"You look wonderful, darling," Emmy said as she pulled Lizzie along.
"Do I?" The doubt was clear.
Emmeline stopped, her beautiful scarlet dress swaying out around her, and surveyed her younger sister critically. Lizzie felt as though Emmy's eyes could see right through her, and she shifted from foot to foot, nerves settling in her stomach.
"Haven't you seen yourself?"
Lizzie twisted her fingers together, very conscious that her dress was gathered more tightly than normal at the waist. "Well, only briefly," she admitted.
"Really, Elizabeth," Emmeline tutted, dragging Lizzie back upstairs.
"Stop, Em! You sound like mother!"
Emmy shuddered in mock horror and Lizzie suppressed a grin as her sister placed her hands over Lizzie's eyes and pushed her so that she stood in front of a full length mirror.
"Are you ready, Liz?"
"Emmy- we need to go!" Lizzie grumbled, forcing her sister's hands away. "We-" Her eyes widened. "Oh."
The dress was her favourite colour- a deep wine red that even Emmeline had approved of. It contrasted with the colour of her eyes, and they seemed almost unrealistically vivid as Lizzie stared at them. The waist was tight, and the dress itself quite narrow, but still fluid and swaying as she moved. The neckline dipped to expose her collarbone, and a delicate gold necklace nestled close to her throat. Translucent sleeves fell lightly to her elbows, and the bodice was picked out in delicate gold beading that caught the light and seemed to create an unearthly glow. Lizzie's hair was dark and glossy, piled up on her head to expose her graceful throat. Simple dark ruby earring hung from her ears, twinkling as they too caught the light. Her cheeks were pink and lightly flushed, her cheekbones high, but not cutting. Full lips smiled in confused pleasure, and her eyes darted to her sister's, seeking approval.
"You look beautiful, Lizzie." Emmeline's voice was soft, and for once Lizzie could look past her sister's blonde waves and statuesque physique to the girl who had lost her one true love, and was only attending parties because she didn't want to disappoint her parents.
It was Christmas Eve, and Lizzie couldn't help but think of Misselthwaite, and how the staircase would be draped in foliage and berries that Dickon would bring in from the gardens. There would be a huge tree in the entrance hall, reaching all the way to the balcony on the landing above, and roaring fires would warm the rooms. Red, gold and green ribbons would hang from paintings, and Mary would unpack the delicate glass tree decorations that she had bought one year in London in a fit of excitement. The drawing room would contain another, smaller tree that countless presents would rest under, and that too would be adorned with candy-canes and hundreds of glittering decorations. Music would be playing on the gramophone, and Dickon would be twirling Mary around the room. And Colin... What would Colin be doing?
"Lizzie?" Emmeline's voice brought her back to earth. "Liz, we need to go. James has the car waiting, I can see it from the window."
"Alright," Lizzie mumbled as she followed her sister from the room, pausing only to thank Ellen, who was standing quietly in the corner. "Thank you, Ellen. You've done a splendid job."
The maid blushed and bobbed a curtsey, eyes traveling slowly over the mess of fabrics and hairpins strewn over the bed and dressing table. Lizzie's eyes followed hers, and she smiled. "Leave those, Ellen. It's Christmas Eve. Go and enjoy yourself."
Ellen bobbed a curtsey again, but Lizzie knew that no matter what, the maid would have tidied the room by the time she returned. She really was impossible to dissuade! Lizzie sighed rather heavily and left the room, still wishing that she could spend her evening with Isabelle, who was slowly recovering, rather than make small-talk with people that she mostly detested. But duty called, she supposed.
She had to admit, the house looked beautiful. Clearly, Teddy Parker-Smythe had spared no cost when he had announced to his parents' poor servants that they were to host the Christmas Eve party- the one that every eligible young man and woman in London high-society would be attending. The tree was ridiculously large, the decorations ridiculously extravagant. People were everywhere- dancing and flirting outrageously because there was not a parent in sight. It was everything that Lizzie usually hated, and she wondered again why on earth she had allowed Emmeline to talk her into it.
"Oh, there's Teddy!" Emmeline squealed, taking Lizzie's arm and dragging her through the middle of a party of young women so encased in jewels that they looked as though they were the rajahs that Mary and Colin had told her about.
"Some people have such terrible taste," Emmeline muttered as she stalked past, causing some of the girls to glare at her in a way that would have put even Mary to shame.
"Em!" Lizzie chided, though part of her was secretly pleased that those girls had glared at her, too. Not only did it mean that they had noticed her, but that they had noticed her when she was standing next to Emmeline, and that had never happened before.
"Emmy, sweetheart!" Teddy drawled as they approached. Lizzie could barely see him over the heads of the women clustered around him, who moved away angrily as Em drew closer.
"Why, Teddy, darling! We were looking for you." Lizzie watched skeptically as her sister transformed into the glittering society girl that she played so well.
Teddy was tall and broad, with arms muscled from rowing for Oxford, and light brown hair bleached by the sun. Clearly he had been on holiday- Lizzie found herself wondering where he had visited. His eyes were blue and kind, his smile easy. It wasn't hard to see why so many girls wanted him.
