“You most certainly can.” Miss Miller sat taller and spoke in a commanding voice. “The world will not end because you do not marry Lord Ruben.”
Miss Lancaster twisted the handkerchief in her hands. “But how could he do this? He loves me.”
“Men of his rank do not always have the privilege of marrying for love,” Miss Thornton said in a gentle voice.
“Perhaps it is best that you found out now what sort of man he is, instead of once you were married,” Miss Kirby offered.
Miss Lancaster glanced at her and then shook her head. “I shall never marry,” she said in a small voice. “Not after this.”
Sophie winced. The young lady’s reputation should remain intact, but Dahlia Lancaster’s name and humiliation would certainly be on everyone’s lips. A scandal indeed.
The poor woman sighed. She looked down at the handkerchief she was twisting and, noticing a ruby bracelet on her wrist, she loosened it and slipped it over her hand. “He gave the very same bangle to Lorene. He has . . . they’ve kept their relationship secret. She was my dearest friend, and he . . .” Her lip quivered, but this time a spark of anger lit her eyes.
Sophie recognized the look. Frustration at knowing one was powerless to change her situation was all too familiar.
Miss Miller took the bracelet and studied it, shaking her head.
Sophie’s stomach was heavy with discouragement. All of these women wanted something different from the hand they’d been dealt, and all felt powerless to do anything about it.
“Well”—Miss Miller handed back the bracelet—“this could be a good opportunity.”
“Yes,” Sophie agreed. “You have a chance to do something new, to focus on yourself and your own ambitions.”
Miss Lancaster folded the wrinkled handkerchief in her lap and gave a delicate snort. “Ambitions? For the last two years my entire objective was to marry Ruben, and now . . .”
“Now you can stop worrying about him,” Miss Miller said. “You can do whatever you wish. Set a new course, become a new person, if you’d like.”
“I don’t have . . . I’ve never . . .” Miss Lancaster’s porcelain forehead wrinkled.
“Well, we shall do it with you, shan’t we, ladies?” Sophie looked at the others, raising her brows meaningfully. She hoped they would catch on and join in to bolster Miss Lancaster’s spirits. “I propose we each declare an objective we hope to accomplish.”
“A marvelous idea.” Miss Miller took her cousin’s hand and gave a
firm nod.
“I have an ambition,” Miss Kirby said. “I, Vivian Kirby, should like to complete my steam-engine model and enter it for display in the International Exhibition of Industry and Science.”
Sophie blinked, both surprised at the woman’s words and the confidence behind them. She’d never heard of a woman entering the International Exhibition. An ambitious objective indeed.
“Excellent, Miss Kirby,” Miss Miller said.
She gave a small smile and tipped her head. “Please, call me Vivian.”
Miss Miller replied with a nod and took Vivian’s hand. “I, Elizabeth Miller, wish to open a finishing school for young ladies of underprivileged upbringings.”
Sophie’s heart raced as she scooted off her chair to kneel in front of the sofa. She took Vivian’s free hand in hers, looked at each of the women, and took a breath. A solemn feeling came over her, as if she were making a vow. They were really doing this. They were taking charge of their lives. What had begun as simply a gesture to console Miss Lancaster had become something real. She let her breath out slowly. “I, Sophie Bremerton, would like to report a real story—something important that must be uncovered, for which I must review sources and verify facts. I want to be an actual newsagent.”
Vivian smiled in approval, and Elizabeth nodded.
The ladies turned to Miss Thornton.
“Have you a goal?” Elizabeth asked.
Miss Thornton came to kneel beside Sophie, taking her hand. She glanced at the others and took a breath, looking nervous. “I, Hazel Thornton, hope to finish nursing school, to achieve nurse probationer status.”
Sophie squeezed Hazel’s hand.
“Very good,” Elizabeth said in a tone that reminded Sophie the young lady was a teacher. She turned to her cousin. “Now, Dahlia, it is your turn.”
Dahlia looked down at her hands. “I really cannot think of anything.”
“You are to inherit your father’s company,” Elizabeth said. “Your goal could be to understand the management of the business.”
“That sounds very worthwhile,” Hazel said.
“It certainly does,” Vivian agreed.
Sophie nodded. As an only child, Dahlia Lancaster would be one of the first women of means to benefit from the recently passed Married Women’s Property Act. Her inheritance would remain her own, even after she married.
Dahlia glanced at her cousin. “I suppose such learning could be advantageous.”
“Do not merely suppose,” Elizabeth said, giving an encouraging nod.
Dahlia frowned and, for a moment, looked as though she would argue. But as her gaze moved to each of the women, her lips pressed together and her expression cleared in determination. She sat up straight and took Hazel’s hand, completing the circle. “I, Dahlia Lancaster, will work to understand the bookkeeping, operations, and management of the steamship company I am to inherit.”
The air in the Marquess of Molyneaux’s library seemed to thicken as the women sat in silence. Sophie felt her wish turn into something concrete, and a surge of confidence in her own abilities grew within her. She looked at the other women, feeling their hopes and strength join together. Her skin tingled. She could do this. They all could. And none would have to do it alone.
“It is settled, then.” Elizabeth’s voice sounded much quieter than before.
“When shall we meet to report our progress?” Vivian asked in her practical manner.
“The next ball?” Sophie suggested. “Lord Everston has a fine library.”
Hazel smiled, and Vivian nodded.
Elizabeth looked at her cousin.
Dahlia hesitated, but after a moment, she nodded as well. The shadow of a smile pulled at her lips. “Shall we gather in the library at midnight?”
Once the time and place had been agreed on, Elizabeth clasped her hands together. “We shall do remarkable things this year, make ourselves into remarkable people, and none of us will need to rely on marriage to make it happen.”