The bookstore was a quiet and tranquil place this morning.  The kitchen scrubbed, her mistress' chamber tidied, Ellie was at a loose end. There was still the daily shop to do, but that would be after lunch.  The luckiest - or as some would malign - the laziest maid in Whitby took the opportunity to carry on with her reading of Pride and Prejudice as Miss Christine had instructed, to better herself.  It was a thick tome, but the tale from the recent past was engrossing. 

Ellie was folded in the front window of the shop probably drawing stares from passers-by. Her blue work dress billowed around her as she read, oblivious. 

"MY DEAR HARRIET, "  Ellie read aloud softly, paying special attention to her pronounce her 'H's', just like Miss Christine and other well-to-do ladies did. She continued the text on the page: "You will laugh when you know where I am gone, and I cannot help laughing myself at your surprise tomorrow morning, as soon as I am missed. I am going to Gretna Green -"  "Oh no.. Lydia-- no " Ellie's reading skills were coming along, she now did not have to sound out every letter but the occasional longer word, and could begin to dig into the story behind the words, in this case poor Lydia Bennett. Young Ellie had heard about that place and knew it was a damned place, but the young maid's vocal concern could not save this Bennett sister.  

Christine was teaching Chéri to read and she was teaching them English. Chéri was trying to do both at the same time and the whole business was very confusing, as they were learning with this young maid who knew english, but not french and couldn’t read either, or so Chéri thought. But alas, being around her was still useful: they learnt how to say the word right.

“’Arriette”, Chéri repeated, sounding like they were correcting something that was already fine for the hell of it. In fact, they were just trying to pronounce things correctly. “Greta Greer? Who Greta Greer?” Chéri asked, trying to figure out if there was a character in the story they had missed. Christine had been explaining to them the parts of the story they didn’t get -most of it, to be honest- but they believed no Greta ever came into play. There was also no Greer they could recall, which was unusual, becase god knows they all came with half a dozen relatives.

Ellie closed her book almost all the way at the question of her fellow student. Ellie thought Chéri a queer one: looked like a boy, but softly spoken like a girl. Miss Christine had said Chéri was from France - a distant and strange land to Ellie, maybe all French people were like this - hence the need to learn how to speak English proper. Ellie smiled widely and couldn't stifle a laugh. Ellie brushed down her issued ruffled apron.

"No, silly. GRET-NA, not GRETA." Ellie added quickly. "GRETNA GREEN.. it's a place up north ye go if ye meet a man and want to get married quick. In secret." Ellie wasn't sure if Chéri understood, so cast a glance towards Christine who might have been able to add more detail in her native language.

Ellie wasn’t wrong in thinking Chéri was a queer one. Had they known the meaning of the word themselves, they would have probably shurgged in approval. Chéri had a very deep voice and without a hat, their boyish looks were almost questionable too, so that must have not made it easier for Ellie.

“Grena,” was Chéri smiling answer. Were they doing it on purpose this time?” not at all. They would never do such a thing. “Quick in Whibty no?” Chéri asked. People got married quickly all the time, could Whitby possibly have a rule against it? Were half of his acquaintances bastards? That would explain the size of the brothel: if nobody much cared for illegitimacy, courtesans could go on producing children without much thought. Chéri turned too to Christine: ws that really the case?

Christine was petting Archimedes as she listened to her two pupils and watched them with lackadaisical wonder. When a question came to her, she tilted her head and looked to Chéri. "What? Oh it isn't just Whitby. Since it's supposed to be forbidden for two people to be together without marriage there are reasons people may rush or wish to do it in secret. I promise you it probably happens in France as well. " She said with a sweet smile. "Have you ever known people who had a forbidden love and wanted to get married, my friend?"

Ellie wondered the same. Did French people rush off to get married in secret? Ellie was excited to know of a couple who had apparently done that, according to the Cragg rumour net.

"My friend Kate, her brother did it with Miss Pearl Carrington, they say."

Chéri -who hopefully had received the explanation in French and could therefore understand- protested “Well, but all that is necessary then it’s to go to church and get married, pay a priest or something. Why does one need to go to Grebba Grit?” Chéri turned. They were not entirely sure what she meant “We… book… place… brother?” they had meant to ask if they had miraculously managed to pick a book about a place somebody she knew had gone to get married specifically, because that sounded incredible to their ears, but the grammar was lost on them.

Confusion ploughed a deep furrow in Ellie's brow. This was hard for a girl of so little education, as grammar crumbled around them "I don't understand." she answered her companion "but yer funny, Cheri." she added, trying to round off the sharp corners of akwardness that talking across languages created.

Christine seemed deep in thought in how to answer her pupils. "Well... "her head slowly leaned to one side as she rest it on the palm of her hand and stared at nothingness for a moment. "Not all priests are willing to do it, especially a local one, if they know it is being rushed or would cause trouble in the town for any reason. They might not think it is proper or think something sinful has gone on and don't want to try to erase the sin before God by wiping a quick marriage over it. Some. And some people just want to keep it secret and if they do it at home, it could become the gossip and someone could come by and ruin it before it's completed, if they even do get someone to perform it. That is if both people are even part of the same church, that can be part of it as well. From what I've heard. My father wasn't much for churches and priests. He worshipped many books instead of just one." She told Cheri in french.

Ellie stared fishlike at the ease with which the foreign words fell out of Christine's mouth. Ellie herself had enough trouble with English at times. Speaking a language other than English was like witchcraft to the maid. She shook her curls "'ow do ye do that, Miss?" Might be a fun party trick to learn.