by Jacqueline Scott
"You will not speak to me like that no matter what you think of my appointment!"
These words were both preceded and followed by the unmistakable sound of a hand landing with considerable force on bare flesh. Anyone hearing these sounds might well have raised an eyebrow and been tempted to peek into the room from which they came. It was perhaps fortunate for at least one of the two women present in that room that nobody was around to hear, as it spared her from the embarrassment of somebody seeing her bare bottom sticking up in the air while her legs kicked wildly!
The events leading up to this set of circumstances had begun some time before, however, when a Miss Emily Sharp-Montagu had informed her employer that she could no longer remain in his employment while these girls were apparently allowed carte blanche to do as they pleased, and that she was returning to the south of England immediately. It was a brief interview as Miss Emily had already packed her bags and arranged for a cab to come to take her to the station. In addition, her employer, Sir Ranald Mackinnon, of the Glen Eskdale estate near Inverness, had no intention of trying to persuade her to stay. He had realised for some time that the appointment of Miss Sharp-Montagu had been a mistake and had been pondering how he might find a way to terminate her employment in such a way that allowed the woman to leave with some dignity.
While her abrupt decision was almost a relief, therefore, it did leave him with the problem of finding a successor as governess to his three daughters - and hopefully this time one who was capable of dealing with what Sir Ranald readily recognised as three headstrong girls.
In due course an advertisement had been placed in several appropriate newspapers and magazines and a considerable number of applications received. Sir Ranald and his wife, Lady Elspeth, went through these carefully and sometimes ruthlessly, discarding all those where the applicant had little or no experience. Eventually they decided on a short-list of four and arrangements were made to conduct interviews.
The first interviewee, a Miss Hamilton, impressed both parents. She was aged about 50 with a long experience of similar jobs over a long number of years. She said that she understood that young ladies might be difficult to handle but in her experience as long as the governess was consistent in her requirements, was backed up by the parents and was prepared to use corporal punishment as and when it was necessary, all such problems could be overcome.
The next two applicants seemed far less suitable when interviewed than their applications had suggested, and when the final candidate entered the room Sir Ranald had already more or less decided that the job would be offered to Miss Hamilton. The final candidate was a youngish woman called Susan Macdonald. The testimonials that she had enclosed with her application were excellent and showed that she had almost ten years' experience as a governess. Despite his earlier thoughts, as the interview proceeded Sir Ranald found himself warming to her as she described her experience in a very matter-of-fact and common sense manner. Her slightly lilting highland accent was easy to listen to as well and contrasted with the more prim and self-satisfied voice of Miss Hamilton.
When he asked her about how she might maintain discipline should she be successful with her application, she paused for little while and then said, "Well, Sir, I am a great believer that discipline should come from within, and that girls need to understand that. It takes some longer to learn it than others of course, and it is part of my job to help them. I am always optimistic that my reasoning will do the job perfectly well." She paused again and then, with a twinkle in her eye continued, "But if my optimism proves to be misplaced, then a red bottom usually helps. I have found that after a few experiences of that, the girls normally come round to my way of thinking quite quickly."
Once the interview was over Sir Ranald and his wife discussed which of the four candidates should be offered the position. It was a long discussion - far longer than Sir Ranald had anticipated earlier. Lady Elspeth favoured Miss Macdonald while he thought that Miss Hamilton might be a safer option. Eventually he accepted his wife's view that Miss Macdonald's sense of humour and the fact that she was closer in age to the girls who would be her charges might be a better appointment. A letter was then despatched to Miss Macdonald offering her the position.
Susan Macdonald had just turned 27, the youngest of three children and only daughter of a doctor and his wife who lived in Inverness. One older brother had been severely wounded in the last few weeks of the Great War, and had died from the effects of his injuries eighteen months later, leaving a wife and two very young children; while her other brother had followed his father into medicine and now worked in Edinburgh. Susan, like her brothers, had been well educated and had proved herself to be very bright. Her father commented that "Sometimes Susan just seems to absorb information like a sponge!" Nonetheless she had certainly not been a quiet studious child. A determination that anything that her brothers could do she would try hard to emulate had regularly led her into hot water, both at home and at school, and by the time she was 16 she had been spanked so often that she regarded it as just one of those things. Her brothers received the same treatment from time to time, of course, but that simply proved to Susan that she was as good as them... her parents would have had a different description!
