Alice had just recently come to Bath with her older sister and her brother-in-law. They had invited her to come as a companion for Elizabeth as no one else would suit but Alice. Alice was just glad to get out of Fullerton. It was a quite town with village people and very few well off families. The country was nice and peaceful, but sometimes it could be too peaceful, and Alice was young. She wanted adventure! She wanted to be swept off her feet by a great romance, but she did not think herself a great beauty and therefore she did not have the looks for a great romance. Perhaps she could get away with a mediocre one where she could long for him as they had to be separated through family and fortune. She could keep it to herself as the bloom left her cheek until suddenly one of them suddenly happened upon a fortune and they could marry, bring the roses back to her cheeks as she suddenly became ten times prettier. Yes Alice read too many romances in her spare time. She also drew quite a lot, though still life more than people. Her brother may not approve of her reading, but he would certainly approve of her drawing.

As it were it had only been a couple of days, and within those couple of days Elizabeth and Alice had spent a small fortune in dresses and accessories. Only then did Elizabeth deem them ready to go out into society without making a spectacle of themselves in their country attire.

Alice spent little time in front of her mirror, though her sister paid extra attention. It was ironic as Elizabeth was already married while Alice was sadly single. Alice put on a light blue dress that covered her shoulders and was long sleeved, though was puffy at the top and tapered down to the wrist. There was a faint vertical pin stripe of beige color. Her dark brown hair was done up simply, though she had brushed her bangs to the side, and let a few curly tendrils frame her face. She had a refreshed and healthy look to her. Her sister had said that Bath was already working it's magic on Alice.

After putting on a bonnet with a dark blue ribbon and a smart, fitted jacket of darker blue, Alice was ready to leave for the pump rooms. She had heard so much about them and was excited to meet some new people. It took the two sisters little time to get there and once in signed their name in the book before entering the rooms.

Alice and Elizabeth had gone over to get some water. "They say it has some healing qualities," Elizabeth said, as they finished the water and began walking. Alice was not listening to her sister, but instead was looking at the crowded room, trying to find one person she recognized. It was quite difficult as Alice knew nobody, but her sister probably had many acquaintances from living in London and being married. Alice wondered what it would be like to be married. Would she enjoy it, or would she be frightened? lice didn't know if she could run her own house or if she be a Mrs. to a Mr. And what would her husband be like? Elizabeth would not let her marry any lower than a Lord, but Alice thought that love paid no attention to titles, but it was unlikely her sister would introduce her to anyone lower, and so she would have a smaller pool to pick from.

As Alice was off thinking, she noticed a young woman accidentally drop her purse, but did not bend to pick it up. She was rather close to Alice and Alice wondered if the woman had not noticed. Not thinking of propriety or social behaviors, went to the young woman. "I think you dropped something," Alice said with a smile.

Alice smiled and blushed slightly as the woman said that only a good person would do such a thing. Alice never thought twice about doing something nice. Often people would say she was too nice, but if she were not, then what would balance with her vicious temper? Of course Alice never showed her temper to the public. She always came off as sweet tempered and kind. Her temper was only lost when she saw injustices, or when someone greatly hurt her. Even then, she would regret what she had said, but still. Sometimes she did mean what she said and she would be head strong and refuse to talk to people. But that was rare.

"Miss Brandon," Elizabeth said. Her attention had been turned toward the conversation when the other woman had talked. Alice smiled sweetly. "This is my sister, Lady Middleton," she said.

Elizabeth turned to look at Alice before she said, "Well, my sister has always been interested in drawing, right Alice?" Alic nodded with a small blush. "Yes, I have heard of Mr. Valhurst, though I have never met him," she said.

Alice was very interested in other artists' work. It was recommended to copy the masters first before finding your own style. "I have seen a painting or two," she added. "He is very talented." The one time she had left Fullerton before she had been able to see some of his work.

"Oh!" Alice exclaimed, sounding quite pleases. "I would greatly enjoy that," she added, verbalizing her pleasure. Alice had learned to paint by herself through the pictures she had, but she had never been shown anything properly. Perhaps that was why she could not paint people as well as she could objects and sceneries. People were quite difficult and took quite a lot of skill to get the skin tone and texture correct.