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Hello and welcome to the Storytime for Grown Ups Christmas Spectacular. I'm Faith Moore and for the months of November and December, we'll be reading A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Each episode I'll read one chapter from the book, pausing from time to time to give brief explanations so it's easier to follow along. It's like an audiobook with built in notes. So gather your family together, brew a pot of tea or a mug of hot chocolate, find a cozy chair and settle in. It's story time. Hi, everyone. Welcome back. This is amazing, you guys. There are people sending me photographs of their kids all snuggled up under cozy blankets, wearing pajamas, drinking hot cocoa, sitting next to teapots with candles. It's amazing. I'm getting the most wonderful photos from you guys. I'm getting amazing questions from kids. I'm getting wonderful questions from grown ups. This is so much fun. I had no idea if this was even going to work, if you guys were even going to call in your friends and family and kids to gather around for this Victorian Christmas. I didn't know it was just an idea that I had. But you guys, you're really doing it and it is so cool and so much fun. Thank you. Thank you for indulging me in this whim that I had for this Christmas season. It's so moving, really. It's really touching to get these letters from kids who are thinking really deeply about books. It's beautiful to get these photographs of people just taking. I mean, in this world, who sits down and takes time to not even look at anything, right? There's no screen, there's no flashing lights, there's no bells and whistles. We're just talking about books and telling stories. You guys and your kids are here for it. You're here for it, and I am so, so here for it. So thank you. Thank you for coming along on this ride. Thank you for putting out the call to your friends and your family and the kids in your life. Thank you for being here. It really feels like we are all here together. Listening doesn't. I don't know. It feels that way to me. I hope it feels that way to you. And I've just, I've just been giddy the last few days getting your photos and your comments and your emails and things like that because it's, it's beautiful. It's a beautiful thing. I, I had no idea when I started this podcast that this is what it was going to become. It's a joy. It's such a joy to do this. And I'm just so grateful to all of you for being here and for joining me for our Victorian Christmas. So here we are. Last time we read chapter one of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Today we're going to be reading two chapters. We're going to read chapters two and three. And as I said, I've got some great questions, I've got some kid questions and some grown up questions and we're going to talk about those. Before we get into that though, a couple of reminders, a couple of housekeeping things. We have essentially three Christmas themed activities or things going on at the moment. The first is that we have a drawing open, a prize drawing. The prize right now is a membership at the house guest level of the drawing room community. That's our online community. So if you win this drawing, you will get a free membership at the level of house guest to the drawing room community. You'll get it for free, for life. And the way to enter the drawing is to buy my novel, my book, book called Christmas Carol, that's Carol with a K. There's a link in the show notes to buy the book. So it's very easy. You just click there and you'll find it. Thank you so much, by the way, to the people who have already bought books. So many of you are buying books. I'm just, I'm so humbled and moved. It's amazing. Thank you. Thank you. For people who are writing in to request that you enter the drawing. And the other thing that you can do, this is the second thing is you can request a book plate. This is not a drawing, so anybody who buys a book can get one. Buy a book, get the book plate. The book plate is a sticker that you put into the book. It's signed by me. I'll make it out to whoever you want. So if you want to give it as a gift, I'll write that person's name. If you want it for yourself, I'll write your name. And then I usually write a little message in there and I sign it and then I send it to you in the mail and you can stick it into the front of the book and so it turns the book into a signed copy. So if you buy the book, then you automatically can have one, one of those or you can have one for all the books you buy, if you buy many for a gift for people or gifts for people. And all the information about how to enter the drawing and how to get a book plate is on my website on the Storytime for Grown Ups page and there's a link in the Show Notes to that. So just scroll into the Show Notes. That's where you can find the link to buy the book. And it's also where you can find the link to the Storytime for Grownups page. And that will give you all of the details for how to enter the drawing and get the book plate. So I'm not going to go into that exactly right now, so you can just find that there. The winner for the House Guest membership prize drawing will be announced on Thursday, this Thursday. So November 13th, I'll announce the winner on the show and if you hear your name, then I will let you know how to get in touch with me and I will hook you up with that membership. And then the following Monday, so November 17th, I will announce the prize for the next drawing. So there's a drawing every two weeks. You're entered into all the drawings by simply buying one book. So you don't have to buy it again in order to be entered again. But please do buy it as many times as you want. But you are entered in all of the drawings if you've bought the book and you follow the directions on the Storytime for Grown Ups website. So those are the two things. Book plates, drawings. And the third thing is that we are having a Christmas card exchange. This is really fun. We are going to be sending each other Christmas cards and everything about that is on the drawing room website or in the. In the drawing room community. So you ha. You do have to be a member of the drawing room community. You can be house