How she wished she was a man. Her life would be easier in so many ways. But she was a woman, tied down by corsets and the rules of propriety, destined to be 'the angel of the house', some ornament. How dull.

She buried her hands in the pockets of her coat. "Oh... I thought it was... fisherwomen and girls like that..." she said a little embarrassed. She hated the fact that she had few opportunities to practice English. There was no need to speak it with her brother and she had no friends in town, and so the only moments she used it was when she reproached the maid. Admittedly she found plenty of opportunities for that.

She didn't know whether to be flattered or offended when he said she had an interesting face, and she looked mostly skeptical. But when he turned back to his work and paid less attention to her, she lifted her chin a little. "What's so interesting about my face?" she demanded.