“I would agree,” Miss Simmons added, quietly. “But what can be done?”
Emma watched the smile that crossed Miss Bosworth’s face. It was not one which brought light to her eyes but rather a firmness to her expression. Her stomach dipped. What was it that Miss Bosworth wanted to say?
“Listen to me, all of you,” Miss Bosworth began, her voice low but commanding. “Here we are, all standing here at the back of the ballroom without hope of stepping out to dance, without the expectation of good company or the like – and for what reason? None of us have done anything worthy of condemnation. We have been pushed aside by society but that does not mean that we have to remain as we are.”
“I do not understand what you mean. We are wallflowers. What more can we expect?” Lady Alice asked as Emma watched, listening rather than interjecting. Her heart told her that there was something significant here, but she did not want to ask questions – not as yet.
Miss Bosworth smiled, but her eyes flicked from one of them to the other, a steely look within them.
“We do not have to do as society expects of us, as I have only just said to you. Thetonstates that wallflowers must stand at the back of the room, silent and unimposing. I say that we do not have to do as they demand. Instead, we might walk, two or threetogether, about the ballroom, in amongst the guests, and seek to be seen and to be noticed. It might not change a great deal about our situation, but it will make us feel more significant, will it not? It will make certain that we are not forgotten! Even if society thinks we ought not to do anything akin to such a thing, why should it matter? We are already wallflowers. Do we truly wish to act as they demand? Do we wish to shrink back, to hide ourselves away and sink back into the darkness?”
Emma frowned.
“My parents expect me to be forgotten. They do notwantto see me walking through the ballroom or catching the attention of others.”
“But how doyoufeel, Miss Fairley?” Miss Simmons asked, softly. “Theton– and your parents – cannot censure us more than it has already done, surely?”
A sudden flare of hope rushed up through Emma’s frame.
“I have found myself more than a little despondent of late, I confess. I know that my parents and my sister are very happy indeed, but I have felt myself… lost.”
“Of course you have.” Miss Bosworth spread out her hands. “Do you not wish for that to change?”
Emma nodded slowly, beginning to understand what it was that Miss Bosworth meant.
“Yes, I do.”
“We could stand together in thecenterof the ballroom and converse as so many others do.” Turning to Emma, Miss Simmons reached out and gripped her hand. “We do not have to hide here, do we? We could stand in amongst the other guests and talk together, even if no one else wishes to talk to us. What could be wrong with that?”
“There is nothing wrong with that,” Miss Bosworth stated firmly, that determination in her voice which only added to the hope that Emma felt within herself. “It will take gumption,certainly, but I, for one, am quite determined to step out and behave just as I please. Society might continue to call me a wallflower, but I will not behave as one.”
“And if she will not, then mayhap I ought not to either,” Miss Simmons murmured, catching Emma’s attention. “What do you think?”
Aware that her heart had quickened, Emma considered for a few moments, sensing a sudden uncertainty rising within her.
“My mother and father would have something to say. I fear that they would be very displeased and, given all that has happened, I am concerned that the clumsiness and ungainliness would continue to chase me once I stepped back into society.”
“I do not think that it shall,” Lady Frederica said, confidently. “You have friends with you now, do you not?”
Emma nodded slowly, biting her lip, aware that her worries were still very much present. She was being torn in two directions, eager to step back into society and yet afraid of what would happen – and what would be said – if she did.
“I do not know what my mother would think.” Miss Simmons turned to Lady Alice before glancing at Emma. “I fear what she would think.”
“I can understand that,” came the reply, “but I think that we must consider what it would be like if we remained here rather than risking our parents’ upset.”
Emma frowned at that thought. She certainly did not want to continue as a wallflower, hiding back in the shadows, ignored, and forgotten. Was that enough for her to force herself to do something different from what society – and her own parents – expected?
Miss Bosworth nodded.
“My own mother might also have something to say on the matter. But if I walk with my friends through the ballroom, thenI am not alone, I am not without company. There can be nothing said against that in terms of propriety.”
“Especially since they have been quite contented for us to stand together alone,” Emma added. “They have never been concerned about propriety in that regard.”
Miss Simmons glanced at her.
“That is true.”
“It is very true,” Lady Alice agreed, looking around at them all. “Come, my dear friends, let us be brave. What is better? To stay here, hiding away, pushed aside and ignored? Or to be bold and to step out into the center of the room with the other guests, forcing them to take note of us?”
