And please." She added "Call me Christine."

Jane was startled. "Very well Ma'am, if you wish." She said uncertainly.

"Oh please." Christine replied. "To tell the truth, I'm dreadfully uncomfortable with my title; and I shan't mind at all being able to forget it now and then."

Jane smiled. If the Vicompt was anything as charming and kind as his wife, she was going to find this position most congenial.

She did find it congenial. Over the next several weeks, Jane settled into the deChagny household and into a pleasant routine with her pupil. She taught her charge in the mornings and early afternoons, and then had the later afternoons and evenings to herself. Most of her interaction, other than that with the other servants, was with Christine. But she did meet the master of the house, Raoul the Vicompte deChagny, briefly every now and then. Like his wife, he gave the impression of youthful naivety and he was just as kind and genial.

Her pupil was a good lad, a healthy boy of about nine. He had his father's features, with sandy-blond hair, and his mother's blue eyes and porcelain-fair skin. He was an obedient and diligent pupil who seemed to enjoy his studies, though he showed no outstanding gift for any particular subject. Like most lads of his age, he had developed a fascination with soldiering. Thus, his favourite subject was history when it pertained to great battles. He also possessed a sweet, angelic little treble voice which he had apparently, according to the Vicompt, inherited from his mother, though Jane never heard her voice. The lad enjoyed music well enough and often sang and played the piano to please Jane or his mother, and he was chief soloist in the Cathedral choir where they went to mass. But he did not have any great passion for it.

Sometimes, in the evenings, Christine would ask Jane to join her for tea and conversation after dinner. Jane found that she could converse easily with the Vicomptess and often completely forgot that she was speaking to her employer and social superior, for Christine had a very open and friendly manner. They talked at first of Joseph-Phillip's progress. But, when Christine learned that Jane had a great love of art, music and the beauty of field and wood, these became their preferred subjects of conversation. Though neither spoke of the details of their past, they greatly enjoyed hearing of the beauty of the places that each one had seen. Jane described to Christine the wild, isolated beauty of the remote county in the north of England where she had gone to school. Christine told Jane of the majesty of the sea at Brittany and in her native Sweden and of the loveliness of the rolling fields and picturesque little villages.

They found that their tastes in art and music differed greatly, though each could appreciate the tastes of the other. Christine's tastes tended towards the light and charming: Mozart and Gounod. She enjoyed paintings of beautiful landscapes full of sunlight and flowers. She was not a great reader. Jane found her impression of her mistress as still being very much a girl and rather naive to be correct. but she liked Christine very much. Her own tastes however tended more towards that which was haunted, brooding and somewhat dark: Schumann and Berlioz. She would be well drawn to anything in a haunting minor key. She enjoyed the light landscapes well enough. But she also loved images of storm-lashed forests and wild, desolate mountain crags. She also had a great love for literature; for poetry; for the stories of great lovers or of great struggles for freedom.

Christine found the young governess's tastes rather dark. She found that there was something of the dark about Jane; not sinister, but melancholy. Though she could not be more than twenty-two at most, Jane seemed somehow older than her years. But Christine liked her very much and the two became great friends.

There was a music room in the house for, though many of the women the Vicomptess had tested out as governesses before had said that it was unsuitable for a boy, it was Christine's particular wish that her son should learn music, in honour of his grandfather on her side so she had told Jane. So this large, sunny room was set up with a delightful grand piano for his lessons; and here, Jane taught Joseph-Phillip to play and to read the musical alphabet, which he already knew somewhat from the Cathedral choir. It was a magnificent instrument and Jane looked upon it with love.

One evening, a few months since Jane had come to the house, Christine asked the younger woman if they might take tea in the music room that evening. She had overheard Joseph-Phillip's music lessons on a number of occasions and it was her great wish that Jane should play for her as she had not been around some one who could play well in years. Though she was, by her husband's account, a marvellous singer, neither she nor the Vicompte could play the piano at all. Jane had often wished to play the instrument apart from when she was teaching Joseph-Philippe, but had not done so because she had not her master's or mistress's permission. But she had longed to.

After they had had their tea, then, Jane sat down at the magnificent piano and began to play. She began with Mozart, a nice, cheerful piece. Christine applauded and said that she played very well and asked her to continue. She played something by Hayden; and then, when Christine asked her to continue again, she turned to something more to her own taste. She played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, very slowly, letting its beautiful and haunting lines ring and savouring their resonances. This was followed by a piece by Schumann.

During the first two pieces, it had seemed to Christine that, though Jane played well and seemed to enjoy it, she was not playing fully. But, as she played these last two pieces, with their haunting, sad, dark melodies, the Vicomptess saw that now Jane was truly in her element. So much so that, it seemed to Christine, she seemed to have forgotten the room around her and all in it. She seemed to darken. A shadow seemed to wrap around her as though she had just put on a great black cloak; and the room seemed to become full of shadows too. Christine found herself being reminded forcibly of Erik.

