6. Sunday at Miss Minchis

6.57 a.m.
Becky was scrubbing the pots in the kitchen when Lavinia suddenly appeared in the kitchen. That was unusual. Not only because it was far too early in the morning, but also because she hadn't expected to see her again.
Koch had also spotted her and approached her from the stove. "Miss, please, they can't be in the kitchen." She sounded polite, but her expression suggested that she would have liked to throw Lavinia out of the room on edge. Becky stiffened briefly, but reminded herself that Koch would never treat a young lady from the seminary like that.
Lavinia, who was apparently still wearing her night clothes, shrugged her shoulders. "I must apologize for interrupting your work, but could I have a word with Becky? It won't take long, I just need to talk to her about a job I want her to do."
Becky could see that Koch didn't really like it, but she also realized that she couldn't refuse Lavinia anything. She turned to Becky. "Girl, see what Miss wants and then do it. But be quick." Becky followed Lavinia into the hallway. What could she want so quickly again? "Becky, you remember I placed an order with the dealer yesterday, don't you?" Becky nodded. "The delivery will be here in an hour and a half. It's to be delivered to my room. Can you take it, please?" Becky wanted to say something, but Lavinia just kept talking.
"The boxes should go under my bed, anything that doesn't fit can go in front of the wardrobe or behind the curtains. I'd appreciate it if nobody told Miss Minchi about this. Here, this should be enough money to pay for everything." She held out an envelope to Becky. Becky had found her voice again. "Miss, please I can't use your money..." "Becky, I know for a fact that you would never embezzle my money. Sarah trusts you, and if she does, so can I. I would, but I'm at church at the time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get dressed." With those words, she went back upstairs. Becky stood there a little confused with the envelope in her hand, wondering what had just happened.

7:43 a.m.
"Lavinia, where have you been?" Jessie stood in the hallway with the other girls from the seminary, waiting for Miss Minchi to give the signal for them to leave for church. Normally Lavinia had always been the first to stand in the hallway, perfectly dressed and preened, waiting for the others to arrive so she could lead them to the church. Even after Miss Minchi had made Sarah the leader, Lavinia had kept up this routine, probably to show everyone that she was still the best behaved student in the seminary. She had also started helping Jessie with her hair, for which she was very grateful.
Lavinia arriving only five minutes before departure was new.
"Oh, don't worry Jessie. I just had to give Becky instructions, so I couldn't get started on everything until later. I'm sorry I couldn't help you with your hair." Jessie was relieved. That meant Lavinia hadn't suddenly lost interest in her again. "What did you have to discuss with Becky?" Before, Lavinia had hardly given the young maid a glance, but now it seemed as if she was constantly calling Becky in for all sorts of tasks.
"I'd better explain that later. What do you say we meet in my room after lunch? Then you can see what it was all about." "Yes, I'd love to. You know I always have time for you, Lavvie." "It's still polite to ask first. But I have to say that you've managed to get yourself ready without me. You look fantastic." Jessie wanted to say something, but at that moment Miss Minchi gave the signal to leave. All she could do was blush at the compliment.

8.36 a.m.
Church service. What a waste of time. I spent almost three quarters of an hour forcing myself into my best dress, gathering all the accessories and dressing up to the best of my ability, then traipsing to church and pretending to follow attentively. It's unbelievable how many cosmetic routines and especially dressing steps you have to go through as a Victorian girl in order to be presentable. And it probably doesn't get any better with age. At least I can pretend to read the hymn book. After all, this is not about piety or virtue, but about Miss Minchi being able to show everyone what exemplary pupils she has.
Like an arrogant brat who shows everyone what great dolls she has. No wonder she sees Sarah as nothing else. After all, Miss Minchi wouldn't have behaved any differently. And as if she cared about our piety. If that were a point, she would have taken the staff with her, as would be customary on an estate.
But no, the good Christian Minchi is of the opinion that the staff don't deserve the service. I'm not really a believer myself, most likely an agonist, but this hypocrisy is definitely a sin.
Even if I have to admit that her double standards benefit me greatly, as Miss Minchi is not in the house now, but Becky and so can receive the boxes without the landlady noticing anything. I hope it works out without any problems. Without the supplies, it's going to be a tough winter for Sarah and Becky.

