Chapter 1
"Elizabeth, hurry up! You're going to be late for the ball for heaven's sake!"
Lizzie stared into her vanity mirror, eyes half closed, deep in contemplation. 'Can't mother leave me alone, even for just a moment,' she thought. "I'll be ready in a moment mama!" Elizabeth applied one last puff of face powder before rising from her chair. As she straightened her dress she thought about how drab her mother's taste was. Ever since the incident with Finny's odd weeding contraption Lizzie was only allowed to wear Sheer dresses, completely without hoops or bows. 'I don't look cute at all,' Elizabeth thought before rushing out of her frilly, pink room. As Elizabeth descended the mahogany steps of her parents' mansion she heard yet another sharp screech from her mother.
"Elizabeth! Come, we will surely be late to your fiancé's ball! Imagine, the embarrassment of his own betrothed being as careless as that, my goodness! Her mother approached the stairs, looking up at her rushing daughter. "Good, you look very fine, Elizabeth. Now come along and we will go." She turned to walk through the mansion doors, her nervous daughter at her heels.
Lizzie mentally berated herself. 'Stupid, stupid Lizzie! This won't make Ciel happy at all! And I didn't even get to pick his flowers!' Lizzie gave an angry little sniff, which went unnoticed by her mother as they boarded their carriage. Lizzie looked out the window to see the horses, and despite the annoyance she felt toward her uptight mother and even more toward herself, the beauty of her beloved horses calmed her. Perhaps that was the only thing she and her mother shared in common, and that was their love of horses. Though Lizzie had established long ago that she preferred not to go hunting with her mother, using horses as tools to help in the killing of adorable animals, she still admired the intelligence and strength of every horse she had ever seen. Sometimes, she felt as though they were her only true friends. They could never judge her by her appearance or manners or wealth. They seemed to have but one simple friendship towards their masters or those who cared for and loved them. If it had not been for their companionship, Lizzie occasionally thought she might go mad. But now she was off to her fiancé's eighteenth birthday ball, and she was determined to make it one of the best nights of her life, as well as Ciel Phantomhive's. She had been hoping to be the light in his dark life as long as she could remember. Now, it was no different. Ciel would be hers, and he would be happy.
The carriage ride started off slowly, as the traffic of the bustling town was particularly congested. Lizzie's mother scoffed. "Damn. I swear Elizabeth, if we are late for one more ball because of you, you will be grounded from the stables for a month, do you hear me? I won't have any more of this."
Lizzie looked down, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. Wasn't there anything she could do right? Wasn't there anything she could do that wouldn't anger or annoy anyone? "I'm sorry mother," she said, almost whispering. They rode the rest of the way to the ball in silence, Lizzie fighting to hold back the tears.