Chapter 4
As they walked Millie began explaining, pointing in various directions. “This ground floor contains the public rooms. The dining room is in the back, and the large drawing room is on the left. Mrs. Gordon’s office is on the right, and right beside it is the library.”
When they reached the top of that flight of stairs, Millie gestured to the many doors she could see. “This floor has the classrooms. Each classroom is numbered so you can know where you should be.”
They continued up another flight of stairs. “This floor is where the students are housed. These rooms are numbered as well. There are eight rooms with two students each. The floor above us is where we servants sleep, though students are not allowed up there. The kitchen is in the basement along with a few servants’ rooms.”
Millie led Catherine to a door with a brass number four nailed into it. “This is your room,” she said.
When they entered, there was already someone there. A girl with light brown hair and eyes a muddy sort of green color looked up from the book she was reading. Millie introduced them to each other, and she discovered that her roommate’s name was Miss Georgiana Darcy.
Once initial greetings were complete, Millie said, “If there is nothing else, I shall see to your trunks.”
Once the maid was gone, Catherine turned toward the girl who would be sharing her room. She expected Miss Darcy to speak, since she was certain Miss Darcy was a higher rank, but the girl said nothing. In fact, she almost looked frightened.
Kitty decided it would be up to her to start the conversation. “I am from Hertfordshire,” she said. “Where are you from?”
“Derbyshire,” Miss Darcy said in a very quiet voice. “My brother’s estate is Pemberley.”
“My father’s estate is Longbourn,” said Catherine. “Do you live with your brother, then?”
Miss Darcy nodded. “My parents are both gone, so my brother is my guardian.”
That explanation fit with what her father had told her about the school, that most of the students were from highly ranked families but that either their mother was dead or there was some other reason they could not be educated at home.
“I am sorry to hear it,” said Catherine. She didn’t know what else to say, but she wanted to be friends with her, apparently shy, roommate. So, she asked, “Do you miss Pemberley?”
Miss Darcy shook her head, no. “Not in the winter. It is boring and isolated. In the summer it is beautiful, and there is plenty to do, but in the winter, one cannot go outside or visit others nearly as much. I much prefer London in the winter.”
“I’ve never been to London, so I have no comparison,” said Catherine. “Winters at Longbourn are also boring, but we are only a mile from the nearest market town, so it is no trouble to walk there, even in the winter, except when it snows or when it is particularly cold.”
They continued their conversation about their homes, and Miss Darcy gradually seemed to warm up to Catherine. Eventually, Millie and another maid brought Catherine’s trunks and began unpacking her things. Catherine was not allowed to help, however.
That was her first lesson in how to be a very wealthy lady. They were never asked, and seldom allowed, to do anything mundane, for that was servants’ work.
~~~~~
Catherine quickly learned that Miss Darcy was a year and a half younger than she was, making her eleven, nearly twelve, years old. Since she was only a few months older than Lydia, Catherine assumed they would get along quite well, and she was correct.
The two roommates gradually became comfortable with each other. Catherine was fairly good at making Miss Darcy smile, and Miss Darcy was kind enough to help Catherine when she made some sort of faux pas or when she needed help with her lessons.
The lessons were more numerous and more challenging than Catherine had expected. At home, Catherine had stopped taking lessons when she could read, sew, do sums, and embroider. For the last couple of years, she hadn’t been required to learn anything she didn’t want to.
Now, however, she had to learn both French and Italian as well as a much more complicated set of etiquette rules than what she was familiar with. She was given a choice as to whether she would learn the harp or the piano. She chose the harp, simply because two of her sisters already played piano.
Additionally, there were classes in history, philosophy, geography, and writing. They even had sporadic lessons in how to manage a household, including refreshers in bookkeeping. Catherine’s favorite lessons were the painting lessons, since they had an art master come in to teach them once a week for those young ladies who were interested.
The lessons that had the biggest impact on Catherine, however, were the lessons on manners. These were taught mostly through example with frequent corrections from the teachers when the students interacted with each other. Catherine was naturally obedient, and had little desire to stand out, so she learned these rules as quickly as possible and let them guide her behavior constantly.
Catherine’s days were full of learning, but her evenings were full of fun. Mrs. Gordon was insistent that learning to get along with others was an essential part of a young lady’s education, so in the evening the girls participated in various forms of entertainment.
There were nights spent learning various card games. Other nights, they took turns playing music for each other. There were many different parlor games, and plenty of time for simple conversation.
That spring, there was also a two-week trip to Bath, so they could experience what a resort town was like and how it differed from London.
Within a few months, Catherine had become familiar enough with all her fellow students that they all addressed each other by their first name. Though she considered herself friendly with them all, Georgiana was her closest friend. They shared secrets with each other when they were in the privacy of their own room that they never told anyone else.
One of the things Catherine shared with Georgiana was the story of how she came to be an heiress. In telling the tale, she also told the story of Mrs. Parker’s elopement and the consequences of such a rash decision.