11.23 a.m.
Sarah had invited Ermengarde and Lottie into her room before lunch. The three of them were chatting while Sarah brushed Emily's hair and Marinette wiped the furniture in the background. Suddenly Ermengarde looked up. "Sarah, are you actually friends with Lavinia?"
Sarah paused and thought for a moment. Then she said: "I wouldn't say we're friends... at the moment. But maybe one day. Why do you ask?"
Ermengarde looked uncomfortable, but took a breath and answered hesitantly, "I don't know if I trust her. I think she's planning something to get at you."
"What, what makes you think that?" "Lavinia always says she wants to be better, but is she really different? She might not make nasty comments anymore, but that doesn't make her any better." Sarah thought about it. Lavinia no longer provoked anyone and refrained from commenting. Apart from the bird thing yesterday, she seemed to be concentrating entirely on her schoolwork and Jessie. "I don't think she'll do anything. She's withdrawn after all." Ermengarde scowled at Sarah. "I still don't believe that. For the last four years, she's always made fun of me and completely patronized everyone else. And now suddenly that's changed overnight?
She never liked you before, she was so angry when Miss Minchi made you a model student. I don't think she has forgiven you for that. If she's friendly to you now, it's only because of the diamonds."
"Now you're being a bit unfair." Sarah looked at her friend sternly. She didn't have the best opinion of Lavinia, especially after yesterday, but that didn't mean she would let Ermengarde make such claims. "She told me that she can be friends with me precisely because of the diamonds. Precisely because then others can say things like that. And even if you're right that Lavinia has been anything but friendly in the last few days, I think she's at least trying to be better. I mean, she did try to apologize."
"But that wasn't really an apology!" Ermengarde got a little louder and more insistent. "She was just trying to cover up her own inability to make a proper apology. And that's not the point! The point is that I don't trust her, because nobody changes themselves that quickly." "Maybe not all of them, but I think you're missing something, miss," Marinette intervened. "Lavinia is the oldest pupil and almost an adult. Many people change after childhood and are completely different people as adults. Perhaps Lavinia has simply grown up now and doesn't quite know how to behave yet."
This got the three girls thinking, until Lottie suddenly said, "Or Lavinia has been bad for so long that she doesn't know how to be good anymore!"
They all laughed, but Sarah thought silently that this might be the truth.

12.47 pm
Lunch had once again been cheerless. The food itself was never bad, especially on Sundays, but Miss Minchi had, as usual, forbidden any conversation, which had led to a cheerless atmosphere. Jessie sighed. At least she had the chance to talk to Lavinia in peace now. She didn't want to show it, but she was very curious about what Lavinia had been doing with Becky the last few days.
She knocked on Lavinia's bedroom door and entered. Normally she would have waited, but her impatience meant that she couldn't wait any longer.
In the room, she found Lavinia kneeling and reaching under her dresser.
She had moved from her knees to her stomach, her head under the dresser, looking like a cat that had found a mouse under the dresser.
Jessie had to laugh. Lavinia had always been something of a cat, especially with her brief infatuation with Tybalt. Seeing her like this now was very funny. Lavinia flinched at the sudden laughter, but didn't turn around.
"Jessie is that you? Can you please move the dresser a little to the right? I can almost reach it." Jessie stepped up to the dresser, a mischievous allure coming over her. "What can you grab? The mouse you want to eat, kitten?"
Lavinia's shoulders shook briefly and a stifled snort came from under the dresser.
"Don't make me laugh now. I'm just banging my head."
Jessie had to laugh again herself and tried to lift the chest of drawers. She just about succeeded, but Lavinia seemed to be able to grab whatever she was looking for.
"Okay, you can let go." She crawled out from under the dresser, straightened up and smoothed her dress. "Thanks for the help, Jessie. I've been trying to grab this thing for fifteen minutes." Jessie stared at Lavinia's hand. The "thing" was a silver chain with a pendant on it. "Did you drop it? I've never seen this necklace on you before." That was odd, since Lavinia usually showed off the jewelry she had to everyone, especially on the way to church, but she preferred not to say.
"Not... really. I threw it under the cupboard in a fit of rage once and never brought it up again. The pendant has been there ever since. But that seemed childish to me now, so I wanted to get it back."
"What kind of pendant is it?"
Lavinia looked at the pendant and then put it in her jewelry box without looking up.
"A memento of my mother." Now all of Jessie's attention was focused on Lavinia. She rarely spoke of her family and had only mentioned her mother once at the very beginning of their friendship, when she was dead. "Would you show it to me?" She was curious if Lavinia's mother had been as beautiful a lady as Lavinia was sure to become.
"No." Lavinia didn't look up. "My mother... is a sore point for me. Maybe one day I'll tell you about her, but not now. I'm nowhere near ready for that."
Then she looked up suddenly and clapped her hands together. "So, enough of that. Let's do something else instead. I've bought some new books. Shall we read something together?"
Jessie realized that she wasn't going to get any more out of Lavinia now "Sure, what did you buy?"