guests or landed gentry and that's in the announcements channel of that community page. So if you're not yet a member and you'd like to be, that link is also in the Show Notes. Just scroll down and you can click the link and find out more about the drawing room and how to sign up. If you're already a member, just go on over to the drawing room, find the announcements channel and click the link that's there and that will give you all the information that you need to know for how to send Christmas cards to each other. Christmas cards, as I said last time, is in fact a Victorian tradition. They were invented in the Victorian era. And so it's our way of trying to celebrate and trying to replicate a Victorian Christmas and come together in yet another way. So if you are interested in receiving a Christmas card from a storytime listener and sending out Christmas cards to your fellow storytime listeners, then please head on over to the drawing room. And learn more there. So that's the third thing. So we've got book plates, we've got the drawing for the houseguests membership, and we've got a Christmas card exchange going on. So there's a lot going on right now, and I forgot to say this last time, but the deadline for sending in your cards is November 30th. So if you want to participate in the Christmas card exchange, you have to get your cards mailed out by the 30th. And again, all of the directions for how to do that is in the announcements channel of the drawing room community. So other than that, just all the usual announcements. If you're enjoying the show, please consider tapping the five stars. And if you have a couple of extra seconds, please consider leaving a positive review and tell a friend, tell everyone. That's what we're trying to do right this Christmas season. We're trying to bring our friends and family together to celebrate by reading a wonderful book. And that's a great way to celebrate. So I hope that you will tell a friend. I hope you've brought the kids in your life into this experience with you. If you have kids in your life and if you don't, then let's just share. We'll all share. The friends and the family and the kids that have come here. This is your community, whether you have anyone to share it with or not. Because we are the people that you can share it with. So whoever you are, whatever you're doing, however old you are, whether young or old or somewhere in between, I am so glad that you are here. Welcome to storytime for grownups. So let's get into it. Last time, as I said, we read chapter one. Today we're going to be reading chapters two and three. I have some great questions. We're going to talk a little bit about chapter one, but before we do that, let's just remind ourselves of what happened in chapter one. Here is the recap. Alright, so where we left off, we met Sara Crew and her father, Captain Crew. Sara is seven, but she's very thoughtful and grown up for her age. She's sort of like an old soul. So Sara and her father have traveled from India to London so that Sara can attend boarding school. They're British, but they've been living all of Sara's life in a British colony in Bombay. The children there are sent away because the climate is not good for them. Sara and her father are incredibly wealthy, and Captain Crew has provided Sara with a huge wardrobe and paid for her to have whatever she wants at boarding school, including her own bedroom, her own sitting room and a pony. They arrive at the school and meet the headmistress whose name is Ms. Minchin. She's a cold kind of hard woman who seems only to care about appearances and the money that she can get from all of her rich students. So she sucks up to Sarah and her father, but is clearly not a nice person. Before he leaves her, Captain Crew takes Sara to find a new doll who Sara has already named Emily and who she wants to be her companion once her father is gone. So they visit many shops and finally Sara finds her. The next day she and Emily are taken back to mismention school and Sara and her father say a tearful farewell and Sara and Emily watch as he drives away. Okay, so I am actually going to read five questions or comments today. They're all pretty short. Some of them are from kids and some of them are from grown ups. If it's from a kid, I'm going tell you their age. If it's not a kid, I will not tell you their age because that would not be polite. So the first one comes from Penny, who is 10. Penny writes, what a lovely book so far. My question for this chapter is why was it bad for kids to live in India due to the heat? Why did Captain Crew and Sara have to separate instead of living together in England? This next one is from Sophia and Sophia is 4 this. So here's what Sophia has to say. She says, hi Ms. Faith, I'm liking the story. Why are the kids don't live in India? Why is India bad for them? I got hello Kitty Christmas cards for you. I'm excited to send cards to people. I like you because you like hot cocoa. I like hot cocoa too. I'm excited for the next chapter. Love Sophia. Oh Sophia, I do love hot cocoa and I hope that you're drinking some right now. While you're listening. The third one comes from Becca who is a grown up. Becca says, oh my word, why am I tearing up so much over this first chapter? Listening to this story again as an adult, I can't imagine leaving my little girl in a different country. As a child, I'm sure I related to Sara, but today as a parent, I'm crying for this poor father. This next one's from Amanda B. Amanda says, I have a couple of questions for you. After this first episode. I was curious why Sara did not just have a governess in India. Her father seems wealthy enough to hire one. What is the sort of place Sara is at? It Seems like a step above my idea of a dorm room. And this last one comes from the Haddon family. So Ashley is the mom and she is the spokesperson. But there is also Noel, who's 9, Isaiah, who's 7, and Judah, who's 6. So Ashley says, my family and I listened to this episode before bed this evening. We really enjoyed it. Here are my children's. We think that Ms. Minchin is going to be evil because she has a mean voice. She doesn't seem as nice as she was when the dad was still there. It also really reminds me of the Secret Garden because