Charlotte waits anxiously in a formal, unused salon at Amelia Hastings’s London home after a long journey from the countryside. She longs for Clement Hall’s open grounds as she looks out on the bustling, bleak city. Restless and tired, she is caught slumping just as Amelia enters with brisk authority and orders tea.

Amelia greets Charlotte without warmth, physically inspecting her and criticizing her dress, unruly hair, and tan complexion. Charlotte attempts a light quip, but Amelia rebukes her, equating wit with salt to be used sparingly. Amelia characterizes Charlotte’s upbringing as too free, blames Charlotte’s parents for eccentricity and laxity, and frames Charlotte’s “wildness” as a weed to be plucked.

Clinging to her mother’s parting encouragement—“You are the kind of bloom that thrives in any soil”—Charlotte tries to comport herself properly under Amelia’s scrutiny. Amelia seats her for tea and continues the assessment, focusing on posture and presentation.

Edith and Margaret, Amelia’s wards, arrive and perform polished introductions and perfect curtsies. Their delicate, practiced poise contrasts with Charlotte’s more natural demeanor, underscoring what Amelia expects Charlotte to emulate.

Amelia, claiming a reputation for polishing girls into gems, asks Charlotte what makes her “shine.” Charlotte lists conventional accomplishments—pianoforte, drawing, and French learned from novels—but fails to impress. Amelia laments the lack of notice to retain tutors, declares decorum lessons necessary, and states the Season is already underway, making Charlotte’s presentation this year impossible and, in Amelia’s view, advantageous for training.

Concluding the interview, Amelia instructs Charlotte to look to Edith and Margaret as models and delivers a final, pointed assurance that they will make a “proper Hastings” of her. The encounter leaves Charlotte constrained by Amelia’s rigid program and marks the beginning of her social refashioning in London.