CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Very early the next morning, before the sun had even risen, I found Mrs Grose standing next to my bed; she told me that Flora was terribly ill. She had not slept the whole night, and her head was very hot. It seemed she had been afraid of something. I felt a pain deep down in my stomach, for I knew that her fear was not of ghosts but of me. I jumped out of the bed immediately and began to ask Mrs Grose many questions.

"Does she still say that she did not see anything?"

"That's not something I am comfortable talking with her about. And I don't feel the need to ask her either, because she has been so clearly upset about yesterday. I think I know what she did and did not see. She is not herself now."

"That horrible Miss Jessel! I should have known her purpose in appearing before us like that. It's my own fault! I made a huge mistake yesterday. And now I know that Flora will never want to see me again."

Mrs Grose did not reply right away. She seemed to be thinking of what to say. "I'm afraid that you are right. She does not want to see you. And I've never seen her feel so strongly about anything before."

"And is it this strong feeling that is making her so ill now?"

"Oh, Yes. She is always worried that you might come and pay her a visit. Every little noise in the hallway upsets her."

"Hm. Has she said anything at all about Miss Jessel?"

"Nothing at all. She made it clear to me yesterday that there was no one else at the lake except the three of us. Very clear."

"Ha! Well, I suppose that you must believe her, because you could not see it yourself."

"Of course. I have no choice but to believe her."

"Both children are very very smart. They are even smarter because of the control that those two terrible people have over them. Flora now has a reason to hate me, and she will continue to until it's all over."

"What do you mean, 'all over'?"

"She wants her uncle to come and see how terrible a teacher I have been. She wants him to deal with me."

Mrs Grose seemed to be trying to imagine the children together working toward having me dismissed. "But Miles likes you so much."

"Yes. Maybe he does," I said with a laugh, "Although he has a very strange way of showing it. The main thing is that Flora very much hates me now. She wants me to go away, and if I won't leave, she wants me taken away."

"Yes, Madame, she does want you to go."

"Have you come to my room to ask me to leave then?" I did not give Mrs Grose a chance to answer, "No, I've done a lot of thinking. Although my going away seems like the best idea, in the end, it won't help the situation. Instead, you and Flora must go away."

Mrs Grose looked confused for a moment, and said, "Where would we go?"

"The purpose would be to get her far from this house, from those ... people, and of course, far from me. You should take her to see her uncle."

"Why? So she can tell him terrible things about you?"

"If that's what she wants to do, then fine. However, I need her away from here, so that I can make my friendship with Miles stronger. And I think it will help our friendship as well. I mean yours and mine."

"But don't you worry that ... "

"That he will also begin to hate me like Flora? Of course it's possible, but I don't want to just give up. I must at least make an attempt to save him. So, please, as soon as you can, take Flora away from here." I was surprised by the amount of the strength I still had in me. It troubled me that Mrs Grose did not entirely believe in my strength. She did not seem eager to follow my plan. "One other important thing I need to tell you," I continued, "The children should not meet for even a second before you leave."

The thought then entered my mind that they might have already met between now and the time Flora had returned from the lake. "Have they seen each other?" I asked Mrs Grose.

"No, Madame. Every time I have left Flora alone, I made sure to lock the door behind me. But ... " she stopped for a moment, and turned her eyes up toward the ceiling.

"But what?"

"Why do you feel so positive about the boy?"

"It's not that I'm completely positive. Nothing is certain in this place. But lately, I've noticed a change in him. It seems like he has something he wants to say to me. In the classroom, last night, he spent a long time sitting with me in front of the fireplace. I felt that he was trying to get the courage to talk."

Mrs Grose walked over to the window, and looked out at the rain clouds. "Did he talk?"

"No. Not a word was spoken. I felt like I need more time with him before he will speak."

"How much time?"

"Only a couple of days. If I don't succeed, at least I will have tried. Are you willing to go? I need you to trust me."

Mrs Grose looked down on the ground for a moment and then back up into my eyes. "Alright. I'll do it. In fact, we'll leave today. I agree that she should leave this house. I, however ... "

"What?"

"I absolutely must leave. The girl has been saying things that have truly upset me. Horrible things. They were things I never would have imagined such a young girl could say!"

"Oh, that's wonderful to hear!"

"What's so wonderful about it?" asked Mrs Grose in surprise.

"It shows that I have been telling the truth all along. Tell me, does she talk about me?"

"Oh, yes. And she uses the most horrible words. I can't repeat them. They are so horrible! I wonder who she learned them from."

"Are you joking? I can tell you where she learned them."

"Yes, well, maybe I do know after all. Well, Madame. I should go back and see how she is doing."

"Then you do believe in the things I've told you about? You believe that Quint and Miss Jessel are trying to get to the children?"

"Yes, I do."

Hearing this from Mrs Grose made me extremely happy. She could support my efforts to help the children now. I would not be on my own after all. "Oh, but wait. I just thought of something. The letter I sent to their uncle will arrive before you do."

"No, it won't. It was not sent."

"Why not?"

"The boy ... "

"What? You mean Miles did something with it?"

"Well, when Flora and I returned from the lake, the letter was no longer on the table. I asked some of the other servants if they had done anything with it, but none of them had ever seen it. So, it must have been the boy."

"I'm sure he has burned it by now."

"I'm afraid I suddenly understand something," said Mrs Grose.

"Tell me, what is it?"

"It's obvious now why Miles was dismissed from the school. He must have stolen something."

I thought about this for a moment and said, "Yes, it's possible." My letter had not contained anything more than a request to speak with their uncle. Miles would not find anything in it to be angry with me about. I now understood why he joined me in the classroom last night. He wanted to admit to me what he had done. "Please, then, Mrs Grose. Go with Flora now. I think I can help him. The only way to save him is by getting him to talk about the ghosts. I think he is really ready to talk. But you must go first."

"Oh, I wish you the best of luck!" said Mrs Grose, kissing me on the cheek, "We shall go soon." She then left me alone in the room.

(end of section)