Page 60 of The Cheapside Runners
Everybody grumbled a bit which Mrs Black allowed to continue for a few minutes before she intervened.
“Oh, my goodness, I almost forgot! This is an elective day. We were supposed to have a vote on the day’s activities, but I completely forgot. I suppose better late than never?”
“It would be only right,” Miss Red said, though as she looked at the hope in the other students’ eyes for something more interesting, she thought there was another joke afoot.
“Let us have a show of hands for everyone who prefers to return to the barn for more practice smashing boxes and breaking holds from my ogres.”
The groans that met that pronouncement made the vote rather superfluous, so accepting callers was to be the tedious order of the day. It would be several hours before most of them worked out that many of their days were spent just like that, and they had never been overly bothered before.
The lessons in deportment, etiquette, and studying what people said and did not say went well, and three hours later they were somewhat tired when over luncheon, Mrs Black debriefed them on what they had heard, learnt, and said. She had several suggestions, but on the whole, the students had done well enough.
Miss Darcy would obviously need more training before tackling London society, but she had acquired just barely enough sense to listen to what Mrs Annesley had to say. The Weatherby sisters and Maria Lucas were still a bit timid for Mrs Black’s taste, but she judged they would be fine. The Bennet sisters would return to Meryton, or possibly Gracechurch Street, with sufficient skills to handle the society much better than what they had previously learnt. At the very least, she no longer worried any of them would ruin the family.
She suspected Mrs Bennet was in for a rude awakening, and was about half-sorry she would miss it (well, quarter-sorry at least).
~~~~~
After luncheon, the ladies returned to the drawing room, and it seemed a refresher on deportment might be in order based on the squeals they let out when they discovered the new ball gowns were hanging on portable display racks, along with a few seamstresses for final fitting.
Mrs Black let them enjoy the moment and rejoice over the gowns for a while, then finally got down to business.
“As you all no doubt remember, as part of the course you will attend two London events. Miss Burgundy, given the lessons of the modiste, what would you suppose that means?”
Jasmine Weatherby did not especially like being called upon, but she was better at answering than she had been a week earlier when she found herself with Maria Lucas in thetoo terrified to speakclub. Brutality day had beat much of her reticence out, so she gave the question a serious think.
“The lesson of the day was:Words matter, so I imagine you will tell us that ‘attend’ does not mean exactly what we assume it will.”
Mrs Black rather uncharacteristically laughed. “Very good, young lady. I have to tell you that only about half of the firstladies I call upon at this stage of the class come up with the answer.”
Most of the ladies were buoyed by this more amiable seeming Mrs Black, but then they wondered what trick she was likely to have up her sleeve—for one seemed nearly inevitable.
“Miss Violet, might you speculate?”
Maria did not like being called on any more than Jasmine did. “I suppose we shall attend a ball or the theatre, but not as the usual participants?” she guessed timidly.
“Correct. We all think of attending a ball as enjoying dancing, a bit of flirting, perhaps even love in the air. That said, keep in mind that chaperones, fathers, uncles, and servantsattendballs.”
“So, you tricked us?” Miss Green sneered petulantly.
“Not necessarily. On our last night we shall attend a play at the theatre,in a box, and I shall not speak a word unless spoken to, unless of course one of you misbehaves. Think of it as a bit of a final exam. For tonight, though, we will attend a ball and take lessons.”
Everyone looked either crestfallen, sullen, or both; but Mrs Black continued. “Think about it. Out of eight ladies, only three are even old enough to be out in London society. Most of you are out in your local communities, but that is an entirely different kettle of fish, and some of you probably should not have even been out there. In addition, imagine how much consternation you would experience if eight unwed ladies were abruptly added to a ball. This will give you a chance to examine the shark-infested waters of thetonwithout getting eaten.”
“Will we at least get to wear our new gowns?” Miss Green asked.
“Of course!I am not an ogre.Think about how much fun you will have. You can see all the fashions of the first circles and report back home. You can learn a few more things that mightsave your bacon one day. You can observe the vast difference in the quality of the music and the average skill of the dancers. I believe you will find the evening enchanting, if you allow yourselves to enjoy it.”
They all agreed with various levels of enthusiasm or grumbling. They at least understood that there was little point in arguing with Mrs Black.
~~~~~
The preparations for the ball turned out to be all they could possibly hope for. Mrs Black once again split them up, so no sisters were paired, and suggested they all do each other’s hair, which was a novel experience for some. She had two maids, so they were not entirely on their own, but they mostly fended for themselves. Some, like Miss Blue, and to some people’s surprise, Miss Yellow, turned out to be highly skilled and in high demand. Mrs Black even got into the spirit of it a bit by fixing up Miss Blue’s hair, much to everyone’s surprise.
They arrived at the home of the Earl of Wrexham in good time and quite enjoyed the experience of simply waiting in line and seeing all the attendees. They mostly decided that Mrs Black was notquitesuch an ogre, especially when she made a few quite impertinent whispered comments about some of the feathers and similar accoutrements of the more ridiculous attendees. Some apparently had more money than taste.
They were allowed to go through the receiving line, and even met the earl and countess, which was a bit of a thrill all on its own. Most wondered just how many important people Mrs Black knew, and how she knew them. They all eventually concluded that their daughters had probably survived the school mostly intact.
Instructing them to be discreet, she led them through the ballroom, and into a door that was mostly hidden along a backwall. They found what appeared to be servants’ stairs which led up to a balcony above the ballroom. The edge was covered with a gauzy curtain that allowed them to see clearly, but since there was no lighting in the balcony itself, they were not visible from the ballroom. It was quite a clever arrangement.
