Maintaining an Elusive Quality (Princess and the Pea)
It was all very well to be the most handsome man in the county, and furthermore for the young ladies of that place to know it. But as the inn's arrivals pounded past his door to yet another ball, Tom Musgrave confessed to his valet that he was tiring just a little of the chase. "Miss Osborne is right handsome enough," he mused aloud, picturing his latest flirtation.
"Yes sir."
"Though she may take after her father as she ages, and she hasn't one thought of her own to speak of."
"Yes sir."
"But wherever is a man to find a pretty, wealthy, and moreover interesting lady to fall in love with?"
"I wouldn't know sir."
"Well, Michaels," Musgrave observed himself and his servant in the mirror, "it is good for you that your talent for dress far exceeds your conversation, else I should part with you as readily as the girl."
"Thank you sir."
Charity Envieth Not (Six Swans)
"... There is nothing she would not do to get married."
"He began to slight her for Margaret...."
"... is rather prim and reserved."
Elizabeth's gossip on the carriage ride into the village was uttered without any consciousness of the resentments revealed. Emma eventually gave off chiding and merely listened with tight lips, a strategy which served her again on enduring casual insults for her aunt and brother at the Edwards' table.
By the time they entered the ballroom this simmering contempt had caught like a burr on her contentment and tears threatened to escape. She was a stranger in her own home, one who could utter none of the crowded feelings plaguing her.
Perhaps that was why she could not help but rescue the little boy: she recognized at once a fellow abandoned soul, and leapt to soothe her own distress by relieving his.
Vow (Frog Prince)
Little Charles Blake was at that delightful age when, long past hatching from dependant infancy, he had grown old enough to be useful without yet losing—like an appendage tail—a child's desire to please. The ladies of the house soon fell into the easy habit of petting and ordering him about.
"Do fetch my fan, there's a dear Charles, and I will stand the first set with you," Miss Osborne said without a second thought, and spared as little consideration for his feelings when agreeing to dance with Colonel Beresford instead. He was, after all, just a boy.
Gentlemanlike Air (Puss in Boots)
Seeing Miss Osborne dancing with another, Mr. Howard searched for his nephew at once. His sister was quick to reassure him. "Miss Emma Watson was kind enough to stand his partner."
Between gratitude and the glow of candlelight in his glasses, Howard might have found anyone lovely. But a later introduction reinforced the notion, and he was pleased to enjoy a dance of his own with the lady.
His former pupil joined them, quizzing glass aloft and studying Miss Emma like a strange bird. "You must excuse my friend," Howard spoke sotto voce as they turned about, "he is not always comfortable in crowds."
She smiled and generously allowed Lord Osborne a share in their conversation. And though Howard was pleased to see the man exert himself, he could not help feeling how different they must look to her: one the noble inheritor of a gentleman's fortune, himself only the appearance of it.
Pearl Oaths (Toads and Diamonds)
It was not Lord Osborne's way to admire every pretty face, though as he explained on the ride home, one would have to be blind to ignore Miss Emma Watson's.
His mother agreed. "Very striking, even unadorned."
"And undiscriminating." His sister shared a sly look with her friend.
"She's very kind," Mrs. Blake beamed while stroking her dozing son's curls.
None of these beads accurately described the lady, and Osborne had been trying all evening to recall a quote that did. "Help me Howard, it's Italian, or like: 'wrapped in white foam—' and something— 'carried on a shell,' or was Venus born in the air?"
His former tutor smiled. "'Wafted to shore,' so the poet claims. 'With happy, more than mortal features.' Though Miss Emma might enjoy a less romantic conveyance to Osborne Castle, if you are considering an invitation."
The quote in the last section comes from Angelo Poliziano's poem Stanze di messer Angelo Politiano cominciate per la giostra del magnifico Giuliano di Pietro de' Medici, which may have been an influence on Botticelli's famous painting Birth of Venus.
