"In fact, sitting outside the restaurant right now is my ward, Mary," Bridian explained. "Every few years I take on a few promising young girls, in hopes of teaching them to be ladies of worth. I only keep one or two per batch, though. Some people just don't have the proper breeding."
Charles nodded. "And Mary has passed this test, then?"
"Yes, though she still lets her ignoble origins get the better of her, on occasion. That's why she's out there, and not her. Before you arrived, she had the most ghastly outburst. It was quite humiliating," Bridian said, as his age crept towards forty.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Am I allowed to meet this ward of yours after dinner, or do you fear she will embarrass you again?" Charles asked.
"No, something tells me she will have come to her senses by the time we're done. I think she would benefit greatly from meeting someone of your stature," Bridian said, taking another sip of wine.
