An Outing with the Lady:

It was, of course, needless to say Cecilia got rather a sound reprimand from that dear mother of hers. Apparently it was not considered ladylike to tell half of London their aspirations were mythical. Sulking later in her room, she reasoned that it was about time somebody woke them.
     There was a knock at her door, and before she could react, Wendy was swept in with the ends of a breeze. The moment her eyes caught Cecilia's there was a sense of peace. Then came the sarcasm. "So," she said with a calculated ease, "Found any perfect men lately?" Cecilia only shot her a look that could have scared a confession out of a priest. Wendy, the saint that she was, shoved it off and took her friend's hand. "Let's have a walk," she said, coaxing Cecilia up off her bed and out the door.
      Once the ladies had retired to the gardens, they were free to talk openly. "What's really going on with you, Lia? You've never made public displays before unless you wanted to get a point across."
       Cecilia sighed. She could see there was no point putting her off. "All my life I've wanted everything London had to offer: the balls, the parties, the company. Only, it suddenly feels as though the all of it has grown stale. And the other day someone scolded me for not being the one a certain gentleman proposed to. For not being the one he wanted. It's just--have you ever wondered what it would be like to really fall in love--and I don't mean admiration, I mean truly, desperately, agelessly in love? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to feel something?"
        Wendy felt Cecilia's words as an echo in her soul. But she knew nothing would change the world they lived in. "Lia, you and I lead very separate lives from the rest of England. Our society demands perfect behavior or you are thrown to the wolves as an outcast. Society is cruel, but what other alternative do we have than to conform? Do you wish to bring ruin upon yourself? On your family? Your acquaintances? That is the road to which your kind of thinking leads. Do not let the tide drag you under."
       Cecilia was left bereft after her friend's words. She could hardly believe her ears. Were they not friends? Should she not have consoled her instead of warning her? She could hardly make sense of what had happened.
      Eventually she felt Wendy shift beside her. Her hand was outstretched, and in it was a copy of the "Society column" from that morning's Times, the story of Cecilia's rather infamous performance splattered across the page. "Thomas said to give this to you. He thought it could help put things in perspective." After that Wendy was gone.

Hours later, Cecilia was reconciled to this new vision of society life. If it was refinement they wanted, they would get just that. They seemed, however, to also require a suitor, and while she had no current prospects, she had a devious imagination which she was certain could catch her a suitor all in a matter of a single knock.
      The hard part came after Thomas opened the door.