Before Lucinda Lancaster sought to transform her into a lady to embarrass Lady Southward, Jenny had only spent time in the library at Long Lawns to clean and dust. Now she was an avid reader, spending much of her time there. She found this window to another world fascinating. Jenny had read extensively on the continent of Africa and the work of missionaries there. Marianne had encouraged her to study this subject and with her acquired depth of knowledge Jenny had become quite an informed expert. Should Jenny ever be questioned concerning her time in Africa, before returning to stay at her cousin’s home at Long Lawns, Marianne was confident that her pupil would be able to wax lyrical on the subject to the point of boredom.
Jenny’s struggle with words saw her
flicking the now well-worn pages of the library dictionary to establish their
meaning and rejoiced in perfecting the pronunciation of each new addition to
her vocabulary. No longer seen walking around Long Lawns or sitting at her
studies with books tottering on her head, Jenny sat with her back ramrod
straight and strode purposely through the rooms of Long Lawns with her head
held confidently high. Even when brought to anger chastising her maid, Jenny’s
new found sophisticated accent never broke her calm authoritarian tone of
rebuke, amusing Marianne immensely.