Chapter 7
James sauntered into the hall from the sitting room, "Mary!" he called, "Mary, can you come here please?"
"Here I am sir," Mary replied as she followed the sound of Mr. Clifford's voice to the sitting room.
"Mary, I have been watching the children play with their things here in the sitting room and the thought has occurred to me that I should hire a tutor for them. They are quite old enough to begin some schooling and they are learning all the basics from me, Siobhan and you, however, I am vested in their future and I want to make sure they have the best in life available to them."
"Of course sir" Mary agreed. "What would you like me to do?"
"I would like for you to send for an application list from London. There must be hundreds of tutors available and if need be, we can requisition lists from other places," James answered.
"Sir, if you write the letter, I would be more than happy to send it out first thing in the morning," Mary replied. "Sir, I have also heard recently that Miras is in the country sir and she is currently looking for a place to reside."
"Miras?" asked James. "Certainly she is not the same one who taught Marion to play the harp?"
"Yes sir, the very same," said Mary.
"Mary, you must send for her at once!" James said. "I must have her for my Jane. She could learn so much from her!"
"Of course, Sir." Mary replied.
"I will have the letters fro you this afternoon," James said with a smile on his face. "I do hope that Miras hasn't had many offers. I know how fond she was of Marion. She would be an excellent addition to the staff here. I wonder if she would accept a full time position."
"Yes sir" Mary replied.
James set out for his study to write his letters.
Mary entered the sitting room where Siobhan, Jane and Alec were sitting on the floor. The children were playing with some small toys. Siobhan who was watching them diligently looked up as Mary sat next to her. "What was that entire ruckus about?" Siobhan asked Mary.
"I wish I wouldn't have said anything," Mary half grinned at Siobhan. "But I knew that he would find out sooner or later, as Miras always seems to find her way here when ever she is near."
"Who is this Miras?" Siobhan asked as Jane crawled into her lap.
"Miras is the daughter of the woman who taught Marion to play the harp," replied Mary. "She really has a knack for instructing. Marion's mother was horrible at the harp and she hired Miras' mother to help, she was, at the time a fabulous harpist. She toured all over England, she even played for the queen. That was where Marion's mother first heard her play. She purchased a harp and attempted to play, and was unsuccessful. She heard that Miras' mother was in the area and hired her to teach herself and her daughter. Marion was a natural. Playing and singing along with her harp, she made it look easy. Miras and Marion were great friends; they left shortly after Marion learned to play. But Miras has come to visit many times since then. Miras is even better at the harp than her mother was. "
Siobhan looked at Jane, "You are going to learn to play the harp, a leanbh." She picked up Jane's hand and began examining her fingers. "Your fingers are short as are your nails. You will have to practice very hard." She kissed the tips of each of her fingers and placed Jane's small hand in hers. Siobhan looked at Mary. "Do you think this Miras will come and stay on full time as Mr. Clifford wishes?"
"Honestly, I think she will come and stay for a shorter period of time than he thinks," Mary said. "From what I experienced in town and from what Robert has told me; I wonder if she will come at all."
Siobhan looked at Mary, "Well, I hope she can at least come for long enough for Jane to learn to play. And I hope for Mr. Clifford's sake, this Miras has the decency enough to not say anything regarding Mrs. Clifford's if that be her reason for not coming.
"I agree, Siobhan. I hope so too, it would break his heart to find out what the people in town were gossiping about." Mary stood to leave. "Well, we shall find out soon enough if she plans to come or not.
Siobhan looked down at Jane who was taping her fingers together in her lap, kissed her forehead and stood up with the girl in her arms. She shifted Jane's weight into her right arm. She bent down and offered Alec her other arm, he climbed up and held onto her waist with his legs. She took the twins upstairs to the nursery and placed them in their beds for their afternoon nap.
Siobhan looked outside and saw Robert trimming the hedge on the east end of the estate lawn. She wondered to herself if Miras would come, she hoped she would. She looked at Jane asleep in her bed, "You would look so regal playing the harp, a leanbh."