Charlotte

Yes, I do have fond memories of Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre." Yes, the governess, a private tutor of the female variety, seems to be a common fixture of England's classic literature. Another example is "The Turn of the Screw," I do agree. However, it does not logically follow that all single women will be strangling little boys if allowed charge of them for any length of time. That was only one extremely strange case of mental illness if based on a true story. And anyway, I am not interested in even trying to qualify for such a thankless task as that. Thus, I would agree that it seems I do not qualify for the role of the Tutor of Bombie, said character being the a male McClellan ancestor who was murdered in cold blood by the Douglas clan. How could this be? Simply because he declined membership in the league of Earls? How could such a minor matter incur such wrath? Or could it be true that the Tutor had put a Douglas to death and the Douglas clan sought retribution? More than one version of the story circulates continually but nevertheless Sir Patrick Gray arrived with a letter from the king commanding the release of McClellan. Douglas refused to open the letter until after dinner, saying he preferred not to discuss the matter with a fasting man, and then after dinner it was too late. Before dinner he had privately sent orders to have McClellan beheaded and then after dinner presented the headless body. Sir Patrick commented that if Douglas preferred to keep the head then he should also keep the body and, departing across the drawbridge, turned to shout with clenched fist: "My lord, if I live, you shall be rewarded for this." Gray later did kill Douglas with the king's assistance. The McClellans were not satisfied, however, and continued to harrass the Douglas clan until the king declared that the Bombie lands were forfeited by the McClellans and given to the one who killed the captain of the gypsies. That is when the young McClellan made haste to fulfill the king's requirement and presented the head to the king. Thus the McClellans rose to power in the late 1400s while the fortunes of the Douglas clan began to decline. And the rest is history. But no, I supposed that murdering me, some yucky girl, is just not nearly as bad as killing a man and will thus not invite the wrath of the king. So basically you are saying that I am garbage and nobody cares what happens to me. So, yes, there is a double standard, obviously.