Could it be that Maria had only recently ingested the Reverse Pills and, for all those preceding years, she had been concocting pills with her feeble talents?

No, such a notion was patently implausible.

Thus, a more cogent and trustworthy supposition emerged—an inquiry into the integrity of Maria's talent evaluation. Was there something wrong with that?

It was widely known that all the power of the Jenkins’ family rested in the hands of Mrs. Jenkins.

Naturally, Mrs. Jenkins would be in charge of something like testing the talent of young people which would have a bearing on their future.