Violet looked briefly from her mother to her ex-governess and then lost no time in going over to one of the chairs by Helena's bed and sitting down decisively. She would indeed like to hear about such shenanigans. Though she couldn't picture her calm and proper Miss Howard involved in any, she fervently hoped that there had been some. She looked back at Jane's face and smirked slightly.

Jane raised her eyebrows slightly before joining Violet in another of the chairs by Helena's bedside. Oh dear, she really should have seen this coming. But then again, what was a little discomfort compared to her friend's sanity and happiness? Besides, Violet was a young woman now and no longer under her care; it wouldn't hurt her to learn that her mother and governess had had lives of their own once upon a time.

"Well, first of all, it was a wonder we ever became friends at all, because we were in different Houses. You were sorted into Slytherin, like all the rest of your family--except for dear Horatio, of course." The Blackthorne family had been quite shocked and mortified when Ignatius' youngest son had wound up in Hufflepuff, though Horatio had embraced it without any embarrassment whatsoever. "And I was in Ravenclaw, way up in the highest tower, at the opposite end of the castle from the Slytherin dorms down in the dungeons. But when two people are fated to come together, circumstances work to make it happen." Jane smiled at Helena and then Violet, drawing the story out for a bit of suspense.