Reception
Shirley is considerably relieved when the door of Government House shuts behind him — even just being inside the gates feels unsafe.
A well-dressed, rail-thin receptionist asks if he may be of assistance. Margaret, still feeling a little edgy, pulls out a Grand Ellipse token (it happens to be the one from Gibraltar) and shows it to the receptionist, saying, “We would like to see the representative for the race, please.” She is assuming that the receptionist will recognize the token.
The receptionist’s entire manner changes, official stiffness giving way to almost overwhelmingly helpful enthusiasm. He smiles broadly and says, “Ah, another Ellipsoid! I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure. Jason Straw at your service, Madame, Sir, Miss.” He nods respectfully and extends a hand to Shirley. “His Honour has just stepped out for a moment; I expect him back at any time. If you’ll kindly follow me to drawing room? And is there anything I can bring you while you wait?”
Margaret smiles and holds out her hand. “I’m delighted to meet you, Mr. Straw. We should be fine here until His Honour is free. If you could just ask someone to bring us some tea, we should be in your debt. We left our trunks in the care of the stationmaster, but we can send a messenger to have them delivered once we know where to send them, if you think they will be safe there for a time.”
Straw shakes Margaret’s hand rather more enthusiastically than she is used to from gentlemen. He is obviously most anxious to please, and very excited to meet the Ellipsoids. “Ever so pleased to meet you, ma’am — quite an honour, if I may say so. I shall have the tea things sent up at once, Doctor! His Honour would be most pleased if you would join him and Mrs. Collins for supper tonight, and you are welcome to stay the night at his house. And, of course, if there is anything that I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask. ”
“We would be delighted to accept both invitations,” Margaret answers.
“His Honour and Mrs. Collins shall be likewise delighted, I’m sure. I shall be sure to send your trunks on to His Honour’s house, in that case.”
“Thank you. I believe they are under the name of ‘Hampstead.’ We did not wish to advertise our presence in public.
“Ah, here we are.” Straw opens the door to a middling-sized room, comfortably and tastefully furnished in classic colonial style. A large picture window overlooks a garden riotous with colour. A lone, ancient gardener is weeding a riotous patch of orange and red poppies at the far end of the clearing. Several shallow glass cases on the wall displays pressed flowers; obviously, someone is an enthusiastic gardener.
Margaret takes a brief look in the cases, but she, too, is grateful to have arrived safely, and glad to relax. She takes a chair near Shirley, sneaking a quick glance to see how he’s doing; he seems quite all right. She looks over to Esperanza. “My dear? You are a wonder! How long does it take you to learn a new language? I am accounted quick at languages by most, but I am nowhere near ready to converse in this land.”
Shirley, too, smiles at Esperanza and says, “Warn me beforehand next time you plan to do something brilliant, will you please? If I had laughed the way I wanted to, we should have had the entire station staring at us!”
Margaret laughs in turn. “Yes, well, I was hard put to avoid doing an excellent imitation of a landed fish, mouth agape!”
Esperanza cocks her head to one side; it isn’t something she has ever thought about. “A few days to a week, I would guess it takes me. I do not know for certain. The more I hear, the easier it is, and I heard plenty of Marathi, Hindostani, and Urdu on the train. I think I was even hearing Urdu in my dreams! My Arabic is ever so much better since Alexandria and Bahrain, but we weren’t in Malta long enough for me to learn much– although Italian is so much like Spanish that I can understand it; I do not think I could speak it fluently, though.” Esperanza looks rather confused. “Señora Doctor learns languages also…”
Shirley is suitably impressed, and looks it. He is no slouch with languages himself, despite his limited opportunity to learn them, but a week’s exposure? Phenomenal. “As do I, when opportunity presents itself — but not in a week!” He reaches into his everpresent valise, rummages around a moment, and comes up with Lord Percy’s gift, the Arabic grammar, which he slides across an end-table to Esperanza. “A gift for your valour, Miss Garcia; you will doubtless make better use of it than I. Do you happen to speak any Russian?”
“Thank you, Mr. Addam!” She pounces on the book and flips through it briefly. “I haven’t heard any Russian, but I expect that it won’t take very long once we arrive in Vladivostok. Until we left Gibraltar, I had only heard French, English, and Arabic for any length of time. And French is enough like Spanish that it wasn’t difficult, although the sounds were odd to me, at first–and the spelling!” She shakes her head slightly, wondering why on earth the French need so many letters in each word, when they don’t even bother to pronounce all of them. Shirley and Margaret both note that although her voice still has a bit of an accent, her English is much improved.
A maid chooses this moment to arrive with an overloaded tea cart. “Mr. Straw said that you had been travelling all day, so I took the liberty of adding a few sandwiches and cakes.” She looks a bit apprehensive; she’s well aware that it verges on a sort of high tea — rather declassé for important guests — but Mr. Straw was most emphatic that the Ellipsoids were to be fed.
“How very thoughtful,” Shirley says. “Most appreciated, I assure you.”
