Chapter 2 Summary

The governess's image of steering the ship hits home in the second chapter when she received a letter from her employer containing a brief request to handle the issue contained in a second, unopened letter sent to him from Miles' school. The school letter contained the unpleasant news that Miles has been expelled, stating that he was 'an injury to others.' Having opened the letter just before bed, she spent a second sleepless night pondering its consequences and confronts Mrs. Grose about it the next day.

Imparting the news to Mrs. Grose, the governess caught a quickly masked look from the latter that she found remarkable. Mrs. Grose was taken aback when the governess read part of the letter to her, and responded with indignation that Miles could not harm anyone. She later admitted that Miles has been known to be bad...