This was proof that familiar faces were not always comforting ones. Jemima had been anxious enough to see anyone she knew out and about, but Miss Mackenzie was a confusing case. There was nothing wrong with her, necessarily – she had always seemed friendly enough at school – but her stopping to talk said little good for Jemima’s status.
So she wasn’t sure she wanted anyone else to see her talking to the very rough-and-tumble sort of girl here, a woman who had not only become a cursebreaker but had also, apparently, become accustomed to wearing trousers. Dear Merlin: what if society’s supposed outcasts and oddities were the only ones who were inclined to be nice to her now? That would be less than ideal.
So Jemima’s smile was – strained at best, and not merely because of the shop clerk’s reception. “Oh, yes, thank you,” she said vaguely, with another anxious look along the pavement, in case anyone else was witnessing this interaction and making further assumptions about the people she associated with. Perhaps someone else would sweep in to save her? Abruptly, she remembered the correction she needed to make: “It’s actually – Mrs. Greengrass now.”
So she wasn’t sure she wanted anyone else to see her talking to the very rough-and-tumble sort of girl here, a woman who had not only become a cursebreaker but had also, apparently, become accustomed to wearing trousers. Dear Merlin: what if society’s supposed outcasts and oddities were the only ones who were inclined to be nice to her now? That would be less than ideal.
So Jemima’s smile was – strained at best, and not merely because of the shop clerk’s reception. “Oh, yes, thank you,” she said vaguely, with another anxious look along the pavement, in case anyone else was witnessing this interaction and making further assumptions about the people she associated with. Perhaps someone else would sweep in to save her? Abruptly, she remembered the correction she needed to make: “It’s actually – Mrs. Greengrass now.”
