Darcy's Cinderlla - A Pride and Prejudice Variation

Chapter 4

Elizabeth had put on her best dress with help from the Gardiner's maid. She wore her matching Spencer jacket and her bonnet. In her other hand, she held her reticule which contained the reference letter from the Gardiners. The maid would accompany Elizabeth as she was an unmarried woman.

They exited the carriage with the help of the footman and then walked through the door into Agnew's Agency for Employment. Elizabeth stopped just inside the door. There were several women already seated in the available chairs, while others stood by the back wall. The floor was well worn.

"Come in! You are letting in the cold air."

A large, matronly woman sat at a large, plain desk near the back of the room, almost in front of another door. Elizabeth walked around the other women up to the desk. She pushed her gloved finger under her nose to prevent a sneeze. Elizabeth had not expected a dismal and dusty room.

"Well? What have you come for? Want to be a governess too?" The matron eyed Elizabeth with narrowed eyes and a downturn of her mouth.

Elizabeth held her head up. "Yes. I am here to apply for the position of a governess."

The woman finally smiled, but it was not the type of smile you greeted friends with. "Do you have any references?"

"Yes, I do." Elizabeth opened her reticule and pulled out the letter of recommendation from the Gardiners.

The matron snatched the letter out of Elizabeth's hand. Elizabeth pursed her lips at the rudeness. Was this the only agency in town? Surely in a town the size of London there was at least one more agency to help women find employment? Elizabeth would go to a different one next. She was sure it had to be much better managed than this place.

"Not titled or nobility? You will have a hard time finding employment, then." The woman's smile seemed cruel as she held out the letter of reference to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth took her letter back and frowned. "They are—"

"Take your seat until you are called." The matron pointed in front of her to the crowd of women already seated and standing.

"There is not a seat available," Elizabeth said, turning back to the matron.

The matron's head was bent over as she wrote on paper. Either she did not hear or chose not to respond to Elizabeth.

Pursing her lips, the Bennet daughter turned and walked to the back of the room to stand with her maid. She had not expected such incivility or a complete disregard of society's rules. The other women waiting were not dressed in as fine as clothes as Elizabeth. She bit her bottom lip as she waited. This was not at all what she had expected, and it gave her pause. Surely governesses could not be treated so poorly as this?

The door behind the matron's desk opened, and a woman walked out, through the chairs and then out the front door. Another woman's name was called from the back office. Elizabeth shuffled her feet and leaned against the wall of the agency. If she had known this appointment would have taken this long, she would have brought a book with her.