Lucy laid in bed all night, furious and upset. Eventually her eyes were depleted of frustrated tears, but the hurt she felt didn't dwindle. At first she held him responsible. How could he? She questioned his actions continually, but refused to place any blame upon herself. However, the more she reviewed their argument, the more reasonable she became. She knew bringing up James like that was below the belt, but were his comments any more fair? She subconciously knew it had been both of their faults.
Unable to sleep and knowing trying was useless, she wandered downstairs and into the sitting room. She stretched out on the plush embroidered couch and just laid there. Moments when she could relax in this house were few and far between. The more she thought about it, the more she realized times of calm laziness in her life in general, such as that one, were rare occurrences. She pulled her knees to her chin when she finally admitted to herself in a soft whisper, "This is too much." She always known she'd eventually need to give part of her life up but saying it made it real and it made it suddenly and urgently necessary. She was going to crash if she didn't slow down. Suddenly overwhelmed and exhausted, she sobbed uncontrollably and couldn't stifle her own weeping.
She didn't know how long her breakdown went on, but when the sun could be seen rising she got up and went back to her bed. She'd been instructed to sleep in late today so she'd be well-rested. She snorted at the irony as she laid back down and closed her eyes to at least mock-sleep. She heard Catalina and Hattie rise and get ready quietly as not to disturb her "slumber."
Roughly two hours later, Mrs. Johnston came to wake her. Lightly touching her shoulder she said her name. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes. "The bath tub in the master bedroom's bathroom is ready for you. When you're done, Catalina, my mother and I will be happy to help you get ready," was all she said and exited the room. Lucy reluctantly got out of bed, none too eager to start the day. She found herself thinking, "What's the point?"
She carelessly walked downstairs and into the Johnstons' then vacant master bedroom that was adjacent to the bathroom where she'd been told to go. It was much nicer than the one in the servants' attic. It seemed everything was made of marble or metallic. She'd seen, and cleaned, it many times but the prospect of using it had never been plausible enough to even consider. Yet, there she was lounging in the tub that between her sour mood and already simplistic taste seemed like too much for something as practical as a bathtub.
She finished quickly and wrapped herself in a fluffy robe that had been laid out for her. She could here the indistinct chatter of the three women outside of the door and slowly turned the knob. All smiled at her but only Catalina could notice and react to her bitterness. Lucy felt as though she was one of Grace's porcelain dolls while the three woman set to fixing her hair. They carelessly pulled at her hair with towels, brushes and combs in an effort to flatten it's excessive volume. When she made no protest to their yanking, they increased it assuming she was still comfortable. Soon half of it was pulled up into an ornate bun and the other bottom layers were left in their natural curls.
When her hair was at least dry, Mrs. Johnston pulled out a cap-sleeved dress from her enormous closet. It was an awful shade of green in Lucy's unvoiced opinion but she was informed it was not only stylish, but becoming against her untanned skin. They all aided her in slipping into it and tying the complicated ribbons that decorated and held the dress together. Lucy felt ugly and lost within the flowing silky fabric, but her disdain towards the dress and the situation was contrasted by Catalina's and Mrs. Johnston's compliments. Ms. Swanson was silent.
Grace entered the room while the woman searched a jewelery box for the perfect necklace, thinking that it was incredibly important to Lucy; she couldn't have cared less. Grace gasped at her mother, "What is she doing in your dress?" Lucy realized that no one had told Grace about her attendance.
"James and Lucy are going to the dinner together tonight." She discreetly and unsuccessfully chastised Grace for her lack of respect.
"What?" She shrieked. James who sat in the next room, came to see what the fuss was and leaned against the door. What happened next was the first time Grace showed her malice towards Lucy to anyone but her grandmother and her victim and the first time anyone had seen Mrs. Johnston absolutely and truly enraged. Grace turned to face James and began to pound on his chest angrily. "No, I hate her. You can't like her! I hate her!" She yelled. Jame's looked confused but not at all pained by his younger sister's weak but passion-driven blows. This scene was quickly ended as Mrs. Johnston grabbed Grace's arm and yanked her out of the room. Everyone could hear Mrs. Johnston yell at Grace calling her a spoiled brat and informing her that she would not be permitted out of her room for the rest of the day.
"What about the dinner?" She whined. It was the first year that she was going to be allowed to attend, as she was now considered old enough to behave.
Her mother snorted and said "You're obviously far too childish to go. You will stay in your room."
Angry, Grace made her second mistake of the day by saying, "Well fine. It's not like it's a punishment anyways. I've got all of my dolls and toys." Lucy couldn't imagine why Grace had thought that this was an intelligent thing to say, knowing as it was said what was to come next.
"Thank you for pointing that out. You will just have to stay in the guest room." She once again took her daughter with no delicacy by the wrist whatsoever and led her away.
While this went on, the other four people remained in their places stunned at either Grace's behavior or her mother's fury.
"I-I," James gaped slightly. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over her. You know she doesn't hate you."
Masking the sarcasm in her voice quite well, Lucy said, "I'm sure she's was just feeling overwhelmed about tonight and her nerves got the best of her."
He nodded his head slightly in agreement and took his leave. The three remaining occupants of the room sat in an awkward silence. Soon one of the toddlers began to cry, and even though Hattie was with them, Catalina excused herself to go take care of the problem.
Ms. Swanson rose in a stately manner and with a haughty air, hissed quietly, "I almost had the same reaction. You're an embarrassment." Lucy took this insult as gracefully as she could. She appeared to remain unaffected and indifferent, although, at that very moment she decided she would tell James she couldn't go with him.
Erm... what did you think?