A Kentucky Belle in an Isekai World

9: Finishing School

I would have thought heading off to finishing school would have made me feel more uncertain than it did, and caused more of a stir.

But Diane and Penelope were glad to be rid of me, and I them, so really, we had no further kerfuffles while I was getting ready to go.

The only people upset were Olivia and Tobias, both of whom knew the whole reason I was going was a load of crap. Apparently, maids really do know everything. Penelope and Diane's housemaids had blabbed it all to Olivia, though they thought she wouldn't tell me.

She told me because she knew I wouldn't do anything reckless about it. But she thought I should know they were deliberately sabotaging me.

I suppose some people might wonder if I regretted going off on Penelope.

The truth was, I did, in a way. I couldn't even be sure if it was her or her mother who'd really lied, when I thought about it more. Probably both. Yet I knew she was a teenager and she was doing as she'd been taught by her awful mother. I blamed Diane more.

On the other hand, I'd told her nothing but the truth, and I thought that she deserved what I said. Feeling bad for her was hard.

I decided to just leave it as it was, and time would show if that was a wise decision. But I thought I might never really move back to this house except for weekends, and I just needed to keep the peace, then.

Tobias was more broken up about it. I think he'd gotten attached to me in the last week, at least as a refuge from his mother and sister's scrutiny, one that he wasn't prevented from talking to by class differences.

I tried to tell him I'd still be there on weekends and we'd have fun, but he didn't seem to feel Lord Laurel would allow me to do anything with him, and it wasn't proper anyway.

I didn't know what to tell him.

I told myself this story wasn't real and I shouldn't worry about it.

With these thoughts, I was packed off to the Capital.

The hour drive seemed to pass quicker when I only had Lord Laurel to attend me.

Olivia told me before I went not to take any lip from the school's maids. She thought they might look down on me like some of the mansion's servants did. And she said I should show them I was still a lady even if I was a new one.

I tried to sit straight and look prim when we arrived. Now, we'd driven by this school when we visited the Duke's own estate, but I hadn't known it was a school. The grounds were real big for  a school that would only have about 20 to 30 girls at a time in it, according to the maids.

But they had stables, which was the only good thing I'd heard about it so far, but I discovered, once we were shown in and I saw a layout map of it on the wall, that it had a library, sewing room (yuck), kitchen (of course), dormitories, parlor, and a small theatre.

I didn't think acting was considered a respectable profession in the old days, but I was informed by the mistress (the school kind, obviously not the other kind) guiding us, that it was used for the girls to recite poems, addresses, and to play music or do ceremonial dances. Apparently, here it was a part of refined society to perform those.

I guess Karen mixed some other cultures in with European while designing this world. All I could think was it would be some side character's hobby and relevant to one scene at some point. I didn't care. 

I was exhausted by the time we finished getting both the tour and the orientation (they didn't call it that, but that's what it was).

I was told the rules, most of which I expected. No obscene behavior (that wasn't elaborated on very much), no theft, no coarse speaking, no visitors except on designated days and hours, and absolutely no men whatsoever. Girls at finishing school, or Madame Carr's Finishing School for Young Ladies, to use the full name, were expected to not be ready for marriage yet or they wouldn't be there, and so they certainly were not allowed to "court" while there.