When a Young Heart Loves (The Secret of Moonacre Fanfiction)

A Second Year and Fragile Reputations

Maria's summer before her second year had been quite boring. As much as she hated to admit it, Maria found Moonacre lonely without Robin. Even Loveday and Ms. Heliotrope could not give Maria all the company she wanted. Maria took a few days to go through the forest under many excuses, although deep in her heart she hoped to run into Robin. She may not be ready to forgive him, but she missed him just enough to consider it. By the end of summer, Maria was looking forwards to the company of her friends. In the end, she returned to school without a word or sight of Robin.

Maria, Lizzy, and Cat were practicing piano in the music room. They had just finished their assignments and tasks for the day and were thinking of what to do.

"Maria, let's go to the city again," Cat said.

"Why?" Asked Lizzy. During last year's Spring Ball, Maria and Cat returned to school late at night. Even though they were escorted by Bast and his friends, Lizzy and Jane were very upset. Not only was it indecent of them to be out so late, they could have been in danger as well.

"Well Christmas is coming up and I want to buy some gifts for our parents," Cat responded, carefully choosing her words.

"You sure it's not to see Sebastian?" Asked Lizzy.

Cat scoffed at the idea but could not hide the pink in her cheeks.

"Actually, I need to go shopping as well, besides it's much more fun than staying here with nothing to do," Maria said jumping in to save Cat, although it only brought an exasperated head-shake from Lizzy.
Unknown to Maria, her mission to destroy the curse blossomed a small adventurous spirit within. She missed the thrill of a mystery or of exploring some place new. Plus she thought it would be nice to take some gifts to her family. Their Christmas holiday was a few weeks away.

The girls went up to their room and plotted their escape. Maria and Cat were having a hard time finding a dress to wear. Since they only wore their school uniforms, which had a flexible corset for their daily activities, they failed to notice how much they had grown. Maria and Cat were now closer in height to Lizzy, and their gowns fitted too tightly across their chests.

Lizzy was struggling to tighten the corset on Cat when Jane came in. Surprised, Lizzy immediately let go of Cat's corset causing Cat to fall to the floor.

"Are you girls going to the city again?" Jane questioned.

"No, we were-"

"Yes we wanted to go buy some presents for our family," Maria interrupted Cat. She had come to trust Jane and knew there was no way they could fool her.

Jane narrowed her eyes. "Wait here, don't go anywhere," she said before turning around and leaving the room.

A few minutes later Jane came back with Mrs. Watson marching behind her.

"Miss Thomas, what are you doing on the floor? Stand up this instant!" Mrs. Watson scolded Cat.

"Mrs. Watson, we have a request. May we go into the city to have the girls outfitted with new corsets?" Jane asked to the surprise of all the girls.
"As you can see, their corsets no longer fit them properly and as they are soon to leave for the holidays, it would be indecent to send them home in ill-fitting clothes."

Mrs. Watson called Cat and Maria over. She walked around them and tested out their corsets for herself.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Seeing as they are probably not the only girls who have outgrown their corset, and the tailor must be booked in advance, I see no choice but to have a school trip out to the city next Saturday afternoon. I will inform the teachers. Good day girls." Mrs. Watson left the room, leaving behind three stunned girls.