Chapter 7

Christmas had been put away, or at least its decorations had been until the next season. The students returned to the school the third week of January, after cold temperatures caused Mrs. Wickham to reconsider opening as early as usual after the New Year. Caroline had remained in Holyoke for two weeks after Christmas, which was far longer than she had expected to stay.

But by the time she had departed, she had coaxed her sister to take some samples of her sewing to a dressmaker. The two of them had been walking home from the market and had spied a sign in a window advertising a seamstress position. Eleanor had balked—again—at the idea.

“What if I’m not good enough?” She would barely look at the sign.

“Oh, but what if you are exactly who they are looking for? What then? Eleanor, it doesn’t matter how fancy or not the home we go to at night; it’s how we present ourselves. They are looking for an excellent seamstress, and I believe you are her.”

Eleanor’s face had flushed. “Well then, let’s go in.” And so they did.

Caroline had yet to receive word if Eleanor had been hired, but at least her sister had tried something new that she hadn’t before.

On this particular chilly afternoon, instead of walking the courtyard outside, the students were permitted to amuse themselves by playing games indoors. It made for a rather raucous display, but so long as no one broke anything or was injured, Caroline didn’t mind so much.

However, she could practically see the ends of Stephen’s mustache twitching from all the noise. More than seventy girls ages ten to eighteen made for quite a bubbly gathering, and even Caroline felt a tad overwhelmed by the noise and chatter. The younger students were playing games like checkers, and someone had set up hopscotch in the front hallway beneath the Olympiad score sign.

The older students decided it would be fun to play hide-and-seek, with Eugenia and Celeste leading the way. Classrooms and more making up the big old building would have perfect hiding places for the creative child, both younger and older.

Eugenia volunteered to seek first. Caroline watched as they all scattered with a clatter of boots on the floor. Eugenia began counting backward from fifty—they had had a bit of discussion that starting at one hundred would take too long—and Caroline crept out of the room, joining in the fun.

She headed to the hall, then tiptoed into the mathematics room, where Stephen appeared to have taken refuge. His eyebrows shot up when he saw her.

“Shhh, I’ll be right behind the door.”

“As if they could hear you, with all the commotion out there.” He looked at her with an amused expression as she slipped behind the open door. He continued at his desk, writing notes and looking at a book.

At last, she could hear Eugenia shout, “Ready or not, here I come!”

Then came tentative footsteps in the hall. Stephen rose from his desk and headed to the blackboard, where he began to write out sums with parts of the equations removed. She had suggested the idea of a math race, requiring the students to fill in the correct missing number to complete the problem. She was glad to see he was taking her advice for a little more informal instruction.

Caroline glimpsed Eugenia through the crack in the door. She kept her breathing even and slow as the girl tiptoed into the classroom. Caroline had nearly decided it was a good time to make a run for it when something made her pause and watch Eugenia continue her stealthy progress. She was heading toward Stephen with her hands outstretched. He had his back to the doorway.

A few more paces and she’d reach him. Caroline stepped from behind the door. “Hey, try to catch me!”

She allowed herself a glimpse of Eugenia’s surprise along with Stephen’s startled face before she ran back down the hall. Just as she figured, the girl followed her. She let herself be tagged right before getting back to the home spot.

Eugenia, breathless from the dash down the hallway, was laughing when she caught Caroline. “Got you!”

Caroline chuckled. “So you did.”

“You’re the first one I tagged.”

“It appears so,” she said. “However, you did look as though you were preparing to tag someone else, such as Mr. Mason.”

A flush of red crept up Eugenia’s neck and suffused her face. “I might have been.”

“Well, he was not playing the game, so it wouldn’t have counted.” Caroline kept her smile in place. “Go catch some of the others. But not someone who is not playing the game.”

With a nod, Eugenia scurried off in the direction from which they’d both just come.

Although they’d had a little chat about Mr. Mason some time ago, Caroline wasn’t so sure Eugenia’s pursuit of the man during the game hadn’t been with another motive. Was she, in fact, sweet on her teacher? That could cause problems. Today’s action during hide-and-seek ignited Caroline’s suspicions. The first chance she had, she would look at Eugenia’s grades and also speak with Stephen about the matter.

After the loosely controlled afternoon of high jinks, Stephen breathed a sigh of relief when dismissal time came. If—or when—he became director of the academy, he would see to something a bit more structured in the way of indoor recreation. Certainly none of the running and chasing in the halls. The only casualty was a box of chalk that someone had knocked onto the floor, the contents of the box shattered. That, and a skinned knee of ten-year-old Judith White. She endured the pain without so much as a flinch, to her credit, when Caroline cleaned the wound.

The bearer of the name that crossed his mind now stood in the doorway. She frowned, glancing over her shoulder as she did so. “All your afternoon students have gone?”