she was also in India and had an Aya. The story is lovely so far. So excited to keep going. Okay, so before I actually answer these questions, I have to just tell you how happy and excited I am to begin with getting these questions in the first place. These are the perfect questions. You're thinking about all the right things here at the beginning. The kids are spot on with their thoughts and ideas. The adults are spot on with their thoughts and ideas. The kids and the adults are basically asking the same things. Did you notice that? Which I think is so cool and such a beautiful picture of the fact that books resonate with all of us. And they resonate in essentially the same way. Right? We are human. We feel things. We experience the human characters in the story and we feel for them, and we wonder about their situation and their lives and how they feel about the things that they're going through. It's such a beautiful thing to see. And parents, you guys are raising some really smart kids. I mean, my goodness. And kids, you guys are so, so smart. I'm so impressed with all of you, and I'm really actually so moved by this. This. It's amazing. So thank you for writing in and for thinking so deeply about these stories. Never, ever, ever grow out of that. Okay, so, right. Yes. We are wondering why Sara is being sent away from her father to live in another country all the way across the ocean. And of course, we're wondering that. It's so sad, right? The kids can't imagine being separated from their parents in this way. The adults listening can't imagine having to leave their kids in this way. So we want to know what gives? Why is this happening? What is the deal? So let's talk about that for a bit. Okay, so in the intro episode, which came out on November 3rd, it's still there to listen to if you want. But in that intro episode, we talked a little bit about how Britain, which is where Sara is now at this boarding school, and it's where Sara and her father, Captain Crew, actually come from. They are British, but Britain had control over the country of India, meaning that Queen Victoria, the Queen of Britain, was also the queen essentially of India. She was the ruler of India. But since the Queen and her government can't be in India and in Britain at the same time, right, those two countries are really far away from each other. And remember, this is a time when airplanes hadn't been invented yet. So because the Queen can't actually be in India to govern, there was a British military presence in India to help maintain the British rule. So Sara's father is in the British military. He's a captain, so he's a high ranking officer and he is stationed in India. So to answer Penny's question, Captain Crew can't stay with Sara in England because his job essentially is in India, right. He has to go where the British military stations him and he's currently stationed in India. So he can't stay with Sara in England because he's got to go back and do his job in India. So that's why Sara's father can't be in England. But then we get to amand Sophia's questions, which are both, why can't Sara just stay in India with her father? So this is also a great question and there are a couple of answers. So the first is that even though Sara has lived in India her whole life, she was born there and she's been raised there up until now, she is actually British. So one of the reasons why she's going to go to school in England is because her father would have wanted her to receive a British education. He'd want her to learn British customs and make friends with British children and receive, receive the sort of education that was on offer in England. This would allow her to enter British society when she was grown up, even the British society that existed in India, right? So there were British people living in India and there was a community of British people there. But even that society would have expected that a woman would have the sort of knowledge and skills that would be taught in Britain in an English school. So in order to receive what Captain Crewe would think of as a proper education, which means both the things that she will learn, but also the people that she'll meet and the custom she'll participate in. So in order to do that, Sara has to be educated in England, which is why, to answer Amanda's question, she can't have a governess in India. Captain Crewe is certainly wealthy enough to Hire one. By all accounts, he seems like the equivalent of like a multi billionaire today or something like that. So he could hire an Indian governess, but that wouldn't really achieve what he's trying to achieve. Another reason to send Sara away is because people back then believed that the climate in India was very harsh and that children were particularly in danger from the harsh climate. So what that would have meant was that it was very, very hot there, so you might get heatstroke or dehydration more easily. But also there were diseases like malaria and other infections that you could catch, which they didn't have cures for back then. So people would send their children away to try to save them from potential illness or even potential death. So Sara has to go to school in England both to get a proper English education and also to get away from the Indian climate. And Captain Crew can't come also because he's stationed in India as a military officer and therefore he has to stay there. But even British people living in Britain often sent their children to boarding school. And the other girls that Sara is probably going to be meeting soon at the school, they aren't coming all the way from India. They're coming from just other parts of England and they're sent to this school to get their English education as well. So boarding school was much more of a normal way to go to school than it might be now. Although, of course, there are still boarding schools now in the modern day. But it's not the most common way to educate your children. So to answer Amanda's question about what sort of place this is, this is Ms. Minchin's school for girls. And I'll talk more probably next time about the actual schooling system in England at the time, like how children were educated and what the classroom was like and everything. But for