Free Charlotte: The Practical Education of a Distressed Gentlewoman by Amelia Grace Treader

Elizabeth's straight face broke into a grin.
“I'm not as good at it as Freddy, but I had you going didn't I? Of
course I'll come. We can keep each other company while we wait for
Mr. King to introduce partners to us.”
    “ Oh, good!”
    “ There is a problem, I need a
chaperon. 'Miss' Talbot can't simply show up at the assembly
alone.”
    “ Oh, Lizzy, I'm sure Mrs. Answorth
would chaperon you.”
    “ You'd best ask her
first.”
    “ We'll ask her. She'll be at the
pump room, or nearby waiting for Dr. Answorth to finish his
bath.”
    They walked from the Paragon to the
center of town, and looked for Mrs. Answorth. The walk took them
past Cheap Street. Elizabeth asked, “Is this where you and the
Answorths are staying?”
    “ Yes. Dreadful isn't
it?”
    “ Not the nicest of dwellings, but
it is near the baths, isn't it?”
    “ I suppose so.”
    “ Are the baths helping Dr.
Answorth?”
    “ I don't know. He's not enjoying
the waters, says they're truly vile.”
    “ That's what I've heard. My father
said that the way the worked was that you felt so relieved when you
stopped drinking the waters that the pain was minimal by
comparison.”
    “ The only effect so far has been
on his temper, and it hasn't helped with that.”
    They found Dr. Answorth hobbling
from the baths back to his apartment. It wasn't the best time to
ask him for a favor, but Charlotte asked anyway. “Dr. Answorth,
could you or Mrs. Answorth chaperon Miss Talbot and me to the
assembly tonight?”
    “ No.”
    “ Why not?”
    “ I do not hold with dancing. It is
an immoral activity.”
    Elizabeth asked him, “Sir, did you
dance when you met Mrs. Answorth?”
    “ That was different, more refined.
None of this deplorable modern wild dancing.”
    “ You were younger,
too.”
    “ I was.”
    “ Your leg didn't hurt then did
it?”
    “ No.” He laughed at the
remembrance, “You can't sweet talk me into this Miss Talbot. Sorry
to disappoint you.”
    “ Can't be helped.”
    Charlotte asked Elizabeth, “How do
you get chaperoned?”
    “ In London, my mother or a friend
of hers.”
    “ Here?”
    “ I'm on my own.”
    “ Why don't you ask one of your
employees’ wives?”
    “ I can't. It would be
improper.”
    Mrs. Jones was walking by on her
way to the shops that lined the ground level around Cheap Street
and happened to overhear them. “Miss Talbot, what would be
improper?”
    Charlotte impulsively shot out, “We
need a chaperon for the assembly tonight, and Dr. Answorth does not
feel he or Mrs. Answorth should do it.”
    Elizabeth interjected, “I was just
telling Charlotte that we can't ask you. It wouldn't be
right.”
    “ I don't know about that, Miss
Talbot.”
    “ I do. I don't mix personal
requests with business matters. I don't want you to feel that Mr.
Jones' employment depended on your finding me a dancing
partner.”
    “ Oh, I see what you
mean.”
    Charlotte interjected, “I suppose
we could stand by the door and wait for someone we
know.”
    Dr. Answorth was listening,
“Charlotte, did you really want to go to this assembly?”
    “ Very much. It won't be as bad as
last time if we have Miss Talbot for company. At least we'll know
someone, and can talk about something while we wait.”
    “ I was perhaps a bit short, it's
this gout.”
    Elizabeth asked him, “Have you had
your leg looked at by the doctors at the Rheumatic
Hospital?”
    “ No.”
    “ You know the doctors at the baths
always prescribe baths and pump water for every
complaint?”
    “ They do?”
    “ How do you think they make their
blunt?”
    Dr. Answorth thought for a second,
then broke into a grin. “Dam-me Miss Talbot, you're right. You
don't know anyone at the Rheumatic Hospital do you?”
    “ I might be able to introduce you
to the faculty, but my memory has lately grown very
forgetful.”
    “ You really are a Talbot, aren't
you Miss. What's the price?”
    “ I was thinking that an evening at
the assembly might help me remember the