"I heard you left," said Catherine, folding her hands in her lap. It was an understatement. The school had been buzzing with about what had happened to poor Jane Ripley. "I had to leave school myself recently due to poor health, but papa and mama say they believe I was quite finished anyway." Why waste her best years in school when she was already a refined young lady? Keeping her hidden away at school would only give her fewer years to find a good husband.