Lessons to be a Lady (Lady C){FIN}

[JANE EYRE]

After coming into her fortune, Jane realized that she had no idea how to function at her new level within society. She had always lived on the bottom most rung, pious and easily sustained with meager prospects. Now, with money, security, and a new sort of fame, Jane had to adjust and had to adjust quickly. Remembering the upper-class, rather proper Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Jane broached the subject of possible etiquette lessons while delivering her completed art piece.

The painting turned out beautiful and Jane was quite pleased with the end product. It fit right into the decor of the room, as promised, and Lady de Bourgh paid far more than necessary for it. While writing a receipt, Jane had asked Lady de Bourgh. It involved explaining her background (being an orphan, not the more delicate details of her most recent years) and then explaining the money. All in all, it passed rather painlessly and an appointment was made for etiquette lessons.

Jane was instructed to wear a dress, hose, and pumps and to style herself properly. Having no idea what that meant, Jane wore a light blue dress and white pumps, pulled her hair back into a pony tail, the ends curling naturally, and did some light make up. Bless Kitty and her persistant nature for insisting that Jane learned how to do make up.

Jane was admitted by the staff once more and lead into a sitting room. Lady de Bourgh wasn't yet there so Jane sat herself on the couch and crossed her legs at the ankles, folding her hands in her lap. She would just have to wait.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

The series of events in the life of Lady Catherine de Bourgh concerning Miss Jane Eyre were not numerous; indeed they had only met three times before today. It was the last occasion, however, that merited discussion, not only in that the artwork Her Ladyship had commissioned for Rosings' dining room was finished but also in that Her Ladyship's opinion of Jane had been drastically altered.

Jane had enquired about etiquette lessons and in doing so informed Lady Catherine de Bourgh of her background and her recent rise in fortunes (monetarily, at least). Needless to say Her Ladyship had been shocked at the former and delighted at the latter; she, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, owned artwork from Miss Jane Eyre herself! Of course, despite the fact Lady Catherine liked Jane Eyre well enough (and all the more so now), that didn't mean she wasn't painfully aware of her need for the lessons she asked for. Therefore, when Jane requested etiquette lessons, Her Ladyship was only too happy to oblige - she enjoyed telling people what to do, after all, and what better a topic to do so with?

Having issued Jane instructions on how she should look for her first lesson, Her Ladyship had in the time between their last meeting and this, drawn up a curriculum of sorts in her pink leather notebook. She was looking this over as she heard Jane arrive and, having placed her notebook in the pocket of her pink cardigan, Her Ladyship descended the manor's grand staircase and made her way to the sitting room.

If Her Ladyship was pleasantly surprised at Jane's posture she didn't show it. Instead she made her way over to where Jane sat, looking at her with a critical eye (so critical it involved her extracting her rarely used designer reading glasses from her breast pocket and putting them on).

"My dear girl, I'm afraid a ponytail is not exactly 'proper'. Nor do those shoes match that dress."

[JANE EYRE]

Jane ducked her head under Lady de Bourgh's scrutiny. She wasn't used to being looked at so carefully. Most people barely spared her a glance and here she was with a respectable member of society looking over every aspect of her person. She listened to Lady de Bourgh's critizisms and nodded after each one. Jane had no idea what was considered proper for hair and Jane was never really blessed with fashion sense. She owned only two pairs of pumps, black and white and usually wore the white ones with lighter colored clothes, the black ones with darker colored clothes.

"How should I wear my hair?" Jane asked quietly. She wanted to know and didn't want to come across as rude. "So that I may change it and be prepared for next time," Jane had thought briefly that perhaps leaving her hair down would do but Jane knew how her hair reacted in humidity. New York did not suffer a dry heat.

The shoes, Jane decided, could wait for a bit.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

As Jane ducked her head under her gaze, Lady Catherine realized she may have started the lesson the wrong way. Then again, she had left clear enough instructions and expected them to be followed.

"How should I wear my hair? So that I may change it and be prepared for next time,"

"I think it would look nicer if you wore it down," Her Ladyship replied. "Either that or if you put it up in a neat bun. One or the other would work well enough. As for your posture, I think we may need to skip that part of the lesson for today; one always crosses one's legs at the ankles, never at the knees. I think if you were to sit up just a little straighter and hold your head a little higher, your posture when sitting would be close to perfect."

Her Ladyship paused and, while waiting for Jane to alter her stance accordingly, consulted her notebook. Perhaps she would have to combine this lesson and the next if Jane kept this up.

