“Doubtless; can you imagine him remaining silent under such a temptation to cause trouble for us?”
“No, I cannot. So she must make a good marriage, but not a remarkable one?”
“Exactly. It had not occurred to me until talking with Aunt Eleanor today.”
“Will you tell her this?” Elizabeth asked.
“I had rather not; she has had enough difficulty with her self-confidence. Being reminded of Ramsgate will do her no favours.”
“So she must be gently steered,” Elizabeth surmised.
“Yes.” And then he took his wife in his arms and there was no more discussion that night.
Chapter Seventeen
Caroline had been morose since her tea party at Bingley House. She had been soundly rebuffed, and this had put paid to any idea of her having friends in London Society.
Tender-hearted Jane felt sorry for her, and after several days of watching Caroline stare at the floor, felt compelled to speak. “Caroline, I am sorry the ladies you invited to tea were rude to you. I confess that I was surprised at their behaviour. Were they not your friends at school?”
Caroline stared at Jane for a moment in silence. “Friends?” she said at last. “No, I would not have called them so.”
“But you invited them here; I do not understand.”
“I suppose I foolishly hoped that they wouldbecomemy friends. It was a bad plan, Jane, you need not reprimand me for it.”
Jane sat in thought for a long minute. Then she said, softly, “Caroline, did you haveanyfriends at school?”
Jane’s voice was so warm, so kind, so understanding that Caroline found herself blurting out the truth. “No.”
“None?”
“None.”
“But why, Caroline?”
Caroline took a deep and shaky breath. “The girls with titles were too proud to befriend someone as unimportant as myself.”
“And the girls without titles?”
Caroline shrugged. “What would have been the point?”
Jane was confused. “The point of what?”
“The point of befriending the nobodies.”
“The nobodies? Heavens, because you would have had friends, Caroline. That is the point. School might have been – well, more fun. Kinder. More pleasant. Certainly less lonely!”
“But I would not have been bettering myself!”
“Is that the only measure of life?” Jane asked.
“What else is there?” Caroline shrugged.
“Friendship. Kindness. Love, even.”
Caroline was silent.
“May I make a suggestion, Caroline?”
