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Seeing his confusion, Maria
"I forgive you," she said coolly. "So long as you promise never to do such a thing again. I esteem you as a friend, but I could never marry you."
John's fleshy mouth dropped open. "Marry?" he began.
A rumble of wheels outside, on the graveled drive, a
Maria
Mrs. Jay took her silence for a negative reply and went on with her speech.
"I thought not. Well, one can hardly blame your father for not having made arrangements; you are quite young. And without a dowry, it is most unlikely… I fear that you must indeed consider some means of earning a livelihood."
"I understand that Lady Verill is looking for a companion."
"Out of the question!" In her agitation Mrs. Jay stabbed her needle into her thumb. "Lady Verill is always looking for a companion. She is… Her affliction is of a nature that… It would not do for you."
Lady Verill drank. This fact was well known to all the neighborhood, as was the corollary, that her companions were expected to see that she was supplied with just enough brandy to keep her in a mild stupor. It was no easy task to judge this correctly, and the consequences of misjudgment were horrendous. If sober, the lady fell into deep melancholy and attempted suicide; if too drunk, she flew into a maniacal rage and attempted homicide upon Lord Verill.
"I only suggested it," Maria
Mrs. Jay let her ramble on in this vein while she marshaled her arguments. She had no intention of explaining her real reasons for wishing Maria
"There are no opportunities in this backward country region. And it would be too humiliating for your neighbors to see you reduced to such a position. I have given the matter much thought, I assure you, and I see no help for it. Your only chance of finding a suitable situation is in a large city."
Maria
"London?"
"You needn't look so pleased," Mrs. Jay said, with some asperity. "I suppose that like all girls you think of London as gay and exciting. It is a great filthy hive, riddled with sin and vice and crime. However, it happens that I have a friend there who has turned her home into a boarding house for young ladies in your position – those of respectable family, but reduced circumstances. The need for such establishments is so great, and the supply is so limited, that her rooms are in constant demand, but I feel sure that if I ask she will find a place for you."
"Oh," Maria
Mrs. Jay did not notice the flat tone. She was sincerely pleased with her plan; indeed, the recollection of her old friend, so conveniently situated to do Maria
"She also has co
"It is very kind," Maria
"You might accept a position as companion, if the establishment were of the best quality. And, as I have reason to know, your accomplishments qualify you to instruct the young. Then there is your music -"
"My music," Maria
"Yes, you play quite nicely. Eventually you might hope to set up as a music teacher, if you are very frugal and save your earnings. That would be pleasant, would it not? Your own rooms, where pupils could come to you?"
"Oh, certainly." Again Maria
She would certainly forbid Maria
Daunted, at first, by Mrs. Jay's suggestion, Maria
A dazzling vision filled her imagination: an elegant theater, marble-columned without, red plush and gilt within; distinguished patrons in formal evening dress, the ladies glittering with diamonds; the Royal Box – and on the stage, the focus of a hundred footlights, she herself (pale blue satin and pearls, ostrich plumes in her hair) bowing, as thrown blossoms littered the boards around her and the applause deafened her, and the Prince of Wales leaned forward, the Garter ribbon across his breast…
Her needle continued to flash in and out, sewing the black braid in a complex scrollwork; but she had learned, long since, to carry out work of this sort while her imagination soared free. So absorbed was she in her fantasy ("Ah, Miss Ransom," the Prince exclaimed, tears moistening his beautiful eyes, "never have I heard…") that she scarcely heard Mrs. Jay's voice extolling the advantages of the genteel boarding house.