Margaret’s smile is so open that the maid can’t keep worrying. “That was very thoughtful of you. I don’t know about Mr. Addam, but Esperanza and I quite ready to do these justice. Just put the cart over there” she points to a small table near the chairs “and I can pour.”
The maid is visibly relieved as she carefully wheels the tea cart over. “Mr. Straw asked me to tell you that a footman has been sent to move your luggage, and that His Honour has gone to the library. Mr. Straw has gone to fetch him back, and expects to return within the hour. In the mean time, if you should need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ring.”
“The latest _Times_, either of London or India, would be appreciated, but there is no hurry,” Shirley says, resigning himself to an inevitable delay in asking for news.
“I think that His Honour has this morning’s edition in his office. I shall see if I can find it.”
Margaret exchanges a glance with Shirley once the maid has gone. Obviously, Esperanza is a linguistic prodigy. Equally obviously, she has no idea of it. “Well then, dear heart, we shall have to give you the opportunity to learn more languages, since you seem to enjoy it so much.” She is smiling. “I was planning to ask you if you needed any more paints or pencils; I think I shall take you to visit a bookseller as well. Would you enjoy that? I was planning to see if there were any books to assist me in learning Japanese. Shall we make it a joint project?” If Margaret were Esperanza’s age, she’d be bouncing on her chair; at it is, her enthusiasm is probably making Shirley laugh.
“Perhaps you would find me a Russian grammar while you are there,” Shirley says. The first overwhelming relief past, his mind is inevitably turning back to the Addison situation, but he is content to keep his worries and surmises to himself and indulge Margaret and Esperanza’s pleasure. “I daresay it will take the two of us and at least two languages to keep that mind of yours busy, Miss Garcia.”
Esperanza looks a bit puzzled. “As for teaching… I am happy to try, but I do not know if I can teach you to learn by listening. I’m not sure exactly how to explain it–if I listen long enough, I can hear the patterns of the language. The only language I ever learned in a schoolroom sort of way was when I learned to read and write Spanish.” She pauses for a moment. “If I may ask, how long does it take you to learn a language, Mr. Addam, Senora Doctor? And how do you learn?”
Shirley shrugs. “All law students learn passable Latin in their first year. I learned spoken French from a Quebecois client of mine, and filled in the rest with grammars. His case dragged through a few appeals, lasting some months. I studied Spanish from a book on the way from England; I have the grammar nearly under control, I think, but my vocabulary is quite limited and I daresay my accent is an abomination. I’ve no idea what that tells you.”
Esperanza ponders this for a moment. “I am happy to help you practice as much as you wish… I am sure that you will learn it in no time! Spanish is very easy, I think, especially if you know some French already. The patterns are similar, even if the sounds and spelling are not.”
“It takes me a week or two to learn enough to function, but I have to be able to focus on one particular language, and to know what I am hearing. If only Urdu were spoken on the train, I would be beginning to understand, but there were many languages, and I could not sort them out to learn any of them. That is why you can teach me. If you speak to me slowly in one particular language, and let me repeat it until my mouth knows the feel of the sounds, I will learn it quickly. You can learn by listening. I must listen, and have explanations, and practice. I enjoy it tremendously, but I still must work at it.”
“I would be happy to start learning Japanese and Russian. Ought I start studying Chinese as well, for Hong Kong?”
“Indefatigable girl. Yes, go ahead; we shall see if even picture-writing can slow you down.”
“If it can be done from books, by all means! I am afraid I can be no help to you there. But we will look for books to get started. By the bye, Esperanza, if you ever find anything you want to learn about, please do let me know. If I am unable to teach you, I will find you books or someone who is familiar with the matter. It is such a delight to have a companion who wants to learn new things — I will help you any way I can.” It is utterly obvious that this offer is made out of the delight of sharing with a kindred spirit, and not just because she accepted an obligation to Esperanza.
“Of course, I am happy to learn languages to help you on the Grand Ellipse! I don’t think I could *not* learn them; sometimes it seems as though they slip into my head without my notice.” Esperanza beams. “And I should like to visit the bazaar — there is so much to see! And I would like to buy extra paint and pencils for the trip across Russia; the Colonel told me that Siberia is quite desolate, and that I should bring everything I might need with me. Perhaps another sketchbook or two as well; the one I brought from home is nearly full.”
Margaret grins in pure delight. “You shall have them, and some pastels as well, I think — I am not sure how well watercolours will work in the cold of Siberia.” She makes a mental note to write her parents a letter telling them about Esperanza, and asking that they take guardianship of her and give the girl all the education and opportunity she can absorb in the event that anything untoward should befall herself. She will do it that evening, and give it to His Honour to post with his household’s business.
Esperanza pulls her sketchbook out and hands it over to Margaret; it is full of neatly labeled landscapes and seascapes from their travels, street scenes, plants, animals, a few seashells, people, and even a few sketches of Shirley and Margaret. Esperanza has done small watercolour studies in the sketchbook as well, and her finished, loose watercolours are carefully organized in the back of the sketchbook. There are only a few blank pages left in the back of the book. The drawings are creditably well done, and improve noticeably through the book.
