Page 41 of The Cheapside Runners
Mary joined the group in their observations, though she allowed most of the other ladies to take the front row. She did not think anyone else had worked out Elizabeth’s secret yet, nor had she let her sister know she was on to her scheme.
A minute later, the officer in question sauntered out of the corner, and engaged a couple of ladies who seemed to be running an errand or looking at the shops, though they could just as well have been officer hunting. The men engaged with them, and both ladies had the happy looks of someone who enjoyed the attentions.
Mrs Black said, “Always be suspicious of coincidence. Those two men were stalking their prey in that corner. Notice their posture. In the corner they were hunched over, laughing amongst themselves, and rather slovenly. As soon as they headed for the ladies, they smartened their uniforms, stood upstraight, pushed their chests out, and put smiles on their faces. Do not be fooled—that smile is a wolf’s grin.”
“How can that be?” Miss Green asked. She was always the most sceptical, and the least likely to accept Mrs Black’s instruction, but she was at least listening without argument, which was an improvement over the previous days.
“It is a ploy as old as time. People love happenstance. It sounds romantic, so enforced coincidence makes the meeting seem more like fate. Also, there is nothing more unattractive than someone just wandering around flirting. They want to appear as busy men grudgingly pulled away from important business by the pleasure of your company, which they just do not have the strength to resist. As for the posture, you cannot determine if a strong posture means anything unless you see the man in several situations. All of you know men who have that posture all the time, particularly high-status gentlemen, or senior officers. Most of them learnt a strong posture with the help of a cane at school. If they have an upright, even stiff manner, it means almost nothing in isolation. If theyonlyhave that posture when they are with ladies and under observation, then it becomes highly suspect.”
“What if you just met them?”
“You reserve judgement. There are a dozen things about a man’s countenance thatcangive you clues to their character, but there are very few that are definitive.Your task is to put the clues together. For example, pay particular attention to the smile and his eyes. Even from this far, you can tell something, and from up close the clues will smack you in the face if you know what to look for.”
“Go on,” Miss Red asked, mostly to keep Miss Green from derailing the discussion.
“Romantic books and poetry make much about the eyes. Window to the soul… smile did not reach his eyes… eyes metacross a crowded room… lowered her gaze in modesty… his eyes darkened with emotion… a furtive glance betrayed his unease… eyes shone with unshed tears… eyes locked in unspoken understanding… a fleeting glance, quickly averted… his eyes betrayed what his lips would not say. You get my meaning?”
Everyone nodded, at least acknowledging that the expressions existed, though not necessarily agreeing. Some agreed from knowledge, but those who had not ever read a book clear through agreed mostly because it was ill-advised to get on Mrs Black’s bad side.
“They all have some grain of truth, but—this is important—most of those can be faked, at least partially.”
“What do you mean,” Miss Blue asked, indicating probably that she was finally showing some real curiosity, much to Mary’s approval.
Jane had mostly gone along with her same old serene expression through the first days of training, but finally seemed to be getting the idea there was something worthwhile to learn.
Mrs Black pulled them away from the window and separated them into two groups facing each other in lines.
“I want you to take turns making each other laugh. Start with Miss Green… you seem like someone who can be silly when the occasion calls for it. You can do anything you like, but I want a good belly-laugh in the other group. Each of you should watch the other group like a hawk, particularly the eyes. Start now.”
Lydia made a horrendous face that at least got some in the other group laughing gaily, then Miss Violet replied by mimicking something Mrs Black had said in the lower-class cant. After five minutes, each of the groups had been in quite good spirits for a time, and it was becoming easier to generate mirth.
“Now, do you notice that when someone laughs or smiles naturally, their eyes crinkle a bit. That is difficult or impossibleto fake. In fact, genuinely happy people usually have crow’s feet or laugh lines around their eyes when they get older.”
The charges nodded, though mostly reluctantly.
“Miss Blue, I shall require your assistance. You have a beautiful face and uniformly serene and smiling countenance, I would like you to smile as you usually do, and the rest of you should look carefully at her face.”
Jane felt supremely uncomfortable with the discussion, and beyond annoyed at being singled out, but she felt uncomfortable in any company with her mother present, so she reacted the way she always did.
“Notice that Miss Blue is perfectly gorgeous, and smiles very prettily, but her eyes do not crinkle. When she was laughing at Miss Green’s most recent silliness, her eyes lit up like the sunshine, as they will any time that she is genuinely happy or amused. I doubt either feeling is present right now. In fact, I would bet more on something between mild annoyance and murderous rage—though you hide it very well.”
The rest of the ladies giggled, not really knowing if Mrs Black was being serious or teasing.
“I do not criticise Miss Blue’s countenance or the way she lives her life. We all adopt a mask to get through society, and I can probably find similar strategies for each of you. I just wanted you to see the effect.”
She led them back to the window, where the blondish officer was still plying his trade.
“From this distance, you cannot tell for certain if his smiles are genuine, but I doubt it very much. Also pay attention to how much time he spends looking in the ladies’ eyes. He does that deliberately because it makes him seem interested. You know from the books—he could barely tear his eyes off her. That is his way of signalling that he is more than a little interested, but it is all manufactured. I will give you ten to one he is interestedina piece of her, but he is most certainly not interested inall of her.Look how close he stands. It fosters a feeling of intimacy, and makes ‘accidental’ touches more likely, though he will supplement those with deliberate accidental touches if necessary.”
The ladies all sat thinking while continuing to watch the encounter, and several other similar ones they could easily see from their vantage point. Some of them had spent considerable time in similar encounters and were belatedly becoming uncomfortable with their observations—especially the part where a man might wanta piece of her. They mostly had no idea what exactly that meant, but it certainly sounded bad.
“Do not discount the ladies and their countenances. More aggressive mothers teach their offspring to bat their eyelashes, but I can tell you that most men think that just means you have a bug in your eye. It never works to make a mangenuinely appreciateyou, and in fact, it is more likely to backfire. It signals the man that you are available for flirtation, but do not really know what you are about. The same can be said for overly revealing styles, flaunting around swinging your hips, and other similarly flirtatious tricks. Such tricks will be mostly ignored by honourable men but picked up easily by scoundrels.”
Miss Green stood up tall and looked like she was ready to argue, but Mrs Black just stared her back down.
“A more subtle or devious lady might learn to give subtle glances, the same as a man would. Eye contact is different between men and women, but the amount and type of eye-to-eye contact tells a story, and seducers learn how to take advantage of the language of the eyes.”
“Does that mean what you see in the eyes is wrong?” Miss Violet asked pensively.