After leaving school there had been talk of Susan going on to university but that would have meant leaving home and she didn't want to do that in the middle of the war. She helped her mother at home and became a volunteer for one or two charitable organisations, one of which involved her with children. After some time an older lady suggested to Susan's mother that her daughter showed real aptitude for dealing with children and had she thought about becoming a teacher? Mrs Macdonald discussed this with her husband and then with Susan, but before any decisions were taken and quite out of the blue, she was offered a job as a governess by a Lady Amelia Fraser who was a prominent benefactor at their local church. It appeared an ideal opportunity and Susan jumped at the chance. Now almost ten years later with the Fraser children grown up, she had been looking for a new position when she saw Sir Ranald Mackinnon's advertisement.
It was a week after receiving the letter offering her the position that Susan arrived at Eskdale Castle to meet her new charges for the first time. It wasn't really a castle, more like a French chateau in the sense that it had been built to be lived in rather than as a defensive structure. Over the years it had been expanded and improved, and was now a modern comfortable home for the Mackinnons.
On arrival, Susan was taken first to meet Sir Ranald in his office. He welcomed her and spent some time discussing her duties in more detail than had been possible at her interview, and dealing with some domestic issues. Susan was mildly surprised at this as she would have expected Lady MacKinnon to deal with such matters.
Sir Ranald then went on to explain, "My wife does not keep good health, Miss Macdonald, which is why I am dealing with matters that you are probably thinking would not normally be my domain. That means that I will rely on you to deal with the girls in almost all matters, including some which might usually be my wife's responsibility. I hope that is not a problem for you?"
"Not at all, Sir Ranald. I am happy to take on anything that might be helpful to you and Lady MacKinnon."
He smiled at her and thanked her for being so positive, then said, "You are already aware, of course, from the advertisement and your interview, that the girls are rather high-spirited. I'm afraid that the last holder of your position proved quite unsuitable. As no doubt you understand, this is very much a rural environment. The countryside can be quite wild, and what we might describe as our near neighbours tend to be some distance away. While they do have friends, the girls have tended to make their own entertainment and on occasions have behaved in a way that a governess who has been used to a more refined environment would find completely unacceptable. My wife and I would like that to change, Miss Macdonald. I do not wish the girls to lose their personalities but it is high time that they began to behave like young ladies. I hope you understand."
As he spoke Susan began to realise that this might be a more complicated job than she had anticipated, but she smiled and confirmed that she believed that she understood what he was asking her to do.
"Good. I understand completely that this may require you to discipline them," said Sir Ranald. "In fact, in your early days I suspect you might have to discipline them rather more than you might have expected. Please be aware that you may do so with the complete authority and support of my wife and I - no matter what you may hear to the contrary! Do not accept any arguments from them. My wife was insistent that I emphasised this last point."
They chatted for a little more about the subject of corporal punishment and then Sir Ranald suggested that they go through to the Drawing Room and meet the rest of the family. They all rose from their seats as Sir Ranald entered, followed by the new governess. Lady Elspeth came forward and welcomed Susan warmly.
"Good morning, Miss Macdonald, it is so nice to meet you again. My husband has spent some time welcoming you I'm sure, but I would just add my own welcome as well." Then she turned to her daughters and continued, "Girls, this is Miss Macdonald, your new governess. Come and introduce yourselves."
The three girls came forward in turn and announced their names as they shook Susan by the hand. There was Elspeth, the youngest at 18, presumably called after her mother, and Janet and Marjory, twins aged 20. None of them said anything other than their names and each one then quickly retreated.
Lady Elspeth smiled and said, "You will be wanting to see your quarters, Miss Macdonald, and get yourself settled in. Perhaps you could join us all for lunch at 1.00pm."
A lady was summoned, who turned out to be the housekeeper, and Susan was led upstairs to a bedroom with a small sitting room attached. Her boxes had already been brought upstairs and were waiting for her and the housekeeper told her where lunch would be served, and then left her.
Lunch was a slightly odd affair. Sir Ranald made most of the conversation with his wife participating to some extent. The three girls, however, were virtually monosyllabic and Susan wondered if that was the norm or whether it was something to do with her presence. She tried several times to bring them into the conversation but they were very reluctant to do so and eventually she gave up. It was something she would discuss with them when she had them on her own. With this in mind she suggested to Sir Ranald that it would be useful if she could meet with the girls individually later that afternoon.
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