The room was so quiet you could hear the clock ticking.
"You ... " the Duchess said haltingly, "are used to making your own living. Pray, how?"
"I am a schoolmistress. That is, I was until recently, that is, before I, er, married Tewkbury."
"A schoolmistress!" A look of horror crossed the Duchess's face.
Miss Anne clapped her hands over her mouth. A sneer crossed Lady Cynthia's face. She leaned over to Miss Mary and whispered loudly for all to hear, "It seems Tewkbury has married grossly beneath his station. Amésalliance."
The Duchess seemed at a loss for words. "But, my dear ... "
Only Lady Elinor, an elderly widow who was Miss Anne's guardian, found nothing wrong with what Ellen had said. "Schoolmistress." She nodded curtly. "Where, pray?"
"In Bath."
Lady Elinor nodded. "Of course. You must be one of Miss Hilversham's teachers."
Ellen gave her a quick, curious look. "You know Miss Hilversham?"
Lady Elinor tutted. "Of course I do. Runs the finest seminary in the country. With the choicest teachers. They say they are all ladies of impeccable breeding. The girls there are not only ready for the marriage market; they are well educated."
Ellen felt her eyes well up with relief and gratitude. She'd received support from a most unexpected quarter.
It was amazing what a difference Lady Elinor's pronunciation made. There was a palpable change in the atmosphere.
"Miss Hilversham! But hasn't she married the Duke of Rochford? I read about it in the papers." Louisa looked at Ellen with renewed interest. "He was such a wicked scoundrel before he married. Do you mean to say that you know the Duke and Duchess of Rochford personally?"
That would be a very different matter indeed, wouldn't it? To be in the same social circles as a duchess. It would elevate her tremendously.
"Of course. Miss Hilversham, Her Grace, the Duchess of Rochford, is my employer," Ellen finally admitted. "That is, shewasmy employer. Before I married Tewkbury." She kept forgetting that she was supposed to be married.
Only Lady Cynthia wasn't impressed and wrinkled her nose. "It's generally said that it's not wise to turn a lady into a bluestocking and fill her head with useless learning when her aim in life is to marry. I know of no gentleman who would like such a lady, let alone marry her. Such a woman has no chance on the marriage market."
"So they say," Ellen replied sharply. "It is a common malady in our society to believe that the less educated a woman is, the better her mind will be. The opposite is the case. And our school is proof that education need not stand in the way of a good marriage, for this is another common misconception. People tend to think that well-educated women are incapable of attracting a husband. Well, Miss Hilversham's seminary has thoroughly disproved that fact. Our bluestockings marry very well indeed."
"The Duchess of Ashmore was a pupil at the same school, am I right?" Lady Elinor came in to support her again. "As was the Duchess of Morley and the Duchess of Dunross. They say," Lady Elinor turned to her eager listeners, "that any girl who goes to that school will inevitably end up marrying a duke. Any sensible person would have said that was nonsense, but the facts speak for themselves."
"Well, some of them have married viscounts or lesser nobles," Ellen felt compelled to say, but on the whole what Lady Elinor said was true. Her school had produced an inordinate number of duchesses, and they said that it was due to a wishing well on the school premises. It was all rubbish, of course, but it had become part of their school legend.
"But I feel it is important to point out that this is not the main purpose of our seminary. We are not marriage brokers or matchmakers. Our aim is not to marry off our students to the highest bidder. If our students end up marrying well, it is because of the excellent education they receive. It is almost equal to the education given to men, which is unparalleled in any school in the kingdom."
"You speak with conviction." Lady Elinor nodded. "If I were young again, I would have wanted to attend such a school myself, instead of being married off at the tender age of sixteen, having the first child at seventeen, the second at nineteen, and so on and so forth." Lady Elinor had nine children in all. "And what you have done, young woman, to teach in such a place and bring up such bright young women is indeed to be commended. It takes a considerable amount of fortitude and intelligence to do so.”
"Thank you." Ellen looked gratefully at the older woman.
"Oh!" Miss Anne looked at her with wide, blue eyes. "My parents tried and tried to get my admission to the seminary, but we were turned down every time. Miss Hilversham, that is, Her Grace, said they had no capacity for any more pupils. I was heartbroken, for I had my heart set on going there, and if at the end of the school I were to end up matched with a duke, that would have been fine indeed, though my main motive would have been to enjoy the education there, which I, too, heard is superior. My parents sent me to another finishing school, which is quite inferior to Miss Hilversham's Seminary in Bath. How delighted I am now to meet one of its teachers!" Miss Anne sat next to Ellen and looked at her with something like admiration in her eyes.
Ellen shifted uncomfortably. "Well, yes, I'm afraid Miss Hilversham has had to turn down many applications because the school has reached capacity. She only has so many teachers…" And now Miss Hilversham had lost her too. A pang of guilt shot through Ellen.
Within minutes, Ellen's status in the group had changed drastically. Her bourgeois background forgotten, she seemed to be seen in the light of a 'duchess-maker'; someone who held the secret ingredient to attracting a duke, so that if one rubbed sleeves with her, some of that magic might rub off on them.
Miss Anne sat to her right, Miss Mary to her left, and she found herself surrounded by all the other young ladies who wanted to know more about the seminary. What they really wanted to know, of course, was how to catch a duke. Ellen sat back and decided to enjoy this sudden improvement in her status. Anything to make her life easier, she told herself. After all, the afternoon would be here soon enough, and then they would be playing entirely different games.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
After tea, Louisa announced everyone should go outside. "For the weather is most pleasant, and I have planned some entertainment!" The children were already frolicking on the lawn.
Ellen raised her hand to shade her eyes and saw that Noni was trying to do somersaults with the other children. She smiled.
