"Probably."
"Definitely." Harriet picked up her tea again with the air of someone requiring fortification. "So tell me your plan, and I assume you have one that's slightly more sophisticated than marching up to Everleigh Manor and announcing your qualifications."
"I shall write a formal application, and Professor Blackwood has agreed to provide a reference..."
"Your father's friend who taught you Greek and thinks women should be admitted to Oxford?"
"The very same, and his recommendation carries considerable weight in academic circles."
"The Duke of Everleigh hardly moves in academic circles."
"No, but he clearly values education or he wouldn't need a propercataloguer for what must be an extensive collection." Eveline pulled out her small notebook, pages already covered with her neat handwriting that sprawled across the pages like tiny soldiers marching to war. "I've been making lists of what to include; my translation of Plutarch, the comparative analysis of Homer translations, perhaps that piece on Tacitus that Professor Blackwood particularly praised..."
"You're actually excited about this."
Was she? Eveline considered the question, thinking about how the prospect of eighteen thousand books, or even more, made her pulse quicken in a way that had nothing to do with scandal and everything to do with possibility.
"Can you imagine, Harriet? A library that size, needing organization, would be like being asked to chart unexplored territory, to create order from chaos itself."
"You have very unusual fantasies."
"And you fantasize about marriage proposals and wedding breakfasts."
"At least my fantasies don't involve social ruin."
They finished their ices while Harriet continued to list every possible disaster that could befall Eveline, from complete social ostracism to ending up killed in the Duke's library. "Books are quite heavy, you know—excellent weapons", she had mentioned but Eveline half-listened while her mind was already composing her letter of application.
***
That evening, barricaded in her father's study with its familiar scent of leather and pipe tobacco that still clung to every surface, Eveline faced her newest enemy: a blank sheet of paper that seemed to mock her with its pristine emptiness.
How did one apply for a position never intended for a woman? Should she be forthright about her sex, apologetic for her presumption, or defiant about her qualifications?
The first draft was a disaster of excessive humility that made her cringe even as she wrote it:
Your Grace, while I understand that my sex renders me an unconventional candidate...
Into the fire it went, because she was not going to apologize for existing.
The second attempt swung too far in the opposite direction, reading like a philosophical treatise on equality:
Your Grace, a person's qualifications should matter more than society's narrow prejudices...
That followed its predecessor into the flames, as lecturing a duke about prejudice seemed unlikely to secure employment.
By the fourth draft, her fingers were ink-stained and her patience threadbare, but something about remembering the gentleman in the bookshop, how he'd dismissed her initially, then had been forced to respect her knowledge, sparked not anger exactly, but determination.
She wouldn't apologize or lecture; she would simply be better qualified thanany other applicant.
Your Grace,
In response to your request seeking a cataloguer for your library, I wish to submit my application for consideration.
I possess fluency in Latin, Greek, French, and Italian, with sufficient German for translation purposes. My education encompasses classical and modern literature, history, philosophy, and theology, gained through extensive private study with Professor Emeritus Blackwood of Oxford, whose letter of recommendation I enclose.
My practical experience includes the complete cataloguing and organization of my late father's library of three thousand volumes, employing a cross-referencing system by subject, author, and date of publication. I have completed numerous translations, including a rendering of Plutarch's "On the Education of Children.”
I enclose samples of my work and I am prepared to submit to any examination of my capabilities you deem necessary. I am available for interview at your convenience.
