do something. And this will help us to stay together.
And Anne.
I will stay as a governess with the Robinson family, Anne said sadly. There’s not enough money for us all to go, and… the Robinson are not so very bad.
It was always like that . Anne was a gentle girl; she did not fright as hard as the others. Perhaps her life was easier because of that. I don’t know.
But I thought it was a wonderful idea. I wrote to Belgium, and found then places in a school in Brussels, which was owned by a Monsieur Heger. I agreed to take the girls there, and for a month I wrote down French words in a little pocket book, to help me on the journey. Then, one afternoon in 1842, we caught the train to London.
I had not been to London for over twenty years, and my daughters had never been there. We stayed for three days, and then we took the night boat to Belgium, and arrived at a tall, fine school building in the centre of Brussels.
Heger himself was a very polite, friendly man –very kind. He did not always understand my French, but he showed me round the school, and talked a lot, very fast. I smiled, and tried to answer.
The two girls were very excited when I left them. As I came home on the boat, I thought; This is a good thing, a fine thing, perhaps. My daughters will start a good school, and Haworth will become famous. I hope Branwell can make a success if his life, too. Then my wife Maria will be pleased with us all.