2.58 pm
Becky wiped the sweat from her forehead with her headscarf. The work at the seminary was hard, and not for the first time she wondered why she was the only maid. Koch had once mentioned that there should be at least two more, and given the number of residents, that made sense to Becky. It was just her and Koch, as Marinette was only responsible for Sarah.
Miss Amelia, who Koch said used to help out, no longer did. Becky had once seen Miss Amelia wanting to sweep, but was then stopped by Miss Minchi, who said that they now had staff to do it. Of course, Becky had then had to do it on top of her other work. Sundays were always one of the more difficult days, as on top of the usual cleaning work there was the rather more complex meal.
She would also have to do more cleaning tomorrow, as all the students were in their rooms today and she shouldn't disturb the young ladies on Sunday. In addition, many of the girls demanded tea and cake, which is why Koch had been very unfriendly since the morning.
And Miss Lavinia's surprise visit had not improved her mood. But at least she had allowed Becky to carry out Miss Lavinia's task without any problems.
The delivery men had arrived on time and had placed the boxes under Lavinia's bed as instructed without any major problems. Becky had paid them with Miss Lavinia's money and they had left. The whole thing had taken less than half an hour and Becky was sure that no one except Koch had even noticed they were there.
Becky wasn't sure how she felt about Miss Lavinia trusting her with her money on Miss Sarah's advice. She wasn't sure what to think about Miss Lavinia in general. When she came to the seminar, she had been subtly and not so subtly warned by Koch and Marinette about Miss Lavinia, told that she demanded a lot and that they would not hesitate to report her to Miss Minchi if she made a mistake.
The first part had turned out to be true, Miss Lavinia had demanded a lot of her, especially in the last few days. But she had generously rewarded Becky with a meal after her work was done, something few others would have done. And, like Miss Sarah, she hadn't reported her for sleeping in Miss Sarah's room. And she trusted Miss Sarah. Surely someone who did that couldn't be a bad person?
In any case, Becky had come to the conclusion that she was better to Miss Lavinia than Miss Minchi. But that wasn't saying much. Perhaps, Becky thought, she should ask Miss Sarah about her opinion. Miss Sarah would certainly be able to say what she thought of Lavinia. However, she would have to do so in secret. Koch and Miss Minchi had warned her that they didn't want to see gossip about the students among the staff. Maybe when Miss Sarah...
Miss Sarah's birthday! She'd forgotten all about it. It would be in a few weeks' time. She really needed to find a present. Miss Sarah deserved one after all she had done for her.

4.23 pm
A short break. Jessie has just left and I've given myself some free time to think. I need to revise my plan for the coming weeks even better. So far, after all, it's just a concatenation of helps and the bold assumptions I've derived from my knowledge of history.
But can I rely on that? It doesn't help to constantly second-guess myself, but I just can't find a clear explanation for the discrepancies. Characters that only appear in certain adaptations, but the basic framework of the VN. And then there's the fact that I was able to change my role in the story. Conversely, this also means that the role of others can also change. At least I'm sure the main points of the story won't change. Miss Minchi as the main antagonist, Sarah's poor treatment and the surprising discovery of her wealth. Unless, of course, Sarah's father doesn't die. But then I can give all the plans a miss.
What makes me feel guilty, however, is the manipulative way I treat my fellow human beings. I'm not planning on trying to get Sarah's friendship for her money, but my methods are hardly any better.
All relationships, all actions are calculated to achieve the goals. Sure, the end justifies the means and the ends are good. No one can have anything against me wishing Sarah an easier time of suffering and wanting to help Becky and Jessie have a better life. But the doubts remain.
I really like Jessie, and no one who isn't Miss Minchi or old Lavinia could have anything against Sarah or Becky. Angels in human form, both of them. But it kills me to have to lie to them. Doing certain things to steer them in the right direction. I wish I could spare them that, but my rational part tells me that's not possible. Everything continues as planned. The day of Sarah's birthday is approaching. And if I really want to make a difference, it all has to work out then.

