Read A Study In Scarlet Women for Free Online

nowhere as favorable. She was a misanthrope—rare was the man or woman who didn’t deeply disappoint her. That was bad enough for a young lady, but to make matters even worse she was a misanthrope who didn’t know how to pretend not to be one.
    If Charlotte were to accept a proposal, Livia would be left all alone at home.
    She sighed. “What did you and Papa talk about?”
    â€œDo you remember the day we met Mr. Cumberland? I said I didn’t want to marry.”
    â€œYou told Papa you don’t want to marry
today
, right before we are to leave for London?”
    â€œNo, I spoke to him the day after we met Mr. Cumberland.”
    Livia blinked. That would have been five years ago.
    â€œI told him I did not think the institution of marriage would suit me very well. I said I wished to look into other means of livelihood.”
    â€œAnd what did he say?”
    â€œHe said that he believed I was too young to make any permanent decisions. He encouraged me to look into aspects of being a girl that I hadn’t explored at the time—fashion, etc.—to experience more fully the traditional path for a woman before I rejected it altogether.”
    This sounded shockingly reasonable and wise—Livia could scarcely believe they were talking about Sir Henry.
    â€œI did as he asked. As it turns out, fashion is rather enjoyable. And so is talking to people—amazing how much they’ll tell you if you only inquire. And I imagine there should be something interesting to a London Season as well. But none of it changed my mind about marriage, since none of it changed the economic and political equation that is marriage. I do not like the idea of bartering the use of my reproductive system for a man’s support—not in the absence of other choices.”
    Livia’s eyes bulged. The old Charlotte had never gone anywhere; she’d been but reupholstered in fine muslin and a jauntily angled hat! Livia was ashamed that this simple camouflage had fooled her completely.
    â€œAnd you told him that?”
    â€œThat he already knows. What I told him today was that I’d settled on a choice of career: I believe I will make a fine headmistress at a girls’ school. If I achieve that position at a reputable school, I can earn as much as five hundred pounds a year.”
    Livia sucked in a breath. “That much?”
    â€œYes. But I cannot become a headmistress overnight. I must attend school, undertake the required training, and then work my way up the ranks. I asked Papa to foot the expenses until I can pay him back.”
    â€œAnd he is amenable to it?”
    â€œOur agreement is that I will wait until I’m twenty-five. If by then I still haven’t found anyone I wish to marry, then yes, he will sponsor my schooling.”
    Livia was flabbergasted. “I can’t believe it.”
    â€œHe gave his word as a gentleman.”
    A man’s word was no trifling matter, so Livia shook her head. She supposed she must believe now that Sir Henry had made a serious promise. “But it’ll be a long time before you turn twenty-five, almost eight years. Anything could happen in the meanwhile. You could fall in love.”
    â€œThat’s what Papa is counting on, no doubt. But romantic love is . . . I don’t wish to say that romantic love itself is a fraud—I’m sure the feelings it inspires are genuine enough, however temporary. But the way it’s held up as this pristine, everlasting joy every woman ought to strive for—when in fact love is more like beef brought over from Argentina on refrigerated ships: It might stay fresh for a while under carefully controlled conditions, but sooner or later its qualities will begin to degrade. Love is by and large a perishable good and it is lamentable that young people are asked to make irrevocable, till-death-do-we-part decisions in the midst of a short-lived euphoria.”
    Livia’s jaw