The Buccaneers

Nan searches for Conchita Closson and finds her in a nearby field. Nan approaches and immediately raises her concern about the imminent arrival of a governess. Conchita expresses surprise at the idea. She listens sympathetically and suggests that a governess might cooperate with a pupil in carrying messages and keeping mutual secrets. Nan is unsettled but intrigued. Conchita offers cigarettes and Nan accepts, smoking for the first time and quickly becoming confident. Conchita blows smoke rings, gives Nan the packet, and suggests that she practice smoking at night. Nan returns toward the hotel in improved spirits.

At the hotel entrance, Nan sees her father, Colonel St. George, and greets him warmly, hopeful that he will resolve the governess issue. He produces rich gifts for the family, including a diamond brooch for his wife. When he learns of Nan’s objection to the governess and her fear of being barred from seeing Conchita, he grows concerned because he wants to please Mr. Closson for business reasons. He explains that Mr. Closson is troubled by society’s coldness toward his wife. He then suggests that Nan persuade her mother and others to be polite to Mrs. Closson and to include Conchita in their circle. In return, he promises to “fix it up with the governess” (19). Nan agrees.

Mrs. St. George reflects on her earlier faith in her husband’s ability to resolve family problems, but now she recognizes that many of those problems originate with him. Despite his fondness for poker, whisky, and questionable company, she still admires his appearance and status, contrasting him with Mr. Elmsworth and Mr. Closson, whom she disdains. The Colonel enters warmly and presents her with a diamond brooch. She is moved but anxious about the expense and about the governess who is due to arrive on Monday.

When she asks him to discourage their daughters from associating with Conchita Closson, he urges his wife to be friendly with Mrs. Closson for business reasons. Hearing this, she feels that the diamond is a bribe, but she complies. Later, the Colonel asks whether the Clossons will be invited to supper, and at the hotel supper, the seating is accordingly rearranged to include them. Two new male guests appear with them: Teddy de Santos-Dios and Lord Richard Marable, an English younger son employed on the Closson estancia. The girls arrive, and during the meal, Mrs. St. George observes Lord Richard’s fixed attention on Conchita. She is relieved that he does not look at her own daughters that way.

Miss Laura Testvalley arrives at the Saratoga Springs station to begin work as a governess for the St. George family. Guided by a governess agency and a strong reference from Mrs. Parmore, she secures a promise of $80 a month with Mrs. St. George. Her decision to work for the St. Georges is also driven by her family obligations to support her elderly, infirm relatives and to aid a sister with six children. Her background includes a notable Italian lineage through her grandfather, the patriot Gennaro Testavaglia, who was a hero of the Italian unification. She also has connections to the Rossetti family, including the poet Dante Gabriel.

At the station, Miss Testvalley waits patiently until a hotel carriage arrives, containing a group of young women who spill out and surround her with laughter. After observing the group, she identifies Nan as her “special charge” (36). Nan reacts with anger and humiliation, exclaiming that if she is a baby, she needs a nurse and not “a beastly English governess” (36). Despite this outburst, Miss Testvalley calmly directs the party to the carriage. When a young man in overalls lifts her trunk to the roof, she is shocked to recognize him as Lord Richard. During the drive, Nan bursts into tears and apologizes, and Miss Testvalley accepts the apology.

Mrs. St. George attends the races with Colonel St. George, experiencing anxiety about his acquaintances, then returns alone to the hotel to meet the new governess. She arrives as a noisy group escorts Miss Testvalley from the carriage, with Teddy de Santos-Dios in a waiter’s jacket and Conchita’s poodle performing. Embarrassed, Mrs. St. George apologizes. Miss Testvalley thanks the young women for meeting her.

Later, in a private meeting, Mrs. St. George struggles to maintain her dignity as she alludes to the Clossons and to her husband’s business ties, and she also learns that Miss Testvalley knows Lord Richard. Miss Testvalley indicates that she worked for “Lady Brightlingsea for two years—as his sisters’ governess” (40). Shifting to professional matters, Miss Testvalley requests an outline of Nan’s studies. Mrs. St. George emphasizes the importance of training the girls to “behave like ladies” (41).

