and Madame Heger agreed that it would be for the best, when they
learnt only that part of the case which she could reveal to them--namely,
Mr. Bronte's increasing blindness. But as the inevitable moment of
separation from people and places, among which she had spent so many
happy hours, drew near, her spirits gave way; she had the natural
presentiment that she saw them all for the last time, and she received
but a dead kind of comfort from being reminded by her friends that
Brussels and Haworth were not so very far apart; that access from one
place to the other was not so difficult or impracticable as her tears
would seem to predicate; nay, there was some talk of one of Madame
Heger's daughters being sent to her as a pupil, if she fulfilled her
intention of trying to begin a school. To facilitate her success in this
plan, should she ever engage in it, M. Heger gave her a kind of diploma,
dated from, and sealed with the seal of the Athenee Royal de Bruxelles,
certifying that she was perfectly capable of teaching the French
language, having well studied the grammar and composition thereof, and,
moreover, having prepared herself for teaching by studying and practising
the best methods of instruction. This certificate is dated December 29th
1843, and on the 2nd of January, 1844, she arrived at Haworth.
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