And thus began the most
bewildering day in Helen's memory. She was first ushered downstairs
by Emily who seemed to take personal pride in every startled glance
cast at her mistress as she trod lightly down the halls. When they
arrived in the breakfast room the two footmen who were guarding the
boiled eggs gazed fixedly at her for almost ten seconds before
leaping into action and, once she was seated and fed, they cast each
other approving nods.
It was Aunt Agatha who
vocalised the thoughts of all of them - “Well! I suppose you will
do well enough. You certainly appear more to advantage this morning,
although I fear you shall never be comparable to your sister!”
Helen smiled, In truth,
she was comfortable with the mild attention she received for being
what she was. The thought of being subjected as Rose was to a
constant barrage of admirers made her feel faintly ill and more than
a little relieved that the men she attracted accepted her wish to
stay distant. Rose was frequently not so well treated, although she
had the enviable ability to laugh it off with ease.
Rose came darting into
the room bare minutes behind their aunt and casting her arms around
Helen's neck (unfortunately timed as it caused a coffee spillage
frowned upon heavily by their aunt) crying out about all the joyful
things she had already experienced, chief among which were apparently
ham and beef for breakfast, alongside eggs and all the other good
things that came along with breakfast. Helen smiled at her sister's
boisterousness and although Rose became more physically subdued under
her aunt's harsher gaze, it did not noticeably cow her spirits.
All three ladies were
plied with hot beverages, and for the next half hour sat in animated
chatter. Helen was now in a better position to engage and once again
Aunt Agatha was pleasantly surprised by the quick mind and good
person hidden behind Helen's retiring personality. She mused that
many an older gentleman would be looking for such qualities in a
wife, although her above average looks may even cause a few of the
younger crowd to consider her with favour.
Rose on the other hand
was, by her aunt's calculation, the absolutely perfect debutante.
Vivacious, vibrant, beautiful, pleasant and clearly well bred and
educated; even without her portion she would be considered a toast.
With it, Lady Agatha Richmond firmly expected to land her an Earl at
the very least. Once the excitement of the season had worn off,
calculated Aunt Agatha, Rose would be impeccable.
The sentence structure
here is appalling. I hate it and I'm going to destroy it with a big
red editing pen when November is through. Sorry for the diversion, it
had to be said.
Drinks finished, the
savaged remains of breakfast tidied away, and Aunt Agatha determining
that for either girl to lunch before three would be sheer gluttony,
she sent them scurrying upstairs before whisking them into a barouche
to tour the more important parts of the city. En route to the park
she instructed them on shopping habits and restricted parts of the
city. Both girls solemnly paid attention and duly assured their aunt
they would behave in no way that could possibly discredit her. They
were past shopping venues, Gunther's, music halls, museums, and even,
very briefly, vaguely in the direction of the Tower – all things
she saw turned into a complete blur for Helen. She retained
strictures and determined to remember as much as possible of the
sights and sounds of London and as little as possible of the smells.
They were all too soon
in the park and both girls peered excitedly around them. Aunt
Agatha's judgement had been sound however, and at this time the Park
was deserted of all but a few nursemaids and children. The girls were
able to display their full naïve wonder and excitement without
creating a public profile that they may later regret. They spent half
an hour bowling around the park before they were pulled off in yet
another direction. More buildings shot past; more information about
places they could or could not go – sleepy looking streets being
presented as dens of iniquity, others being pointed out as something
worse: where the wealthy merchants lived. With her ambitions and
pride, Aunt Agatha wanted neither girl to let any pretender to their
hand to come from an undesirable address. Those dens of iniquity
were, however, visited by the finest gentlemen among the ton and
while the girls absolutely could not go there, they also could not
afford to dismiss a gentleman just because he did.
Soon they returned
home, where Emily was once again ready to help Helen into new
garments and repair the damage done to her hair by the “fresh”
air. It was astonishing to Helen that she could spend such a large
proportion of her life having her hair brushed, but under Emily's
magic hands the boring flat hair was beginning to grow in body and
lustre. Certainly her tricks for raising the hair into piles of
artificial curls were bewildering and involved a multitude of pins
but were astonishingly effective to a young lady who had spent longer
than she wanted to wearing pigtails.
Soon she was summoned
to her aunt's dressing room – Emily in tow – to meet the modiste
and have a whole new set of pins stabbed into her for an hour or two
as the most grandiose designs for her wardrobe spilled over her. A
few pages in the Ladies Gazette caused her to gasp involuntarily with
delight and both the modiste and her aunt were pleased to agree that
the styles she admired would suit her nature very well. The delicate
nature of the fabrics and the adornment of a simple gown with a few
exquisite decorations cried out taste, elegance and style, without
being overly ostentatious about the sheer cost of forming such
“simple” garments.
