AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 8
The moment that he was finished with Alfred, Robert checked the time to see where the day was headed and discovered that it was already past the time the children would be awake. This meant he would have to wait longer until he could meet with Anne.
No! I had been so looking forward to that, and now I have to wait longer? Who knows when she will have a free moment again? What if it is not for a very long time? But I suppose that if that is the correct time, then that means that they might be in the middle of classes right now... Perhaps I might go and ‘observe’ them for a time so that I could both watch Anne’s teaching style while having the chance to admire her.
Having made his decision, Robert set out for the space where Andre had told him the day before that they had their daily lessons, which was in one of the drawing rooms on the second floor. When he arrived at the door, he hesitated for a moment. He was worried that Anne might feel pressured or made uncomfortable by his presence. He did not want to make her feel as though she was being judged by him for her teaching methods, nor did he want her to feel as though she had to be on her best behaviour in his presence.
However, he simply decided that if he thought he was making Anne uncomfortable, he would leave, and they could discuss whatever they needed to later on. Having that in mind, he quietly opened the door, hoping not to disturb Anne and the children.
As soon as he was within their sight, though, all four of them stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him. Anne looked the most surprised, standing at the head of the class, whereas the children looked quite delighted to see him.
“Freddie!” Amelie cried, getting up and starting to run to him.
“Now, now, Amelie,” Anne called from the front of the room, and when the little girl heard her voice, she froze. “What have I told you about being distracted from your lessons by visitors?”
Amelie looked disappointed, but she understood why Anne was asking her to go back to her seat. She did as she was told, and then Anne looked to Robert.
“Mr Austen,” she said, the surprise of his arrival reflected in her voice. “To what do we owe the honour of your presence in our classroom?”
“I do apologize,” he began, “I never meant to interrupt. I only wanted to observe how the children were being taught, so that I might have a better idea of where they are in their journey of education. Please, do not mind my presence. I am only here because I want to know what you all are learning together!”
Andre turned around immediately and said, “Well, I can show the recitation that I learned from William Shakespeare.Can I show him, Miss Annie?”
“Not right now, but thank you Andre,” Anne said kindly. “That sounds splendid to me, Mr Austen. Please feel free not only to observe our lesson but take part in it if you feel compelled to. We would love to have your input!”
Richard nodded and smiled, and then watched gleefully as Anne continued teaching the children. He was so delighted that his presence didn’t seem to upset her, and he was instantly very impressed by the way that Anne was teaching.
They seemed to be working on their writing today, and Anne was very careful about how she tailored her lesson to each child individually. She never talked down to them, never scolded them when they got an answer wrong, and certainly never made them feel as though they weren’t smart.
For example, when she spoke with Margaret about a passage she was working on copying down to improve her penmanship, the child had copied down a word incorrectly.
“Maggie darling,” Anne said lovingly, “are you sure that the author wanted to say that the day was, ‘fine, clear, and full of operatics?’”
Margaret looked down at her paper and furrowed her brow. “What part of that sentence did I get wrong, Miss Annie?”
“I believe that the word is ‘opportunity’, not ‘operatics’. Do you remember what ‘opportunity’ means?” Anne asked all of her questions in a very neutral manner. There was no judgement in a single word that she said.
“Why yes of course,” Margaret said confidently. “It means that the day could be whatever one wants it to be. There are many things that one could do, and all of the options are good ones.”
“Excellent,” Anne congratulated her. “Then shall we strike ‘operatics’ from the record and replace it with ‘opportunity’?”
“If that is what you’d like, Miss Annie,” Margaret said jokingly. “But I feel that a day full of ‘operatics’ could be more fun than just silly opportunities.”
All of the children and Anne laughed, and then Margaret went back to her writing. Anne then went to check on how Andre was getting along on his paragraph about birds and how Amelie was working on her upper and lower case letters. Robert stayed at the back of the room for the next hour or so, and the longer he stayed, the more impressed he became with her.
When he finally managed to drag himself away from Anne and the children, Robert needed to take a moment to compose himself before he began the rest of his work. If he hadn’t, he likely would have walked around with a love-struck look on his face for the rest of the day.
Robert didn’t know when he and Anne would have a moment to discuss education, and so because he had got his reward of getting to watch her teach, he begrudgingly went ahead and completed the rest of the work he needed to do that day.
All the while, however, he could not get Anne out of his mind. Every time he closed his eyes to take a deep breath, the vision of her at the head of the class would pop into his mind, and he would become distracted. He felt like a schoolboy who liked his teacher, and while this did make him feel very silly and juvenile, he didn’t mind it. He’d never felt this way about a woman before, and although he had to keep reminding himself that Anne was off-limits, he relished in his ability to harmlessly fantasize about her while he worked.
When his day was beginning to wind down, Robert found himself in the sitting room that he and George had their initial meeting in. He was reading the book that his brother had given him to get an idea of what he would be doing in his role when he heard someone softly knock upon the door. He quickly hid his book out of sight and then called, “Come in!”
He had no idea who would be calling on him at this time of day, and so when Anne opened the door, he was rightfully surprised.
“Good afternoon, Mr Austen,” she said politely. “I hope that I am not interrupting you. Would now be a good time to go over the children’s educational plan?”
“Uh...” Robert struggled to find the right words because, of course, he wished to speak with her right now, but he was not expecting to see her this afternoon. He needed time to compose himself, think of witty things to say, and get himself out of his current flustered state. Anne had already caught him napping this morning, and so he did not want to appear unprepared in front of her for the second time in one day.
