CHAPTER 2: Bewitching My Horse

Within just a mile from Thornfield, I met with an accident in Hay Lane. Riding fast upon my horse, we skidded on a sheet of ice and I was momentarily airborne, then a crash, both of us lying in a pool of mud close to the stile. Upon arising I ascertained that my neck was still intact, alas! After a cursory examination I realised that I sustained nothing more than a sprained ankle. Mesrour stood up and whilst shaking off the dirt and mud, gazed at me with animal disgust as if to say, "If you must ride me like the Devil, may only your neck be broken!"

After silencing Pilot whose frantic barking could be heard over the hills, I presently heard a small voice, so faint at first that I thought that it was the breeze wafting through the trees on this frosty late afternoon, but no, there was no breeze. As a boy I often wandered down the lane imagining that fairies and elves lurked among the hedges and the nut and blackberry trees. Now my childish notions came back to me. Was it an elfin voice? Through the corner of my eye I saw that it was accompanied by a face so small and pale that it must been that of an elf-maiden. Her raiment blent with the dark landscape so only her face seemed visible, as though it were floating in the mist. No elf was she, but a girl, perhaps eighteen years old, perhaps five hundred. This time she offered to find someone from Thornfield or Hay to assist me.

I thanked her but gruffly, and replied that I shall do, but she stood planted and unmovable even when I waved her to go, and announced, "I cannot think of leaving you, sir, at so late an hour, in this solitary lane, till I see you are fit to mount your horse."

That soft voice had undergone a change; it now carried a weight and authority I could not ignore. I finally took a good look at her--where was she from? From Thornfield Hall she informed me. She did not know that I was its master. I was exceedingly puzzled because I did not know who she was, certainly not a servant.

"I am the governess."

Deuce take me, I forgot that I wrote to Mrs. Fairfax instructing her to engage a governess for Adele.

I asked her to lead Mesrour over to me, but when it became evident that he would not allow her near, I was compelled to ask her to walk me over to him. With her slight frame supporting me as I limped, I saw that she was flesh and blood after all. Still, it felt strange, a man like me, strong and masterful as I was, being aided by so small and pale a girl. After much struggle and cursing I finally mounted him. I asked what she was doing here at so late an hour, whereupon she informed me that she was going to Hay to post a letter. I told her to return quickly, and with that I rode off, leaving her alone in the darkness.

Indeed, what a strange incidence! How unafraid and independent was this young sprite. Quiet and small, but determined to come to my aid. She did not seem to be afraid, either of me or of being alone in that dark lane. It was well that this singular little person would return to my house. Upon arriving I would ask for her human name and how she came to teach Adele. I rode home the rest of the way wondering if she was in fact a fairy sent to bewitch my horse.

Chapter 3: What is the Name of Your Governess? (Click here.)