It was time to say her last goodbyes to the Nuns. The coachman had arrived to get her to the Higgins' family. Elora packed up her stuffs and walked towards the hallway as the coachman and the carriage arrived. Mother Jane stood right beside her. The coachman got down from the carriage as he approached the nun and the young lady.
"Greetings Mother! Greetings Mi lady." He greeted both of them.
"Greetings. You must be here for the new governess??" Mother Jane asked.
"Yes ma'am. Sir Higgins sent me to get her." He replied.
"Here she is!" She said as she placed her arm on Elora's shoulders.
"Hi! I'm Elora." She introduced herself as she stretched out her hands for a handshake which he happily gave.
"Nice to meet you Elora. I'm Derrick." He introduced himself.
"Lovely!" She exclaimed.
"So may we leave now? You don't want to keep Sir Higgins waiting. He's a very busy merchant and he doesn't derive pleasure in time wasting." He reminded.
"That means you should be on your way Elora."
"I'll miss you Mother." She expressed.
"I know! I will miss you too my once upon a time little angel. You're grown now and time flies. It's time you learn to look out for yourself. Remember all I taught you."
"Yes Mother Jane. I always remember and I promise to be the woman you want me to be." She smiled.
"I know you will. Good luck my child! I promise to keep in touch with you. I'll write you letters." She said with a smile.
"Me too, Mother Jane." They both hugged each other while Derrick helped her get her stuffs into the carriage.
"Ready Miss Elora?" He asked and she nodded.
"Yes. Let's go!"
"Farewell my child. Be safe!" Mother Jane said to her as she watched them aboard the carriage. They waved at each other as the carriage left.
The Higgins lived in the next town. It wasn't quite far from the seminary. Elora had never been to the next town and it was her first time exploring it. It was a peaceful and lovely town with Happy children on the streets. The marketplace was a beautiful sight to behold for Elora as she watched diverse sellers and buyers conversing and exchanging goods and services.
"Is the town always this busy??" She asked Derrick.
"Yes Elora. You haven't been here before?"
"Nope. But I sure hope I'll be able to come here once!" She answered and he laughed.
"Sure."
Soon, they approached a large mansion. From the looks of it, one could assume there were diverse rooms in it. Elora gasped at the sight of the mansion before her. She thought the Higgins house would a simple apartment and not one that big.
"And they have just one kid? That's odd. With this large mansion, they should have more than one child in it." Elora wondered to herself. They approached the gate and the gate man stepped out to see who it was.
"Welcome Derrick."
"Thank you. Is Lord Higgins home?"
"Yes. Surely must be having his quiet time upstairs."
"Great. I'm here with the new governess for Lady Chloe as instructed by Lord Higgins." He said to him.
"Alright. Let me get the gate." He opened up the gate and the carriage rode in. They stopped in front of the wide stairs before the balcony. Coachman Derrick opened the carriage and Elora stepped out.
"Welcome to the Higgins' household Miss Elora." He welcomed her.
"Thank you." She replied with a smile. Two maids approached them and welcomed Elora.
"Welcome Miss." They both say to her.
"Thank you." She responds with a faint smile.
"Please come with me." One of the maids beckon on her. She tries to take her stuff with her.
"Don't worry about that. Magdalene will take care of that." She assured her.
"Oh! Okay!" She simply replies and follows her. She takes her into the house leading her into the large living with beautiful interior decorations. The place was lovely sight to behold. And Elora admired the place so much.
"Have a seat Miss. Lord Higgins will be here soon to see you. He has been told about your arrival. He'll be here to access you and confirm if you're compatible enough to be Lady Chloe's governess. In the meantime, kindly be patient and wait for him." She addressed her as she turned to leave.
"Uhm.... ma'am!" She called out.
"Yes Miss?" She replied.
"The Lord is it really just one daughter he has?? I mean... don't get me wrong, this mansion is quite too big for just one child to fit in." She said. The maid faked a smile and replied.
"You'll get to know everything as soon as the Lord sees you." Then she took her leave without waiting for any further questions from her. Elora had other questions but it seemed the maid wasn't interested in giving her the answers she needed. She just sighed as she took her seat, watching her leave.
She began to look around observing the scenario before her. The place was quite lovely. The urge to explore had began to rise in Elora. She began to walk round the large room admiring every corner of it. The interior decorations were something she hadn't seen before.
"It seems Lord Higgins must be a very rich merchant to have these gold decorations." She thought out loud. She then saw a portrait of Lord Higgins and his family. From the picture, the child seemed few months old. But it was clearly an old portrait because she had been told the kid was over 9 years of age. She admired the mother of the child. She was so damn pretty.
"She's so pretty. I bet she'll just be as pretty as her mother." She said to herself as she admired the portrait.
"Yes, she sure is a pretty as her mom." A masculine voice replied echoing in the room. Elora froze on the spot as she heard the voice, as the portrait fell off her hand. She jolted back to reality as she quickly picked up the fallen portrait and placed it back where she had met it. Then she apologised immediately to Lord Higgins.
"My apologies sir."
"I see you're such a clumsy maiden. Tell me... do you think you're fit as my daughter's governess with your clumsiness??" He asked.
"My clumsiness was unexpected Sir. But I'm very sure I can and I will be able to handle your daughter as her governess Sir." She smartly replied with a courtesy. A smirk appeared on Charles Higgins' face as he took a seat watching the trembling, harmless lady before him.