n hears about this latest apparition, the governess has already identified it in her own mind as her predecessor Miss Jessel. In the narrative that follows this event, the characters of both Mrs Grose and the governess are revealed a little more, and the plausibility of the visions become increasingly suspect because of the lack of real evidence, and the ambiguous communication between the two women. The governess makes assumptions about Flora's intentions to deceive her, insisting to Mrs Grose that she would lie if questioned, and also that she knows the woman' (Miss Jessel) is determined to get hold of Flora. She describes her as infamous'. Mrs Grose responds by telling the governess that Miss Jessel was infamous, thereby appearing to confirm the governess's identification. The women appear to fuel each other's imaginations and lead each other on in their conjectures, increasing the fear and anxieties in both of them. Again in the interchanges between them, sentences are unfinished and unexplained:....For the woman's a horror of horrors.'Mrs Grose, at this, fixed her eyes a minute on the ground; then at last raising them, Tell me how you know,' she said.Then you admit it's what she was? I cried.This compels the other to imagine what is meant, and in lack of real evidence, assumptions and suppositions are made on both sides. The sleeplessness that this anxiety causes in the governess would also effect her health and sanity, adding to the doubts about the reality of her visions.It is easy for Mrs Grose to manipulate, possibly deliberately, the governess's understanding of Quint and Jessel and put ideas into her head, as there is nobody else there to dispute her story. She leads her to believe Quint was a controlling character with a dark side:I've never seen one like him. He did what he wished.'With her?'With them all.'By her own admission, Mrs Grose has a wild imagination. When the Governess asks her about Jessel's real reaso...