“Bah! who is that lanky lout?” Shirley murmurs with a sniff of disdain on seeing one of him. “Mi hija, no debes mostrar éstas a todo el mundo, para no — er, hacer daño a la honra de la señora doctor.” His accent is, as promised, wretchedly English, but his grammar is quite precise and correct.
“Esperanza, these are very nice,” Margaret remarks. “Have you had any formal drawing lessons?”
“My Tia–Aunt–Elena used to teach drawing at a girls’ school, and after my mother died, she let me sit in the room while she taught, so that she could watch me. She would give me bits of paper and small pencils or pastels; just things that were left over from the students. But I never really studied, I only practiced whenever I had the chance.”
“And listened to what your Tia was telling her students, I’ve no doubt. I don’t have your talent, but I do have some formal training; would you like me to work with you until we get back to England? We shall get you a better teacher there.”
“That would be wonderful!” Esperanza bites her lower lip, then blurts out, “I would very much like to go to art school, in England, after the Grand Ellipse — the one that your princess went to.”
“Then you shall; if something should happen to me, I have made sure my family will see to it. In the meantime, though, there is a whole world out there. I have some small volumes of poetry in my trunks; I’m sure you’ve seen them. I think we should read those together. Hmm; I shall have to see if the bookseller has anything by Cervantes, as well.”
“I do know how to read, but mostly in Spanish, and only a little French besides… I haven’t done it much.”
“Like anything, it becomes easier with practice, and I think you will enjoy it very much. There is nothing like a book to keep you company when you are alone. Let us see, you already know plain sewing, but I think you shall learn fancywork, as well. It will help you to learn design.” Suddenly Margaret stops and blinks. “Listen to me go on! But I do think you will enjoy those things, my dear. Would you like to try it?”
Esperanza nods, her head swimming with possibilities.
Margaret looks at the girl’s clothing. “I think I shall buy you some new travelling clothes, as well. You seem to be growing, my dear. We will choose things which are a little long, and I shall put tucks in them so we can let them out when we need to. This is a good place to find cottons and silks, and certain types of furniture as well, and my family’s firm can ship it for us. You shall have your own room in my home when we return to England; if you see things you would like to furnish it, we shall buy them and have them shipped back.”
Esperanza’s eyes go wide; she is beginning to have an inkling of what her life in England will be like after the Grand Ellipse, a subject to which she had not given much thought. She has always shared a room with Tia Elena; the idea of a room to herself is almost beyond belief; furnishing it at the Madras bazaar is pure fantasy.
“But you must do the bargaining, my dear. It will cost twice as much for me, speaking English, as you will be able to get speaking the native language. I shall be getting things for myself, as well, and anything I do not spend paying the European penalty shall be your reward, to spend on yourself as you like.”
“I should dress up like a local girl, as well — they’ll never know; there are so many languages here that nobody could possibly speak them all.” Esperanza is once again enthused; the chance to be helpful in addition to putting one over someone, with adult encouragement no less, is irresistible.
“Margaret,” Shirley says softly, loath to break the pleasant connection between the doctor and her ward, “you might ask your family’s man to wire home to have a trust set up for her. I would gladly fulfill your promises to her — in extremis — if I could, but I am not a wealthy man.”
The look Margaret gives Shirley is very warm. “Thank you for the thought, my dear. If I am not by and you are there, I would appreciate if you would make certain Esperanza is not lonely, nor too rigidly constrained. As well try to bind a nightingale! But do not worry about the financial aspect; it will be taken care of readily. I will compose a telegram to my brother tonight, and send it tomorrow. I believe I shall instruct him, not only to set up a trust for her, but to make her my ward and heir ‘de jure’ as well as ‘de facto’.” Then she laughs softly. “Would you believe, I engaged her originally simply as a lady’s maid and companion? So many things have happened, that I never thought of.” Obviously, she is not speaking only of Esperanza.
Esperanza is once again wearing her mischievous look. “And such a disappointing lady’s maid I have turned out to be.” She gives a melodramatic sigh, then giggles.
Margaret turns back to her. “I am sorry, my dear; I did not mean to talk about you as if you were not here. But that is, indeed, what I have been planning. Do you approve? If you do not like it, I shall find another way to keep my promises to you.”
Esperanza’s eyes go wide. “I believe my head is spinning… Señora Doctor, you have been so kind to me, I… I think that you know far better than I what would be best. I only know that I should very much like to go to England to study, after the Grand Ellipse.”
A sandwich and a cup of tea later, Shirley asks, “Doctor? Were you not planning to send a messenger to your family’s business associate? Now is as reasonable a time as any.”
“That is an excellent thought; thank you, Shirley.” She removes a note she has written while killing time on the train, adds a few words to the effect that they are now at Government House and would like to see the gentleman and rings for the maid. When she arrives, Margaret will give her the note, asking that a messenger be sent to the individual and giving the address. She also asks that the messenger wait for a response. A footman arrives to take the note for Margaret, and suggests that she have the reply sent to His Honour’s house, as Mr. Straw and His Honour are expected back at any moment. “Yes, do that please, and thank you for the suggestion.”
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