now, all we need to understand is that this is a boarding school for girls. It's in London, which is the main city of England. So it's in a big city, and it's a place for girls to get a good education and meet other girls and learn to be in society. We were told in the last chapter that Sara is what's called a parlor boarder, or actually that she's even higher up than a parlor boarder. So most of the girls at boarding school would live in something like a dormitory. So depending on the sort of school and whether it was for rich children or poor children or middle class children, there might be either, like, a few children sleeping together in a room or maybe even a lot of children this school, Ms. Minchin's School, it seems to be for rich children or maybe upper middle class too rich children. So the girls probably sleep in dormitories with maybe, let's say like six girls in each room or something like that. If you were with us for Jane Eyre when we read that, you will remember Lowood School, where Jane goes at the beginning of that book. And that was a school for very poor children. And at that school there were many, many girls in one room sleeping all together, each with their own little bed. But this school, Ms. Minchin School, seems to be a respectable school for well off girls. So their sleeping arrangements are probably pretty comfortable. But a parlor boarder is an even more well off student who got to sleep usually in the household of the head of school. So in this case the headmistress. So she would be kind of like taken into the family in a way of the head of the school, and she would enjoy more privileges because of that. But Sara actually has her own little, essentially little apartment all to herself. So she's not living with Ms. Minchin wherever Ms. Minchin lives. She has her own bedroom and her own sitting room and they're all for her. And that's because her father is so rich that he paid for her to have that. So hopefully that answers those sort of logistical questions that you guys had. These excellent questions about what exactly is going on here. But feel free to write back into me if there's something that's still not clear. But I do want to spend just a moment before we get back to the story talking about what the Haddon family kids pointed out about Ms. Minchin. First of all, I love that you said that Ms. Minchin has a mean voice because that means I'm doing something right. But also that's really good noticing and it's really smart also to notice that Ms. Minchin acts one way towards Sara and her father and then another way when Sara and her father aren't listening. So I want just for a moment to talk about Ms. Minchin, but also kind of about Sara. Because Sara is an interesting character so far. I think she ought to be completely spoiled, right? Her father buys her anything she even might be thinking about wanting. He buys her a wardrobe fit for a princess. He buys her a new doll, and then he takes the doll to have its own wardrobe custom made. He tells Ms. Minchin she should have whatever she asks for while he's away and he will pay for it. This is should be a very spoiled little girl. But from what we can tell so far, she isn't spoiled. She has actually a kind of practical and clear eyed view of the world. And I mean, yes, she accepts all the clothes and the gifts and she seems to feel that money is no object, but that's how she would feel because money is no object to her. So in terms of her actual personality or her character, she seems not to be the kind of spoiled brat that you might expect her to be, given how rich she is and how much her father dotes on her. And while Ms. Minchin is clearly mostly interested in how rich Sara is and she's trying to kind of butter her up by giving her these compliments, Sara is not at all won over because she feels that Ms. Minchin's compliments about her aren't true. Right. Here's what she. I am not beautiful at all. Colonel Grange's little girl, Isabel, is beautiful. She has dimples and rose colored cheeks and long hair the color of gold. I have short black hair and green eyes. Besides which, I am a thin child and not fair in the least. I am one of the ugliest children I ever saw. She is beginning by telling a story, meaning by telling a lie. Okay, so Sara is incredibly wealthy, incredibly doted on and given whatever she wants, but she actually isn't at all so spoiled. So this is an interesting thing to know about her, I think. And it's actually Ms. Minchin who seems to be more interested in Sara's money and status. More interested certainly than Sara is in all of that. Okay, here is what we're told. She was very like her house, she being Ms. Minchin. Sara felt tall and dull and respectable and ugly. She had large, cold, fishy eyes and a large, cold, fishy smile. It spread itself into a very large smile when she saw Sara and Captain Crewe. She had heard a great many desirable things of the young soldier from the lady who had recommended her school to him. Among other things, she had heard that he was a rich father who was willing to spend a great deal of money on his little daughter. Okay, so the head of this school that Sara is being left with is clearly kind of obsessed with appearances, with looking good, with having a good place in society. Society with the status that these various rich children will bring to her and to her school. And Sara, who you would expect to care about all of that, given how she was raised, doesn't seem to care about it at all. Okay, so now I'm wondering, maybe we're wondering what will it be like for Sara at this place? And what will it be like when she meets the other girls, the other students. Right. So let's find out. Let's get back to the book. But of course, don't forget to write to me. It's faithkmoore.com Click on Contact or you can scroll into the show notes and find the link. If you're a kid, please just let me know how old you are. And if you're listening and you need help, let your parents or whoever grown ups you're with know that you want to write in. Please do write in. And grown ups, please also keep writing in and please check out all the links. Please buy a copy of my book Christmas Carol and I will give you all kinds of fun stuff if you do so. I hope that you will do