[JANE EYRE]

Jane adjusted her posture to Lady de Bourgh's standards and surreptiously raised her hands to redo her hair. Jane was more than capable in styling her hair quickly. Tying it back in a bun was something she did regularly to keep it out of her face while teaching. A quick twist of the wrist and Jane's hair was neatly knotted to her ladyship's standards. Jane returned her hands to her lap, keeping her eyes downcast.

"What sort of shoes should I be wearing?" Jane asked as well. She looked at her understated pumps, not entirely sure what was wrong with them. They were clean, functional and practical.

Jane had to remind herself that her ladyship wasn't exactly concerned with practical. Jane was in Rosings Park, she could see everything in there. Hardly any of the items inside had a practical use.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

Her Ladyship smiled to herself as Jane altered her posture to her satisfaction. However, at the young woman's next query, Her Ladyship's face fell slightly.

"Suffice to say the shoes you are wearing at present will never do," she began. "They don't even have a heel!" Her Ladyship said this as though not wearing heels was something blasphemous.

"For everyday use, I would reccomend a rather small heel, such as the ones I'm wearing now. A pair like these shouldn't cost you more than six hundred dollars. As for formal occasions, it all depends on the type of outfit one is wearing. I presume you have attended some formal occasions since your acquisition of new wealth; what sort of shoes did you wear then?"

[JANE EYRE]

Jane looked down at her flats and sighed. She wasn't one to wear heels, especially when she had to teach. Flats just made more sense and were easier to replace if paint or ink fell on them.

A pair like these shouldn't cost you more than six hundred dollars.

If Jane had been drinking anything at that moment, she would have choked. Six hundred dollars? Jane couldn't imagine spending that much money on a pair of shoes. She spent only what she had to on shoes and nothing more. Shoes weren't important to Jane, fashion was the last thing on her mind. She never had to worry about it before but now she did.

I presume you have attended some formal occasions since your acquisition of new wealth; what sort of shoes did you wear then?

"I've attended one semi-formal event, Mayor Tormei's dinner. I borrowed my friend's black high heels. They were 'peep-toed sling backs'," Jane parroted her friend's exact words carefully.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

Her Ladyship noted with surprise the look of shock on Jane's face when she mentioned the price of shoes. It then occurred to her that, as Jane had only recently come into her money, she would not yet know how best to spend it and how much to use of necessities such as shoes. Her Ladyship intended to remedy this as soon as she could.

"I've attended one semi-formal event, Mayor Tormei's dinner. I borrowed my friend's black high heels. They were 'peep-toed sling backs',"

If this were anyone else Lady Catherine would have been amused at how obvious it was Jane was parroting the type of shoes rather than immediately knowing what they were. As things stood she was more shocked than amused, but she had to admit the shoes themselves didn't sounds too bad.

"They sound acceptable, as long as you wore them with a black dress," Her Ladyship replied. "Before we move on I want to expand to a very good point you just made - you mentioned Mayor Tormei, and it is very important for one to understand politics when one has status like ours. How did you come to be at the Mayor's party? Do you know him personally? I myself met him at Wall Street before he even thought of entering politics; that's why I was invited...not that I wouldn't have been, of course."

Her Ladyship flaunted this fact as it made it seem as though she had known the man who was running the city longer; she felt it made her seem all the more important and prestigious. In fact it made her sound all the more snobby, name dropping being what it was, but that was how Her Ladyship worked.


ooc: I know Lady C's technically not in P&C, but I presume she would have had an invite. I can edit if needed. (:

[JANE EYRE]

"Before we move on I want to expand to a very good point you just made - you mentioned Mayor Tormei, and it is very important for one to understand politics when one has status like ours. How did you come to be at the Mayor's party? Do you know him personally? I myself met him at Wall Street before he even thought of entering politics; that's why I was invited...not that I wouldn't have been, of course."

"Of course," Jane said, agreeing with her ladyship's first point. She didn't feel the need to mention that the dress she wore was black and white though mostly white. "I recieved an invitation because of my inheritance. I met him only in passing there," Jane felt rather inferior in not knowing more people of the upper class. "I do know Claudius Chandler, CEO of Chandler Enterprises though, and a composer, Erik Spectre, who has written several operas. Perhaps you've heard of his operetta, Earnest,"

Jane only knew the two of them as far as appropriate acquaintances went and Jane was certain that there'd be some error in that. They were both older gentlemen, both single, both going against what Jane had been taught formerly. Lady de Bourgh seemed to hold true to the same standards as Lowood so surely there would be some word of advice against knowing them.

ooc: It's fine =)

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

"Of course. I recieved an invitation because of my inheritance. I met him only in passing there,"

"That's a shame," Lady Catherine mused. "He seems a very pleasant man, and his policies seem sound for the most part, though I can't say I approve of all of them."

