“Not as far as I know.” Georgiana raised an eyebrow. “Did you think this plan to reform you into an amiable and darling creature would only take place in the most elite of social circles, and would never induce you to step out of your comfortable life for even a moment?”
“Well, I... Hold on. Am I not darling already?”
“God forbid that you breathe the same air as people whohave less than one thousand a year,” Miss Darcy said, neatly sidestepping the question. “If you do not feel yourself ready, then we can delay, of course. I merely thought that your boast about being a star pupil—”
“Yes, yes,” Caroline interrupted. “You’ve made your point. I did make the claim, and as such, I shall stand by it.”
AMerryhill, though!she thought, with no little scorn.Who lives in the village, of all places!Ordinarily, Caroline would never have been caught dead there. Unbidden, Mr Darcy’s words rose to her mind:It is my strong belief that if you do not mend the error of your ways, then you will never find such happiness as I have done.
A lonely life, he’d said.
She pictured herself an old lady, sitting alone in a vast and empty room filled with glittering objects inherited from her mother. Going nowhere. Speaking to no one. Visiting Charles only twice a year and seeing his happy family, only to come home to an empty house of her own. Or rather, empty with the exception of her mother, which was somehow a much worse thought. Seeing Louisa in London, surrounded by children. The thought made her want to cry again, but thrice in the span of a single week was certain to bring on sad eyes, an affliction from which one might never fully recover. “Besides, I have often longed to visit the... the outskirts of the village,” she said, forcing herself to sound cheerful.
“Have you?” Georgiana’s dark eyes narrowed in suspicion. “It’s only three miles away.”
“One rarely purposefully visits one’s own back garden,” Caroline declared, hoping it would sound like profound words of wisdom. “Or in this case, the back garden of one’s dear friend. And has this Miss Merryhill sent us an invitation?”
“She has.”
“Wonderful. Wonderful.” She considered risking a thirdwonderful, caught sight of Georgiana’s expression, and subsided.
Clearly this Miss Merryhill was not wealthy or well-connected, therefore Caroline couldn’t see any reason for the friendship to exist in the first place. She had been prepared to do quite a lot to achieve the Great Endeavour, but bestowing her time and attention on a charity case seemed like asking rather a lot. Unfortunately, she had agreed and now couldn’t back out of the deal without losing face, or worse, losing Georgiana’s mentorship. Besides, Miss Elizabeth Bennet would probably have been delighted to spend hours upon hours with the local poor, talking of...
Caroline frowned.What on earth do poor people talk about?
She supposed she was about to find out.
In the privacy of the guest room, Caroline changed into a pretty cornflower-blue dress, which brought out the bright shade of her own eyes, and paired it with fashionable blue kid-leather shoes which her mother had assured her were all the rage in London.Not that anyone from the village is likely torecognisehigh fashion, far less appreciate it, she thought gloomily. She would have to be on her guard today, though surely Georgiana was not such an unforgiving teacher that a slip-up or two would convince her to call off the entire Great Endeavour. Or would it?No, she thought, shaking her head.She claimed she would only take me on as a pupil as long as I did what she said. None of her conditions were dependent upon my success in every area.The thought relieved her slightly, thoughperhaps it would be best to come up with a few words of praise now, and practice them while she could, so as to give the impression that she had devised them on the spot.
“What a lovely home,” she said into the looking glass, and produced her sweetest smile. “I particularly like your, um... the...”
What did people compliment? It was hard to say without actually seeing the house in question, though all houses had certain things in common. “Your front door,” she finished, feeling rather pleased with herself.
Surely that would impress her friend long enough for Caroline to pass this ridiculous test. She was almost certain that no one had ever taken Miss Elizabeth Bennet to a village and demanded that she mix with people below her station. Really, the whole thing was rather unfair, though she was equally certain that making such an argument to Georgiana would result in Caroline failing the test before she had even begun, which felt even more unfair.
Well,it is only one afternoon, she consoled herself. How bad can it possibly be?
