In the Imperial Box, Micheline turned away from the spectacle outside, where her cousin was once again personally tending to the match's victor, and instead regarded the young women around her.
It had been Lady Morwen who suggested that she might feel more comfortable if she had some companions closer to her own age and station to watch the events with, and Micheline had agreed almost automatically.
What exactly was meant by 'her own age and station' could, of course, vary widely. If someone had made that comment in Gaalen, while she attended the Royal Academy, it would have referred to a very small list of young women within two or three years of her age, likely classmates, and all daughters of counts or viscounts.
The only exception to the rule would have been truly extraordinary young women of slightly lower station or younger women with status too grand to be ignored who insisted on being included.