that. And thank you. Thank you to all of you who have been doing all of those things. And thank you to all of you for being here and for listening. All right, let's get started with chapters two and three of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It's Story, Chapter two A French Lesson When Sara entered the schoolroom the next morning, everybody looked at her with wide, interested eyes. By that time every pupil from Lavinia Herbert, who was nearly 13 and felt quite grown up to Lottie Lee, who was only just four and the baby of the school, had heard a great deal about her. They knew very certainly that she was Ms. Minchin's show pupil and was considered a credit to the establishment. One or two of them had even caught a glimpse of her French maid, Mariette, who had arrived the evening before. Lavinia had managed to pass Sara's room when the door was open and had seen Mariette opening a box which had arrived late from some shop. It was full of petticoats with lace frills on them. Frills and frills, she whispered to her friend Jessie as she bent over her geography. I saw her shaking them out. I heard Ms. Minchin say to Miss Amelia that her clothes were so grand that they were ridiculous for a child. My mama says that children should be dressed simply. She has got one of those petticoats on now. I saw it when she sat down. She has silk stockings on, whispered Jessie, bending over her geography also. And what little feet. I never saw such little feet. Oh, sniffed Lavinia spitefully. That is the way her slippers are made. My mama says that even big feet can be made to look small if you have a clever shoemaker. I don't think she is pretty at all. Her eyes are such a queer color. She isn't Pretty as other pretty people are, said Jessie, stealing a glance across the room, but she makes you want to look at her again. She has tremendously long eyelashes, but her eyes are almost green. Sara was sitting quietly in her seat, waiting to be told what to do. She had been placed near Miss Minchin's desk. She was not abashed at all by the many pairs of eyes watching her, so abashed means embarrassed or ashamed, so she's not ashamed that everyone's looking at her. She was interested and looked back quietly at the children who looked at her. She wondered what they were thinking of, and if they liked Miss Minchin and if they cared for their lessons, and if any of them had a papa at all like her own. She had had a long talk with Emily about her papa that morning. He is on the sea now, Emily, she had said, we must be very great friends to each other and tell each other things. Emily, look at me. You have the nicest eyes I ever saw, but I wish you could speak. She was a child, full of imaginings and whimsical thoughts. Thoughts. And one of her fancies was that there would be a great deal of comfort in even pretending that Emily was alive and really heard and understood. After Mariette had dressed her in her dark blue schoolroom frockso a frock is a dress and tied her hair with a dark blue ribbon, she went to Emily, who sat in a chair of her own and gave her a book. You can read that while I am downstairs, she said, and seeing Mariette looking at her curiously, she spoke to her with a serious little face. What I believe about dolls, she said, is that they can do things they will not let us know about. Perhaps really, Emily can read and talk and walk, but she will only do it when people are out of the room. That is her secret, you see. If people knew that dolls could do things, they would make them work. So perhaps they have promised each other to keep it a secret. If you stay in the room, Emily will just sit there and stare. But if you go out, she will begin to read, perhaps, or go and look out of the window. Then if she heard either of us coming, she would just run back and jump into her chair and pretend she had been there all the time. Come Elestrol meaning how funny she is, Mariette said to herself, and when she went downstairs she told the head housemaid about it. It. But she had already begun to like this odd little girl who had such an intelligent small face and such perfect manners. She had taken care of children before who were not so Polite, Sara was a very fine little person and had a gentle, appreciative way of saying, if you please, Mariette. Thank you, Mariette, which was very charming. Mariette told the head housemaid that she thanked her as if she was thanking a lady. Petite, she said, meaning she has the air of a princess, that little one. Indeed, she was very much pleased with her new little mistress and liked her place greatly. Her place meaning her job. So Sara's maid is happy to be working here with her. After Sara had sat in her seat in the schoolroom for a few minutes, being looked at by the pupils, Miss Minchin wrapped in a dignified manner on her desk. Young ladies, she said, I wish to introduce you to your new companion. All the little girls rose in their places, and Sara rose also. I shall expect you all to be very agreeable to Miss Crewe. She has just come to us from a great distance. In fact, from India. As soon as lessons are over, you must make each other's acquaintance. The pupils bowed ceremoniously, and Sarah made a little curtsy, and then they sat down and looked at each other again. Sara, said Miss Minchin in her schoolroom manner, come here to me. She had taken a book from the desk and was turning over its leaves. Sarah went to her politely. As your papa has engaged a French maid for you, she began, I conclude that he wishes you to make a special study of the French language. Sara felt a little awkward. I think he engaged her, she said, because he. He thought I would like it. Miss Minchin, I am afraid, said Miss Minchin with a slightly sour smile, that you have been a very spoiled little girl and always imagine that things are done because you like them. My impression is that your papa wished you to learn French. If Sara had been older or less punctilious about being quite polite to people, she could have explained herself in a very few words. So punctilious means carefully following the rules of politeness. So if she'd been less intent on following the rules of etiquette here, she might have been able to explain her situation to Miss Minchin. But as it