"I see." Arthur said in a neutral voice that was anything but neutral. He faked a polite smile. Lost. Their. Minds. Well, as long as she stayed away from Alexandra. That girl was hard enough to manage without someone putting strange notions into her head, thank you very much. "But surely you need not tutor like an ordinary governess? Your parents could easily support you even if you lived somewhere else?" And God alone knew why she would need to live elsewhere. Their house was large enough to live quite solitary.

"I am to eventually pay my own way, my lord," she said. Oh, if only he knew how chaotic it really was in the manse with her brothers all filled with some mischief or another, one sister who wants everything she has and another who wished to have been kidnapped instead of losing her fiance to God knows what. Being tired still made her snap a little against the judgment she picked up on, she was compelled to defend herself... "You do know that I was kidnapped and therefor I am considered damaged goods through no choice of my own, correct?" She began to put her things in the basket, then paused to look at him with transparent tiredness in her eyes. "Nobody will want to marry me as it is and it is better this way. Better to live my best life than to bemoan becoming an old maid. I certainly don't wish to marry in any case... If you have ever seen the way my sister grew obsessed with her missing fiance, I don't think you would be able to blame me one bit for my choice." She lifted her chin indignantly.

"I wasn't blaming you, miss Carrington." Arthur said. He was. He had heard of the kidnapping. It had shocked the town, of course. These things happened to girls from the lanes and yards. Not to girls like her. It was bad for the towns reputation. It would keep wealthy tourists away, especially since the man who had kidnapped her had not yet been caught. Hopefully once they did catch him, they could pin some murder on him and hang him. But apparently it was worse than he had thought. Had she been assaulted? "I'm certain there's plenty of potential suitors ahead, whatever happened. People forget..." Or rather, people would pretend to forget. Surely, there were men out there from good families who had gotten themselves into financial problems and would be glad never to mention such a blemish in return for a financially favourable match.

“I don’t wish to marry,” she repeated herself. “I don’t wish to be courted. I don’t wish to be wooed, cajoled, teased, or what have you. Why is it bad for a woman to wish to be more independent?” She tilted her head. “People can forget or remember all they like, my lord, I don’t care. I’ve never fit in at school and my siblings drive me mad, and I never wanted to marry in any case. Why, if I said I was going to pledge myself to the church, people would be just fine with that… but to pledge myself to work? Heaven forbid my newfangled way of thinking, right?” She gave a smile then. "I will be just fine."

Whatever fever had infected Alexandra's brain, it had gotten hold of this young lady as well. What a shame for such a pretty girl from such a good family to be lost. But she, fortunately, was not his problem. "Well, I suppose if your parents permit it, the choice is indeed yours, miss." But he would stay far away from her, as he expected the rest of polite society would. "I should be off." He tapped his hat. "Good day, miss," he said, eager to get away from her. People might already have heard of this strange project of hers, and he would rather not be seen associating with her. He should reconsider her brothers as matches for his daughters now.

She knew judgment when she saw it. Pearl lifted her chin as anger swirled through her despite her trying not to care... "I hope for your sake none of your daughters ever hurt badly enough to make the same choices I did... Your disapproval is overwhelming. You don't understand..." With that, she gave a stiff curtsy and began packing the rest of her things because she had planned on being the one to walk away first, but he had decided to take that choice from her. She paused and, without turning around, she said over her shoulder, "It's a shame that people are close minded... it is closing in on the turn of the century, my lord, and things are going to change whether you like it or not. Good day to you. I hope the rest of the day finds you well."

Arthur wasn't used to open hostility. And certainly not from a child (apart, perhaps, from his own, but that didn't count). The girl had not only been infected with radical ideas, but had also forgotten her place and whom she was talking to. His face hardened, but he did not say anything. He would not stoop down as low as to argue with her. She would find herself ostracized and ridiculed and that would be her punishment. Arthur simply walked away, cursing all these radical new notions that were destroying the country.