Page 36 of The Secret Diary of Anne de Bourgh

Afterwards, Georgiana came to sit beside me, ostensibly to rescue Ophelia from beneath my chair.

“You seemed to enjoy your walk,” she said.

“I did, it is a lovely day for it. Did not you?”

“Very much, though I had not your company to entertain me.”

She would say nothing more, but she was smiling into Ophelia’s fur. I begin to think that everybody has opinions about my acquaintance with Mr Byerly which they are not yet prepared to share with me.

I wonder what Richard would think of him?

3 July

Kitty received a letter from Mrs Gardiner yesterday, and has spent a considerable amount of time since being delighted and offended by it in turns.

Mrs Gardiner wrote that she had found an opportunity to show some of Kitty’s drawings to Mr Ackermann, who publishes the Repository of Arts. Among its other attractions, the magazine contains those coloured fashion plates which Kitty examines with such interest whenever she can obtain a copy. Mr Ackermann was very intrigued, and asked whether Kitty might send some further designs for morning gowns, to be considered for publication. This seemed to me very encouraging news, until Kitty explained that he wished them to be rather less elaborate than those he had already seen.

“He particularly admired this one,” she said, laying a drawing before us. “But he wishes to know whether the trimming might be simplified.”

“Then he liked the gown,” Georgiana said, clearly delighted for Kitty.

“He liked it until he considered how much trouble it would be to make!”

“Perhaps the ladies who look at such drawings consider that too,” Mary pointed out, very sensibly.

Kitty looked as though she might argue, then picked up her pencil and frowned at the page instead.

I could quite understand her indignation. She had taken great pains over those drawings, and I should certainly have been hurt to be told that something I had laboured over would be improved by removing half of it. On the other hand, I could remember admiring fashion plates depicting gowns which I would never have wished to wear. Some of the sleeves alone would have made it impossible to reach comfortably across a table.

Elizabeth read the letter for herself before offering an opinion.

“He has asked to see more of your work, Kitty. I should not think he would trouble himself to do so if he found nothing to admire in it.”

“I know.” Kitty sighed. “I was very pleased when I first read it.”

“Then allow yourself to be pleased again. You need not send anything today.”

This seemed sensible advice. Kitty put her drawings away, only to fetch them again scarcely half an hour later.

I left her mumbling over them and went to examine my rose, which is fully open at last. The flower is a little untidy, with so many petals crowded together that some seem unable to find room for themselves, but it is very pretty, a lovely shade of pink. I was bending over it when Kitty came out onto the terrace with her sketchbook.

“Stand still a moment, Anne.”

I straightened at once, wondering whether there was something upon my gown.

“No, as you were before! I want to see what happens to your sleeve when you reach forward.”

I obediently bent down again.

“Does it pull across the shoulder?”

“A little.”

“And there is too much fullness here.” She touched the back of my sleeve, then sat down on a nearby bench and began to draw.

I remained bent over the rose for rather longer than was comfortable before asking whether I might stand up.

“Oh! Yes, of course. I beg your pardon.” She was already turning to a fresh page.