was, she felt a flush rising on her cheeks. Miss Minchin was a very severe and imposing person, and she seemed so absolutely sure that Sara knew nothing whatever of French that she felt as if it would be almost rude to correct her. The truth was that Sara could not remember the time when she had not seemed to know French. Her father had often spoken it to her when she had been a baby. Her mother had been a French woman, and Captain Crewe had loved her language. So it happened that Sara had always heard and been familiar with it. I. I have never really learned French, but. But she began trying shyly to make herself clear. One of Miss Minchin's chief secret annoyances was that she did not speak French herself and was desirous of concealing the irritating fact. She therefore had no intention of discussing the matter and laying herself open to innocent questioning by a new little pupil. That is enough, she said with polite tartness. If you have not learned, you must begin at once. The French master, Monsieur Dufarge, will be here in a few minutes. Take this book and look at it until he arrives. Sara's cheeks felt warm. She went back to her seat and opened the book. She looked at the first page with a grave face. She knew it would be rude to smile, and she was very determined not to be rude. But it was very odd to find herself expected to study a page which told her that le pere meant the father and la mere meant the mother. Miss Minchin glanced toward her scrutinizingly. You look rather cross, Sara, she said. I am sorry you do not like the idea of learning French. I am very fond of it, answered Sara, thinking she would try again. But you must not say but when you are told to do things, said Miss Minchin, look at your book again. And Sara did so and did not smile, even when she found that le fille meant the sun and la frere meant the brother. When Monsieur Dufarge comes, she thought, I can make him understand. Monsieur Dufarge arrived very shortly afterward. He was a very nice, intelligent middle aged Frenchman, and he looked interested when his eyes fell upon Sarah, trying politely to seem absorbed in her little book of phrases. Is this a new pupil for me, madame? He said to Miss Minchin. I hope that is my good fortune. Her papa, Captain Crewe, is very anxious that she should begin the language, but I am afraid she has a childish prejudice against it. She does not seem to wish to learn, said Miss Minchin. I am sorry for that, Mademoiselle, he said kindly to Sara. Perhaps when we begin the study together, we may show you that this is a charming tongue. Little Sorrow rose in her seat. She was beginning to feel rather desperate, as if she were almost in disgrace. She looked up into Monsieur Dufarge's face with her big, big green gray eyes, and they were quite innocently appealing. She knew that he would understand as soon as she spoke. She began to explain quite simply in pretty and fluent French. Madame had not understood. She had not learned French exactly, not out of books, but her papa and other people had always spoken it to her, and she had read it and written it as she had read it written English. Her papa loved it, and she loved it because he did. Her dear mama, who had died when she was born, had been French. She would be glad to learn anything Monsieur would teach her. But what she had tried to explain to Madame was that she already knew the words in this book, and she held out the little book of phrases. When she began to speak, Miss Minchin started quite violently and sat staring at her over her eyeglasses almost indignantly until she had finished. Monsieur Dufarge began to smile, and his smile was one of great pleasure. To hear this pretty childish voice speaking his own language so simply and charmingly made him feel almost as if he were in his native land, which in dark, foggy days in London sometimes seemed worlds away. When she had finished, he took the phrase book from her with a look almost affectionate. But he spoke to Miss Minchin. Ah, Madame, he said, there is not much I can teach her. She has not learned French. She is French. Her accent is exquisite. You ought to have told me, Exclaimed Miss Minchin, much mortified, turning to Sara. I. I tried, said Sara. I. I suppose I did not begin right. Miss Minchin knew she had tried, and that it had not been her fault that she was not allowed to explain, and when she saw that the pupils had been listening, and that Lavinia and Jessie were giggling behind their French grammars, she felt infuriated. Silence, young ladies, she said severely, rapping on the desk. Silence at once. And she began from that minute to feel rather a grudge against her show pupil. Chapter three three Ermengarde on that first morning when Sara sat at Miss Minchin's side, aware that the whole schoolroom was devoting itself to observing her, she had noticed very soon one little girl about her own age who looked at her very hard, with a pair of light, rather dull blue eyes. She was a fat child who did not look as if she were in the least clever, but she had a good, naturedly pouting mouth. Her flaxen hair was braided in a tight pigtail tied with a ribbon, and she had pulled this pigtail around her neck and was biting the end of the ribbon, resting her elbows on the desk as she stared wonderingly at the new pupil. When Monsieur Dufarge began to speak to Sarah, she looked a little frightened, and when Sara stepped forward and looking at him with the innocent, appealing eyes, answered him without any warning in French, the fat little girl gave a Startled jump and. And grew quite red in her odd amazement, having wept hopeless tears for weeks in her efforts to remember that La Mer meant the mother and La Paire the father. When one spoke sensible English, it was almost too much for her suddenly to find herself listening to a child her own age who seemed not only quite familiar with these words, but apparently knew any number of others and could mix them up, up with verbs as if they were mere trifles. She stared so hard and bit the ribbon on her pigtail so fast that she attracted the attention of Miss Minchin, who, feeling extremely cross at the moment, immediately pounced on her. Miss St. John. She exclaimed severely, what do you mean by such conduct? Remove your