“Yes, they’re gone. Is something the matter?”

She marched over to his desk and stood in front of it. “I have a concern about a student. I’m not quite sure if my concerns are founded—or if it’s anything at all.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s Eugenia Ware. I believe that, well, she has, ah, some kind of feelings for you. That is to say, I believe she, either now or in the past, feigned having problems with mathematics so she could see you more.”

Her face bloomed red. She was always a proper woman, save for the time he’d seen her shout and then run out from behind the door of his classroom this afternoon.

He looked down at the papers on his desk to allow her to regain her composure. “Her grades have improved since the start of the fall term, and she’s making progress. Her improvement should also help my team’s average, so it’s a plus for both her and for me.”

Then he stopped and considered Caroline’s words for a moment. Come to think of it, he did consider it a bit odd and startling that Eugenia would come after him during the afternoon game of hide-and-seek.

Caroline had announced her presence and he had turned to see Eugenia right behind him. Eugenia hadn’t known Caroline was behind the door.

Aloud, he said, “What should we do about it? She’s but a child.”

“She’s turned eighteen, Stephen. In her society, she is ready for courting, for marriage.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize that.” He set his chin on his hands. “She hasn’t seemed quite as eager to study as she was last fall.”

Caroline nodded. “Some students are not so keen about studying, especially during the second half of the school year. Perhaps she has prospects and is waiting for her parents to make a decision. Some of these girls go on to higher education, but for others, Wickham’s is but a stepping-stone to the next part of their life—marriage and running a household.”

“Would you sit down with me, and we could speak to her?” He shifted in his chair.

“Yes, of course I would.” Voices in the hallway made her look over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that is Eugenia with some of her classmates. I’ll check.”

She strode to the open door and looked into the hall. Sure enough, there was Eugenia, arms linked with two of her friends. “Eugenia, please come with me for a moment.” She gestured toward the classroom.

“Yes, Miss Parker.” Eugenia left her friends and headed in Caroline’s direction.

“Come, sit down with Mr. Mason and me.”

Eugenia followed Caroline into the classroom and took a seat at a desk. She clasped her hands on the desktop and glanced at them both.

Caroline smiled at the young woman. Yes, she truly was a young woman, her hair piled on her head and a bit askew, her cheeks flushed red, her smile wide. Caroline knew little about Eugenia’s background other than her father was a businessman and her mother a former teacher. She had an easy life, relatively speaking, and would likely marry well someday.

“Do you remember the conversation we had in the fall, about your mathematics studies?” Caroline asked.

“Yes, Miss Parker, I do.”

Now what to say? Are you improving just enough to help your average and give me points for the Olympiad, but holding back so that you can claim you need extra help from Mr. Mason?

No, that wasn’t quite the thing to say.

Caroline cleared her throat. “It seems to me that you are doing well enough that you don’t need the additional help from Mr. Mason.” There. That was the easiest solution. As it was, he did not meet with students by themselves, but in small groups.

“But I enjoy the mathematics group very much.” Eugenia’s lower lip protruded. “I know it has helped me immeasurably.”

Caroline looked at Stephen and nodded. “Mr. Mason?”

“Miss Ware, I agree with Miss Parker. You’ve made excellent progress. I don’t see the need for you to come back to the mathematics help group. This is your final year at the school, and I believe you’ll continue to improve as the year goes along.”

“But I want to do more mathematics.”

“Whyever would you want to?” Caroline asked. “As long as you have been my student, you have never had much enthusiasm for mathematics and figures. Perhaps Mr. Mason’s time might be used more wisely for a student who faces more mathematics challenges.”

Eugenia frowned. “I suppose you’re right.” She looked almost wistful.

Stephen decided to end the conversation. “I’m flattered that you have done so well in this class thus far. But as Miss Parker says and I’ve said, I believe you’ve accomplished much this year. You really don’t need my help anymore.”

“Thank you very much for your help.” Eugenia stood. “May I go now?”

He and Caroline exchanged glances. “Yes, you may go.”

With that, Eugenia nearly bolted from the classroom, her boots loud on the wooden plank floor.

Caroline let out a soft sigh—of relief, Stephen presumed. “I suppose that went as well as we could expect,” she said.

“I believe it did.” He regarded the woman sitting across from him. “Thank you. I think it was a wise action, and not something I would have thought of, because I wasn’t paying attention to it.”

She nodded, then smiled at him.

Stephen blurted out, “Would you like to take a walk with me after supper this evening? After the bonfire?”

He couldn’t believe it. What had he done? They’d taken to having a small bonfire in the courtyard for the few resident students on Fridays after the sun went down. It was too cold for outdoor activities and some of them had cabin fever during the wintry months. He didn’t blame them.

He waited for her response.

“Yes, I would like that very much.”

“I’ll see you then.”