Rose was enchanted by
embroidery and wanted everything to have patterns endlessly weaving
around her. The modiste was delighted – the profit she could make
would be vast – but Aunt Agatha talked Rose down into having
decorated accessories – scarves, fans, gloves and slippers could
all be used to create the same effect without everyone instantly
knowing they have seen you in that dress before. Instead, she
counselled, select several dresses that could be worn with or without
adornment and find accessories that she adored for which her aunt
promised to take her on a separate shopping trip, or several.
The modiste was by no
means finished when the hairdresser arrived. He cast his experienced
eye over the multitude of designs for each girl in order to choose
the best arrangement of their hair. He began with Rose, and
ruthlessly cropped her hair into a cloud of riotous curls and spent
ten minutes instructing her maid in the correct arrangement of it.
Emily had begun removing Helen's pins part way through this
instruction and was barely finished and ready to brush out her hair
when the hairdresser minced over to inspect her locks.
He spent only a moment
there before returning to scrutinise the designs made for Helen. In
his absence Emily returned to the process of slowly and carefully
brushing out Helen's hair. When he returned the hairdresser tutted,
sighed and shook his head. Newly proud of her hair, Helen was a
little disappointed, but he simply murmured “Too much! Too much!”
and began trimming off some of the length. Unlike with Rose where he
had started by cutting off almost a foot of hair, he began slowly,
trimming off an inch at a time. After six inches were removed at last
he seemed satisfied and turned his attention from the length to
fringing and dressing the hair as he liked.
Initially Emily had
seemed politely distant, but as Helen's new design took shape under
his hands, she nodded approvingly. Finally, the work was complete and
Helen looked in the mirror. Her first reaction was deep
disappointment – she had been so proud of the piled up curls Emily
had created and now her hair lay flat on her head once again.
However, she recognised Emily's approval of it and she had already
come to trust the girl's opinion of how Helen should look. Casting
her own doubts aside and reassuring herself that at least she could
now leave her bedroom without enough steel to armour a fourteenth
century knight she thanked the hairdresser and stood, ready to parade
under Aunt Agatha's eagle eye.
Aunt Agatha approved
most heartily. Aside from the aesthetic concerns which tended to be
foremost with her she made the point to Helen that when one returns
home at three am, the last thing one wants is to wait another hour or
more for the maid to finish disrobing one before one can sleep.
Nodding reluctant assent Helen was on the verge of returning to the
modiste when her aunt brusquely informed her that they must now
provide Rose with the promised trinkets to complete her wardrobe.
They might also at this time purchase new shoes and necessities to
turn both girls into ladies.
Three hours later, the
ladies were home once again, this time laden with parcels and with a
whole delivery to follow them at a later date. Hungry and exhausted,
Helen was delighted when her aunt announced they must bustle as
dinner would be served in half an hour. She retreated to her room and
submitted to her hair being redressed again – this time much more
quickly but no less thoroughly. With two minutes to spare both
sisters darted out of their respective rooms and headed for the
stairs. They spared each other a smile, but otherwise remained
focussed on being where and when their aunt had instructed them to
be.
They made it in time
and were waiting when their aunt arrived at the door with the butler
behind them, ready to guide them into dinner. After the hustle and
bustle of the day, a quiet dinner was delightful. After several
dishes were presented, consumed and dismissed, Helen found herself
rapidly becoming sleepy, but followed her sister and aunt into the
drawing room where a piano forte and harp were available. The two
girls spent two hours playing quietly and intermittently, while their
aunt read. After she had finished her book she requested they play a
game amongst the three of them and called for some cards.
For another hour the
three played cards – relaxedly for the first game, intensely
competitive for the second and for the third, displaying clear signs
of weariness. Finally, their aunt dismissed them and both girls went
to bed. Once Helen was tucked up into the bed she mentally referred
to as a place of bliss, there was a gentle tapping on the door
seconds before Rose peeked in. The two girls, alone for the first
time today, spent half an hour chattering about their responses to
their day, the new circumstances and how they felt about it all
before both fell asleep. It was 4:30 am when Rose awoke Helen from
her dream. It had barely started and Helen had not yet cried out, but
she was already showing the physical signs and she was grateful when
Rose shook her awake.
Minutes later Rose
returned to her own room, where her bed had chilled in the night and
so she wrapped herself in an extra blanket before returning to sleep.
In the meantime, Helen subconsciously moved to wrap herself in the
robe and slippers, before standing at the window gazing outwards. At
5:00 am a maid came to light the fire. Ten minutes after she left,
Emily arrived in Helen's bedroom, flustered by her mistresses early
awakening.
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