Later, in her room, Miss Testvalley feels isolated but finds a bunch of geraniums and mignonette, likely from Nan, which improves her spirits. She visits the sisters before supper and assists Nan in retrieving a lost slipper and straightening her dress, then notes Virginia’s elaborate appearance. Nan admits that Lord Richard suggested the flowers, then asks about Conchita’s chances with him. Miss Testvalley suggests that the matter does not concern them.

After supper and dancing, Miss Testvalley returns to her room and observes light and noise from the Closson rooms. She hears Santos-Dios’s guitar and multiple voices. When she identifies Lord Richard’s voice and Nan’s laughter, she considers intervening but refrains. When the gathering breaks up, she listens in the corridor as the girls return to their rooms. Later, she hears a “heavy but cautious step” (48) and the tune of Champagne Charlie, follows the sound in the dark, and recognizes Lord Richard entering a room down the corridor. The episode prompts her memory of a brief undisclosed incident at Allfriars involving Lord Richard and a governess. She knows that his later banishment from home concerned “far more deplorable” (49) behavior.

Colonel St. George buys a house on Madison Avenue that he considers to be socially suitable, but Mrs. St. George learns that fashionable families avoid the avenue, disapprove of basement dining rooms, and prefer more restrained decorations. Although the Elmsworths move to Fifth Avenue, their daughters are not much more included in the fashionable social circles than Virginia is. Events like the subscription balls and the Opera highlight the family’s exclusion. One day, the hairdresser Katie Wood casually mentions the Assemblies and the Thursday Evening Dances in a way that underscores Virginia’s absence from these lists, but offers for Virginia to attend without her parents are refused, since “in the best society girls did not go to balls without their parents” (51).

News arrives that Conchita Closson will marry Lord Richard Marable in November; she only just met him in August. The speed of the engagement and the resulting rumors trouble Mrs. St. George, but the match gives the Clossons new visibility. Miss Testvalley visits. Mrs. St. George remarks on Lord Richard’s reputation and speculates about the Clossons’ finances and plans, while Miss Testvalley answers cautiously. She concludes that her loyalties lie with the excluded families and considers whether Lord Richard might indirectly help secure Assembly access for the St. Georges.

Back in New York, there are frequent visits between the St. Georges and the Clossons. Miss Testvalley accompanies Nan to the Fifth Avenue Hotel to maintain a sense of propriety for her charge. In Mrs. Closson’s rooms, the mother asks about the Brightlingsea family and says she wants only Conchita’s happiness. Conchita arrives to display her Assembly dress, and it is revealed that she has been invited as Teddy de Santos-Dios’s partner, since a girl is permitted to attend such events with her brother. Virginia and Nan will serve as bridesmaids, although they are not invited to the Assembly. Virginia assists Conchita with her dress without complaint. Miss Testvalley notes the lack of envy among her pupils and feels a deep desire to help their social prospects.

Miss Testvalley encounters Lord Richard at the foot of the stairs, and he explains that Mr. Closson has asked if there is any reason Lord Richard’s marriage to Conchita should not proceed, noting that there has been no response from his family. She asks whether he “told them everything” (62) about Conchita’s background. He confirms this, then alludes to an old family incident about “the cheque” (63): a matter that Miss Testvalley acknowledges hearing about from his mother. She asks him whether he is sincerely in love with Conchita, and he assures her that he is. She secures his promise that nothing will endanger Conchita’s happiness, then agrees to support him. She also requests that he “get Miss Closson’s bridesmaids invited to the Assembly ball next week” (65). He agrees to try, with the understanding that her role in the invitation should not be mentioned.

At the Assembly ball, Conchita attends with her brother and with Lord Richard’s sisters, the Ladies Honoria and Ulrica. Their arrival draws attention, and as the young women dance, they attract multiple partners. Virginia St. George and Lizzy Elmsworth attend as bridesmaids through their newly secured invitations. Late that night, Nan visits Miss Testvalley, unable to sleep and disappointed at being left out. She laughs about how the invitations were arranged, then asks Miss Testvalley to read to her. The governess reads a poem by her relative, Dante Gabriel, and continues until Nan falls asleep. Virginia returns near dawn.

On the day before the wedding, a cable arrives, addressed to Miss Testvalley from Lady Brightlingsea. It asks whether Lord Richard’s bride to be is Black, and the message is signed, “ANGUISHED MOTHER SELINA BRIGHTLINGSEA” (73). Miss Testvalley interprets the message as a geographical confusion and replies, “NO, BUT COMELY” (74).