The girls quickly began introducing themselves, each stumbling over the other as if whoever said it the fastest would please Carina the most.
In truth, Carina didn't really care who they were or what family they belonged to. The only family above the Rayburns currently were the royal family, the Sinclairs, and she knew they didn't have any daughters, so she knew none of the girls here could pose a real threat to her.
When it came time for the leader of the group to introduce herself, she seemed extremely unwilling to, as if she couldn't believe there was someone there that she actually had to lower her head to.
"Elizabeth Townsend." The girl in red responded.
Something about her, the way she spoke, the way she carried herself, made Carina think that she should probably do well to remember that name.
"Excuse me for not recognising you all, this is the first time I've been let out of the mansion, you see, and I was ever so excited to finally explore the town. My father and stepmother have always been so worried for my health and safety that they've kept me locked up for eighteen years! Can you believe it? But they decided for my birthday this year to finally give me permission to leave the grounds on my own, since I'm officially an adult now, so I'm sure we'll be seeing each other a lot more. Isn't that exciting?"
The girls responded enthusiastically to her words, each one of them inviting Carina over to their house for tea, or to write to them so that she could invite them for tea. They didn't know much about Carina, but they knew the Rayburn name, and so they all desperately tried to curry favour with her, believing that the rumours were wrong and that Carina wasn't unloved at all but was loved so much that for her own protection she wasn't let out of the house.
Carina smiled gently and responded half heartedly at the invitations that were suddenly sprung on her, laughing inside at the thought that the rumours were actually true, and wondering if any of these girls would've ever given her the time of day if she hadn't lied so casually about her situation.
"Oh my, the sky's gotten so dark! My father told me that it wasn't good to stay out too long, as you never know what kind of people might show themselves after dark, we should all head home for now. I'll make sure to invite you all over once I've spoken to my parents." Carina said, the edges of her smile tightening ever so slightly by how much the girls were talking.
Finally, at Carina's words, they all dispersed.
Elizabeth sent Carina one last longing look, something that Carina pretended not to notice, before walking away.
After they all left there was only one girl left, the girl in yellow who had been crying when Carina first walked over. Now that the rest of the girls were gone, Carina took her time to fully take in her appearance. She'd stopped crying long ago, and was looking rather dazedly at Carina. She looked rather cute, with a softness and innocence that Carina thought complimented the brightness of her dress rather well.
If Elizabeth were the villainess, this girl would certainly be the heroine.
Carina cleared her throat, and the other girl jumped a bit as if she was snapped out of her own thoughts.
"Oh!" The girl gasped slightly, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looked around and saw that the other girls tormenting her earlier had gone. "I'm so sorry, I was completely lost in my own thoughts just now."
Carina smiled indulgently. "It's alright. Are you fine? I saw you were crying earlier."
The girl shook her head. "Oh, yes, I'm fine now, thank you! You saved me."
"It's no problem. May I ask for your name?"
"Ah! I'm Rosalie Hathaway, nice to meet you!"
"Carina Rayburn. Pleasure."
After exchanging a few more words, though mostly it was just Rosalie thanking Carina profusely for coming to her rescue, the sun finally set and Carina slowly entered the carriage, frowning as the horses took off in the direction of her home.