"I do know Claudius Chandler, CEO of Chandler Enterprises though, and a composer, Erik Spectre, who has written several operas. Perhaps you've heard of his operetta, Earnest,"

"I can't say I have heard of-" Her Ladyship began, before what Jane had said before this registered in her mind. Jane Eyre was an acquaintance of Claudius Chandler? Were he anyone else Her Ladyship might have been jealous (as she did not know him personally) but in this case she wasn't as, judging by what she read in her perusal of tabloids, he wasn't the best person to know. Lady Catherine now saw it as her duty to sway Jane away from furthering her acquaintanceship with this man; she was the type to believe everything she read.

"My dear Jane, I would strongly advise you to stay away from Claudius Chandler - in spite of his status I believe he is not a man of respectable character. Why, according to this-" Here she held up the topmost paper from the neat stack on the coffee table. "-he was seen drunk outside a pub only last week!"

The fact that Lady Catherine de Bourgh, of all people, regularly read and believed such periodicals, coupled with her incredibly serious tone, was laughable.

[JANE EYRE]

Jane nodded and made a note to try and get to know Mayor Tormei better. He certainly seemed like the right acquaintance to have according to her ladyship.

"My dear Jane, I would strongly advise you to stay away from Claudius Chandler - in spite of his status I believe he is not a man of respectable character. Why, according to this he was seen drunk outside a pub only last week!"

Jane looked closer that the article that Lady de Bourgh held up. Jane recognized it as a popular tabloid sold at the supermarket. Jane eyed it somewhat incredulously. Was she to take her advice from journalism designed to insult and feed gossip? According to Lady de Bourgh she was.

"He's been a perfect gentleman around me," Jane said in defense. Claudius hadn't been the perfect gentleman but he certainly hadn't done anything completely horrible or inappropriate. She couldn't recall if he had been intoxicated around her but Jane didn't think he had been. That doesn't mean that he hadn't been, Jane just never thought about it.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

"He's been a perfect gentleman around me,"

"For goodness' sake!" Lady Catherine scoffed, looking most seriously displeased that Jane was defending the Hamlet Enterprises CEO. "The man has a drinking problem; he's hardly the sort of person people like us should associate ourselves with!"

Having had her little rant, Her Ladyship returned briskly to business.

"Anyway, let's have you on your feet, Jane, so I can see how you hold yourself. I'm sure Anne will have a suitable pair of heels to fit you."

This said she summoned one of her waiting staff, who,having been instructed by Her Ladyship as to what was needed, bustled off at once to the upper floors of the house, returning within minutes with a pair of smart, cobalt blue heels which looked about the right size for Jane.

[JANE EYRE]

"The man has a drinking problem; he's hardly the sort of person people like us should associate ourselves with!"


"I understand," Jane muttered, lowering her eyes once again. It was just like at Lowood, one person critically reforming the student. Jane didn't mind, after all, that's why she had gone to Lady de Bourgh.

When Lady de Bourgh said that she wanted to see Jane on her feet, Jane felt a small wave of dread wash over her. She wasn't particularly graceful. She waited for the shoes to be brought over, thanking the staff member quietly as she slipped on the heels. They fit well, surprisingly. Jane stood up, smoothing her skirt down as she did so. Her standing posture was a lot like her sitting posture, prim and correct according to her upbringing.

Jane just hoped that Lady de Bourgh didn't ask her to walk to much or do any spins.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

Her Ladyship appeared to have had the last word, as Jane said no more about the CEO of Hamlet Enterprises. Not that this mattered much any more, they had deviated slightly too far from the curriculum of sorts Lady Catherine had used her precious time to draw up; once the shoes arrived they would be back on track.

As Jane put on the heels and stood, Her Ladyship again inspected her posture with scrutiny. Pronouncing it to be satisfactory (though again emphasizing the importance of holding one's head high), she then turned her attention to how Jane walked.

"If you would be so kind as to walk to the end of the room, Jane, then back again," she instructed.

[JANE EYRE]

"If you would be so kind as to walk to the end of the room, Jane, then back again,"

Jane nodded and with minimal teetering, was able to walk across the room without any major mishap. Jane didn't wear heels often but knew how to walk in them well enough. She by no means glided across the floor but she was able to get from point A to point B with relative grace.

Jane knew that she would benefit from wearing high heels on a regular basis since she was so small but she just couldn't see the sense. It was painful after a certain duration and it wasn't like anyone was looking to see how her legs looked.

Having no one to impress, Jane felt that high heels were a waste on her. If it was in her hands, Jane would just wear her flats all the time and sandals when it was particularly nice out.