Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

superintendent or directrice of the school at the Pensionnat Heger in Brussels attended by Charlotte and Emily in 1842, and Charlotte alone in 1843. She was the daughter of an emigré from France, and the origins of the school seem to have been in one run by an aunt of hers, a nun. She it was, however, who acquired the Pensionnat in the Rue d’Isabelle in 1830. Her marriage to Constantin Heger was happy, and Charlotte’s references to her during her first stay are all respectful and grateful, though less than affectionate. It is only some months into her second stay that the tone of the references changes – first, significantly, in letters to Emily, who knew her (“You are not to suppose . . . that I am under the influence of warm affection for Mde Heger. I am convinced she does not like me,” to EJB, 29 May 1843), and then, more circumspectly to Ellen: “She is not colder to me than she is to the other teachers – but they are less dependant on her than I am” (to EN, late June 1843). Later comments show Charlotte beginning to turn Mme. Heger into a fictional character: “Madame Heger is a politic – plausible and interested person – I no longer trust her” (to EN, 13 Oct 1843). In a note on a geography book dated the next day Charlotte tells of someone who “seems a rosy sugar-plum but I know her to be coloured chalk.” It may be that the rare letters of this year from her to Emily survive ... log in or subscribe to read full text