5.35 p.m.
Miss Amelia Minchi is trying to correct her students' work. She would have to hand them back tomorrow, but the letters blurred before her eyes. She put the sheets down with a sigh and decided to take a break. Hopefully her sister wouldn't notice. She sighed again. She was afraid of her, but she was also worried about Maria. She had always been an intolerant woman, withdrawn and pitiless after the sisters' joyless childhood. But in recent years she had become increasingly hard-hearted. Becky was a good example. Amelia had had no problem helping the girl with her work.
After all, she was still so young and had to do the work that would usually be done by three maids. But the seminary couldn't afford that many. And Maria had strictly forbidden her from doing any more housework. "We have staff for that now." she had been told. Amelia wondered if her sister's old obsession with being 'better' was showing itself again. It had always been Maria's goal. Not for the first time, Amelia wondered if they really should have been running a seminar for chosen girls. It couldn't have done her sister any good to be repeatedly shown what she had never been.
First Miss Lavinia, then Miss Sarah. And now Sarah had become even richer. Did her sister still hope for social advancement? Did she see Sarah as the means to that end? Is that why she courted Sarah so much? Amelia returned to her work, sighing. Her thoughts would not help her to finish all this before dinner.

7.37 pm
After dinner, Lavinia had shown up in Jessie's room to help Jessie with her hair before bed, as promised. Jessie had loved what used to be a very boring job since Lavinia had started helping her, and since she had explained everything to her, Lavinia had taken to the brush herself. Jessie really enjoyed being groomed by Lavinia. How had Sarah put it? Like a cat being stroked. Jessie looked up guiltily.
She shouldn't be thinking about Sarah right now. Not when she was sitting with Lavinia. But her curiosity got the better of her and she finally dared to ask the question: "Lavinia, do you have anything against me being friends with Sarah?" Lavinia put the brush down briefly, then picked it up again. "I can't forbid you to be friends with anyone. And I think you have a good friend in Sarah."
That wasn't enough for Jessie. "But are you jealous?"
Lavinia took a quick breath. "I can't say I'm free of envy. You know I envied Sarah for everything for a long time, and sharing my best friend's time with her isn't something I would have been happy to do a month ago. And even now I'm not entirely happy about it, because you're my only friend. But then I realized that you've sacrificed all your time for me so far, and I can't ask you not to have other friends. You deserve more than just me, and Sarah is a wonderful girl." "But you're not friends with her." Lavinia sighed. "I would like to be. But because of the last few months, I've sworn I won't be her friend again until I've really become a better person. I can't be her friend now. Everyone would think it was just for the diamonds."
Jessie hadn't considered that. "Won't the others think that about me too?"
Lavinia continued to brush her hair. "I'll be honest with you, it can happen. But you were already trying to be her friend before. And I know you. You would never treat someone nicely just for their money.
You've always looked after her heart. You were convinced I was good when even I didn't believe that and that convinced me to live up to your image of me. Be Sarah's friend. I'm sure you'll be great together. You might want to visit her in private more often."Jessie's heart warmed. But she never knew Lavinia to be so thoughtful.
"You've been quite pensive lately. Does that have something to do with your change of heart?"
Lavinia finished her work. "I've just come to the realization that I need to think more if I want to get anything done. I mean, I'm almost sixteen now. Soon I'll be an adult and I'll have to go out into the wide world. And just having good manners won't be enough."
She put the brush on the nightstand and headed for the door. "Good night Jessie."
Jessie stared at the door. She liked the new Lavinia, but she had a habit of breaking off conversations before she could ask deeper questions.

8.32 pm
And the day is over. When you're lying in bed, it's a good idea to review the day in your mind's eye. I got all the supplies, had a few important conversations with Jessie, and got the pendant back.
Old Lavinia didn't want anyone to find it, but leaving it behind the dresser wasn't the best idea. Better to tape it up and put it inconspicuously in the jewelry box. But it might still be useful. I've almost finished making the break with the old Lavinia look natural. The rest will come after Sarah's birthday.
I briefly considered redecorating her/my room too, but then it occurred to me that Lavinia's favorite piece of art could serve as a good reason. "The English Rose" Lavinia had been obsessed with it since early childhood. Out of social pressure or self-loathing about her origins, who knows. But for all her imitation of their manners and dress, Lavinia overlooked one thing. Character traits.
And one of the most important qualities of the English rose is kindness. What better excuse could I wish for, should anyone not believe the explanation of the sudden change of heart?
But enough of that. The day is over, time to sleep.

9.47pm
Becky staggered into her room and collapsed on the bed. Koch had kept her going until the end and then only gave her half her supper because she had left a hole in a tablecloth. She had no strength left. But perhaps there was a remedy.
Maybe Miss Sarah would give her another piece of cake tomorrow. Perhaps more...?
No, she couldn't get her hopes up too high. She would only be disappointed, and Miss Sarah had already been kinder to her than anyone else. Miss Sarah must not think that she was ungrateful to her.
Thinking of the other girl, Becky drifted off to sleep.