“You are genteel enough; you look like a lady, and it is as much as ever I expected of you: you were no beauty as a child…I dare say you are clever, though,” continued Bessie, by way of solace. “What can you do? Can you play on the piano?”
“A little.”
There was one in the room; Bessie went and opened it, and then asked me to sit down and give her a tune: I played a waltz or two and she was charmed.
“The Miss Reeds could not play as well!” she said exultingly. “I always said you would surpass them in learning.”
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 10. Now a teacher at Lowood and aged eighteen, Jane has an unexpected visit from Bessie Lee. The Reeds’ nursemaid is impressed by Jane’s ladylike appearance and her musical accomplishments.