“Yes, Aunt.”
He bowed and withdrew.
Lady Helen directed her attention toward Elizabeth, and her gaze traveled slowly over the young woman from head to toe before returning to her hair. “I must dress you, dear. Your wardrobe will never answer. Come. Let us begin.”
During the drive, Elizabeth said, “Lady Helen, I have never received instruction in the proper forms of address and etiquette required when in company with the peerage.”
The Countess pressed her lips into a severe line. “Plainly not. I shall hire a master at once. You must spend no fewer than four hours each day under instruction until he pronounces you fit to enter society.”
She made a sound of irritation.
“I had better engage a music master as well, lest you provide my nephew reason for mortification in a crowded drawing room. Elizabeth, I trust you possess sufficient ability to learn two or three respectable pieces upon the pianoforte.”
Then she added, “Which reminds me, do you have a personal maid?”
“No, my lady.”
The Countess grunted in displeasure. “That explains the condition of your hair.” Georgiana pressed Elizabeth’s hand and offered her a sympathetic look.
“I shall set Dunn to interviewing candidates and engaging someone suitable.” She paused. “Or do you wish to meet the leading candidates yourself?”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened.
Georgiana leaned nearer. “Lizzy, you must meet them and make the selection yourself. A personal maid shall witness you at your worst and during your most private moments. She will even assist with your bath.”
Elizabeth lifted a brow. “Yes, of course.”
She addressed the Countess. “I shall interview whichever candidates your personal maid considers the best. Lady Helen, I should prefer someone near my own age, with a talent for fashion and dressing hair.”
The Countess frowned. “I am relieved to discover you possess at least some awareness that your hair requires desperate attention. When did anyone last cut and style it properly?”
Elizabeth remained silent. Never in her life had a skilled person attended to her hair. Jane ordinarily dressed it for her, but Elizabeth refused to confess such a thing.
The Countess pressed on without waiting for a response. Georgiana continued to hold Elizabeth’s hand, and the gesture did not escape Lady Helen’s notice.
The hours spent at the modiste’s establishment proved torturous for Elizabeth. She endured having every surface of her body measured while pattern after pattern was pinned upon her, and Lady Helen rejected every suggestion the modiste’s assistant offered.
At last, the Countess lost patience.
“Susan, where is Madame Clairmont today?”
“She is ill, my lady.”
“I am dissatisfied with every pattern you have suggested. Who may assist me in Madame Clairmont’s absence?”
Susan curtsied and withdrew. A few minutes later, she returned with a young woman who surveyed Elizabeth from head to foot.
“Susan, remove the pins. That pattern is entirely wrong. It makes the young lady appear short and frumpish.”
She sorted through the cloth pattern pieces and began pinning together another arrangement.
“Missy, these long, narrow sleeves suit you best for the day dresses. And though the empire yoke remains fashionable, I would recommend a slight variation in the cut of the bodice. It will flatter your lovely bosom while enhancing your graceful figure and slender waist.”
She continued explaining the reasoning behind each alteration and pattern choice, and by the end, Lady Helen appeared satisfied.
Elizabeth was more than satisfied. She was excited.
At least she need not fear being dressed in the style of the previous century or in the severe fashion favored by some.