elbows, take your ribbon out of your mouth, sit up at once. Upon which Miss St John gave another jump. And when Lavinia and Jessie tittered, she became redder than ever, so red indeed that she almost looked as if tears were coming into her poor, dull, childish eyes. And Sarah saw her and was so sorry for her that she began rather to like her and want to be her friend. It was a way of hers always to want to spring into any fray in which someone was made uncomfortable or unhappy. If Sara had been a boy and lived a few centuries ago, her father used to say, she would have gone about the country with her sword drawn, rescuing and defending everyone in distress. She always wants to fight when she sees people in trouble. So she took rather a fancy to fat, slow Little Miss St. John and kept glancing toward her through the morning. She saw that lessons were no easy matter to her, and that there was no danger of her ever being spoiled by being treated as a show pupil. Her French lesson was a pathetic thing. Her pronunciation made even Monsieur Dufarge smile in spite of himself, and Lavinia and Jessie and the more fortunate girls either giggled or looked at her in wondering disdain. But Sara did not laugh. She tried to look as if she did not hear when Ms. St. John pronounced Le bon pan lee bong pang. She had a fine, hot little temper of her own, and it made her feel rather savage when she heard the titters and saw the poor, stupid, distressed child face. It isn't funny, really, she said between her teeth as she bent over her book. They ought not to laugh. When lessons were over and the pupils gathered together in groups to talk, Sara looked for Ms. St. John, and finding her bundled rather disconsolately in a window seat, she walked over to her and spoke. She only said the kind of thing little girls always say to each other by way of beginning an acquaintance. But There was something friendly about Sara, and people always felt it. What is your name? She said, to explain Ms. St. John's amazement. One must recall that a new pupil is, for a short time, a somewhat uncertain thing. And of this new pupil the entire school had talked the night before until it fell asleep, quite exhausted by excitement and contradictory stories. A new pupil with a carriage and a pony and a maid and a voyage from India to discuss, was not an ordinary acquaintance. My name's Ermengarde St. John, she answered. Mine is Sara Crewe, said Sara. Yours is very pretty. It sounds like a storybook. Do you like it? Fluttered Ermengarde II. Like yours, Ms. St. John's chief trouble in life was that she had a clever father. Sometimes this seemed to her a dreadful calamity. If you have a father who knows everything, who speaks seven or eight languages and has thousands of volumes which he has apparently learned by heart, he frequently expects you to be familiar with the contents of your lesson books at least, and it is not improbable that he will feel you ought to be able to remember a few incidents of history and to write a French exercise. Ermengarde was a severe trial to Mr. St John. He could not understand how a child of his could be a notably an unmistakably dull creature who never shone in anything. Good heavens, he had said more than once as he stared at her, there are times when I think she is as stupid as her Aunt Eliza. If her Aunt Eliza had been slow to learn and quick to forget a thing entirely when she had learned it, Ermengarde was strikingly like her. She was the monumental dunce of the school, and it could not be denied. She must be made to learn, her father said to Miss Minchin. Consequently, Ermengarde spent the greater part of her life in disgrace or in tears. She learned things and forgot them, or if she remembered them, she did not understand them. So it was natural that, having made Sarah's acquaintance, she should sit and stare at her with profound admiration. You can speak French, can't you? She said respectfully. Sara got on the window seat, which was a big deep one, and, tucking up her feet, sat with her hands clasped around her knees. I can speak it because I have heard it all my life, she answered. You could speak it if you had always heard it. Oh, no, I couldn't, said Ermengarde. I never could speak it. Why? Inquired Zara curiously. Ermengarde shook her head so that the pigtail wobbled. You heard me just now, she said. I'm always like that. I can't say the words. They're so queer. She paused a moment and then added with a touch of awe in her voice, you are clever, aren't you? Sara looked out of the window into the dingy square where the sparrows were hopping and twittering on the wet iron railings and the sooty branches of the trees. She reflected a few moments she had heard it said very often that she was clever, and she wondered if she was, and if she was, how it had happened. I don't know, she said. I can't tell. Then, seeing a mournful look on the round, chubby face, she gave a little laugh and changed the subject. Would you like to see Emily? She inquired. Who is Emily? Ermengarde asked, just as Miss Minchin had done. Come up to my room and see, said Sara, holding out her hand. They jumped down from the window seat together and went upstairs. Is it true? Ermengarde whispered as they went through the hall. Is it true that you. You have a playroom all to yourself? Yes, sara answered. Papa asked Miss Minchin to let me have one because, well, it was because when I play I make up stories and tell them to myself and I don't like people to hear me. It spoils it if I think people listen. They had reached the passage leading to Sara's room by this time, and Ermengarde stopped short, staring and quite losing her breath. You make up stories, she gasped. Can you do that as well as speak French? Can you? Sara looked at her in simple surprise. Why, anyone can make up things, she said. Have you never tried? She put a hand warningly on Ermengarde's. Let us go very quietly to the door, she whispered, and then I will open it quite suddenly. Perhaps we may catch her. She was half laughing, but there was a touch of mysterious hope in her eyes which fascinated Ermengarde, though she had not the remotest idea what it meant or whom it was she wanted to catch, or why she wanted to catch her whatsoever she meant. Ermengarde