"Did you learn that at the school you went to?" the Vicomptess asked.

Jane turned around on the piano bench. "The first two, yes. I did." She replied. "But the others I taught myself. At school, they didn't think that music so dark and brooding was suitable for young ladies." She pulled a face. It was the first time she had spoken of her years at school.

Christine chuckled. She could well imagine her own governesses and Madame Valerius saying the same. "Do you sing?" she asked Jane.

"A little." Jane answered.

"Would you sing something?"

Jane almost laughed at the diminutiveness of the request coming from her mistress who had every right to command her. "Certainly." She replied. "Anything in particular you would like?"

Christine thought for a moment. "You choose." She said at last.

She found herself being quite astonished that Jane had said that she sang but a little. Moreover, it was apparent that the younger woman had not simply been being modest by convention but had meant it quite seriously. In fact, she had a fine voice; a dark voice, but pure. It was obvious that she had had no formal training. But even without it, her voice was beautiful. When her song finished, Christine told her so.

Jane blushed. "Thank you." She said with slight awkwardness. "At school they only taught us to sing enough to get through a hymn book without thoroughly butchering the hymns."

"This room is always left unlocked save for at night." Christine began. "You are welcome to come in here and play any time you please."

Jane's head snapped up in astonishment.

"Certainly" Christine said. "It will be so nice to have the house filled with music again."

"Thank you." Jane breathed in rapture.

From that evening on, once Jane had finished her teaching for the day, she would be found in the music room at the piano. She reacquainted herself with pieces that she had learned before but not had an opportunity of practicing since the last time she had been near a piano, which had been at school. And even then, she had only been able to play these, her favourite pieces when the teachers, and those students who would report her for playing music inappropriate for Christian young ladies, were out. And those occasions had been very rare. But during those blessed moments, she had been able to loose herself in music for hours at a stretch, though she always had to pull herself out of her rapture every so often to make certain that she would not be found out. Now, though, she was at liberty to play as much as she pleased, and she did. And the mistress of the house had no objections to the pieces she played. Often, in fact, Christine would come in silently and listen. She also, occasionally, gave Jane a little present of some extra money so that she could add new books of pieces to her meagre collection; or the Vicomptess would give her old music of her own.

Whenever she listened to Jane play, Christine again found herself reminded forcibly of Erik. Partly, it was due to the pieces which Jane played, the ones that most appealed to the young governess. They were the same dark, sad, pieces filled with brooding melancholy that had always been Erik's favourite language. But it was also that there was something in her when she played, or sang these sort of pieces; that quality of shadow; that aura of sadness; the way she would become completely absorbed in the music.

One evening at teatime, this time about a year since Jane's arrival with the Vicompte and Vicomptess, Christine suddenly became very serious.

"Jane," she began "have you ever considered going somewhere to study music?"

Jane looked up in surprise. "No." she said "I have not."

It was Christine's turn to be astonished. "You have not? Why on earth not? You have a great talent." Again, Jane looked surprised and slightly embarrassed. "Has no one ever told you so?"

"No." Jane replied. "It was always something I did purely for my own pleasure. I had never considered the possibility of pursuing it beyond that."

"Would you like to do so if you had the opportunity?" Christine asked.

"Yes." Jane answered without hesitation. "I would like that very much. I had simply never thought that there would be an opportunity."

"I cannot make you any promises just yet." Christine said "But I should like to see what I might be able to do for you. You have a gift and it would be a pity to see it hidden away unknown. Heavens!" she exclaimed and then laughed. "If I must endure having a title, I might as well use it to do some good for somebody. It's about all it's good for."

Jane laughed too. "Thank you." She said seriously. "You're very kind."

"Think nothing of it." Christine replied equally as seriously. "As I said. You have a great talent. I may not know much about music but I know enough to recognize a great gift when I hear it. Believe me, it is my pleasure; a chance to pass on to some one else" she continued in reverie "the help that was once given to me."

That evening, Christine went up to her room and sat down in her favourite armchair by the window to think. It was a big, squashy, overstuffed wing chair that she seemed to sink into when she sat in it. It was very relaxing and it helped her think. She looked at the starry night sky outside over the gardens.

She would be loathed to loose Jane as a governess. Jane was the first governess Joseph-Phillip had had who had really worked out. In addition, she and Christine had become good friends in the past year and Christine had been in sore need of a pleasant friend. She thought she would go mad if her sole society were to consist of the society women who were her and Raoul's neighbours. Yet, Jane must study music. She had too great a talent to spend all her life as a servant to rich people, the vast majority of whom would never appreciate her gift. No, there seemed to be no help for it. Joseph-Phillip would have to go to school and Jane would have to find a good institution and go there to study music properly. But Christine would miss her. She wished there was some way she could retain Jane and still have her be able to study.