was sure it was something delightfully exciting. So, quite thrilled with expectation, she followed her on tiptoe along the passage. They made not the least noise until they reached the door. Then Sara suddenly turned the handle and threw it wide open. Its opening revealed the room quite neat and quiet, a fire gently burning in the grate, and a wonderful doll sitting in a chair by it, apparently reading a book. Oh, she got back to her seat before we could see her, Sarah explained. Of course, they always do. They're as quick as lightning. Ermengarde looked from her to the doll and back again. Can she walk? She asked breathlessly. Yes, answered Sara. At least I believe she can. At least I pretend I believe she can, and that makes it seem as if it were true. Have you never pretended things? No, said Ermengarde. Never. I. Tell me about it. She was so bewitched by this odd new companion that she actually stared at Sara instead of at Emily. Notwithstanding that Emily was the most attractive doll person she had ever seen. Let us sit down, said Sara, and I will tell you. It's so easy that when you begin, you can't stop. You just go on and on doing it always. And it's beautiful. Emily, you must listen. This is Ermengarde St. John. Emily. Ermengarde, this is Emily. Would you like to hold her? Oh, may I? Said Ermengarde. May I really? She is beautiful. And Emily was put into her arms. Never in her dull, short life had Ms. St. John dreamed of such an hour as the one she spent with the queer new pupil. Before they heard the lunch bell ring and were obliged to go downstairs, Sara sat upon the hearthrug and told her strange things. She sat rather huddled up, and her green eyes shone and her cheeks flushed. She told stories of the voyage and stories of India. But what fascinated Ermengarde the most was her fancy about the dolls who walked and talked and who could do anything they chose when the human beings were out of the room, but who must keep their powers a secret and so flew back to their places like lightning when people returned to the room. We couldn't do it, said Sara seriously. You see, it's a kind of magic. Once, when she was relating the story of the search for Emily, Ermengarde saw her face suddenly change. A cloud seemed to pass over it and put out the light in her shining eyes. She drew her breath in so sharply that it made a funny, sad little sound. And then she shut her lips and held them tightly closed, as if she was determined either to do or not to do something. Ermengarde had an idea that if she had been like any other little girl, she might have suddenly burst out sobbing and crying. But she did not. Have you A. A pain? Ermengarde ventured. Yes, sara answered after a moment's silence. But it is not in my body. Then she added something in a low voice which she tried to keep quite steady, and it was. Do you love your father? More than anything else in all the world. Ermengarde's mouth fell open a little. She knew that it would be far from behaving like a respectable child at a select seminary to say that it had never occurred to her that you could love your father, that you would do anything desperate to avoid being left alone in his society for 10 minutes. Minutes. She was indeed greatly embarrassed. I. I scarcely ever see him, she stammered. He is always in the library reading things. I love mine more than all the world ten times over, sara said. That is what my pain is. He has gone away. She put her head quietly down on her little huddled up knees and sat very still for a few minutes. Minutes. She's going to cry out loud, thought Ermengarde fearfully. But she did not. Her short black locks tumbled about her ears and she sat still. Then she spoke without lifting her head. I promised him I would bear it, she said, and I will. You have to bear things. Think what soldiers bear. Papa is a soldier. If there was a war, he would have to bear marching and thirstiness and perhaps deep wounds, and he would never say a word. Not one word. Ermengarde could only gaze at her, but she felt that she was beginning to adore her. She was so wonderful and different from anyone else. Presently she lifted her face and shook back her black locks with a queer little smile. If I go on talking and talking, she said, and telling you things about pretending, I shall bear it better. You don't forget, but you bear it better. Ermengarde did not know why. A lump came into her throat and her eyes felt as if tears were in them. Lavinia and Jessie are best friends, she said, rather huskily. I wish we could be best friends. Would you have me for yours? You're clever and I'm the stupidest child in the school, but ioh I do so like you. I'm glad of that, said Sara. It makes you thankful when you are liked. Yes, we will be friends and I'll tell you what. A sudden gleam lighting her face. I can help you with your French lessons. Thank you so much for listening. Don't forget to check out my novel Christmas Carol. That's Carol with a K. Using the link in the show notes. I would be so grateful if you would consider buying a copy or a few copies for yourself or as a gift. If you buy a copy of the book and email me a screenshot of your receipt, you'll be entered into a drawing to receive your choice of either your money back or an additional signed copy. The email to send the receipt to is in the show notes. If you buy multiple copies, you can enter the drawing multiple times. The winner will be notified by email. Also, everyone who buys a copy of the book is entitled to a free signed book plate which you can stick into the book to make it a signed copy if you'd like one. Just email the screenshot of your receipt receipt to the email address listed in the Show Notes and let me know whom you'd like the book plate made out to and what address to mail it to. Thank you so much for supporting me and the work I do by buying my book this Christmas time. And of course don't forget to get in touch with comments or questions about this episode. Please go to my website faithkmore.com click on contact and send me your questions and thoughts. Or you can click on the link in the show notes to contact me. I'll feature one or two of your entries at the start of the next episode. All right everyone, story time is over. To be continued.