"Where have you been, Teddy? I haven't heard from you in months, and every time I called, your butler said that you weren't in! Do tell!" To an outsider, Emmeline's voice would be one of playful reproach, a spoilt girl demanding to be let in on the secret. Lizzie, as practiced as she was, however, could hear the notes of genuine hurt in her sister's voice, and hoped for Teddy's sake that he had a good excuse.
"Don't fret, Emmy dear." Teddy's tones were rich and melting. "I was in America for a few months visiting Benji. Well," he paused and smiled unabashedly. "I was actually trying to persuade him to come back to England. He's quite in love with the States, I feared we would lose him forever if I did not force him back!"
Emmeline's face had relaxed into a smile, and she slipped her arm through Teddy's. "Come along now, Benjamin. I want to introduce Lizzie to the other Benjamin."
Lizzie shook her head, confused. This was one reason why she hated society! Everyone knew everyone, was related to someone or other, had been a love interest of someone, and it seemed that everyone had the same names! How on earth people managed this, she would never know! Teddy's first name was Benjamin, and his middle was Edward. His childhood best friend was also called Benjamin, and so, to stop everyone becoming more confused than was absolutely necessary, he had adopted the name Teddy, meaning that the two boys could be more easily distinguished from one another. The other Benjamin was simply known as Benjamin, or sometimes Benji. Lizzie thanked her lucky stars that she had a best friend named Mary, and not Elizabeth, or she might have been known as Patricia- her middle name, and one that she sadly detested. Worst still- and Lizzie shuddered at this- people might have called her Pat! Could there be anything worse?
"Oh, good evening Lizzie. I almost didn't see you there!" Teddy's voice was light and friendly, but Lizzie's heart had dropped. How stupid she had been. How completely idiotic to think that anyone- even one of her old childhood friends!- would notice her compared to her blonde, beautiful sister.
She gritted her teeth and mumbled a hurried excuse, before turning away and pushing through the crowds. Nobody even tried to stop her, and that made her hurt even more. Couples were twirling around her, a great swirling mass of colours and voices and laughing. Lizzie caught snatches of conversations as she passed- they struck her as incredibly shallow. Whose dress was slightly unfashionable, who was flirting with who, who had seen the newly-returned Benjamin Chester-Jones- which was a bloody stupid name in Lizzie's opinion. In answer to the question, no-one had. He was apparently here, but nobody had been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the intrepid explorer yet.
And then, as she paused to take a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter, something made her head snap upright.
"So, Harry, is it true that your sister is off to Misselthwaite?" The voice was not one that Lizzie had heard before.
"Yes, she is. I can't particularly understand why. It's a big, old, dreary place from what I hear."
Lizzie's fingers clenched tightly on the glass as she recognized the voice as belonging to Harry Dennel, an awful, superior, young man, who was rather too fond of champagne and women.
"She wasn't asked up by Miss Lennox, then?" The voice was curious.
"Oh, no. Mary Lennox was always too stand-offish to have any fun with my sister. She had enough admirers, though." There was a bitter tone, and Lizzie remembered Mary bluntly refusing Harry's requests to dance on every single occasion.
"I thought she mixed with the Templetons- she was staying with them, I think?"
"Why are you so interested, Bert?" Harry's voice was sharp and hard. "Thinking of going after Mary Lennox?" It took on a cruel, mocking tone. "She wouldn't go for a middle-income boy like you." He laughed, but it held only spite. "She turned down Edmund Harries, you know, and he owns a considerable portion of Kent!"
Lizzie allowed herself a tiny smile. Not only did Mary detest Harry Dennel, but she cared very little for wealth, as Lizzie well knew. The beautiful, rich Mary Lennox, who had now inherited her parents' entire fortune, was marrying a cottage boy. Oh, how she'd love to see the look on Harry's face when he found out!
"So why is your sister going up to Misselthwaite?" Bert was persisting.
"Oh, something about them needing another pair of hands to help with the soldiers up there."
"I thought they'd have plenty of people helping."
"It's Yorkshire, Bert. Full of bloody savages if you ask me. Lizzie Templeton was up there, but she came back a couple of months ago. People said it was because her sister came down with Influenza, but it was because she couldn't stand the company of those half-wits, with no grasp of the English language, mark my words. She may act like she cares for cripples, but dear little Lizzie's one of us deep down, and she knows what she wants."
Lizzie forced herself to loosen her grip slightly on the delicate glass, and stepped further into the shadows so that she could continue to listen.
"So Fran's going up to help with the soldiers, is she? Hoping to snare a poor soul for herself?"
Harry snorted, his eyes cold and narrowed. A thin smile stretched across his lips. "I don't think it's the soldiers she's going for."
"Then who?"
"For God's sake, Bert! Do I have to spell everything out for you?" Harry spat, eyes bright and malicious. "She's after the top prize, my sister."
"She's after Colin Craven?"
Lizzie's stomach flipped, blood suddenly roaring through her head. Her palms were sweating, her heart pounding so hard that she had to lean closer to hear the conversation over the frantic beating.
"Well done, Sherlock. How you got to Oxford I'll never know."
"Wasn't he wounded?" Bert's voice was confused. "I thought you said that Fran had no time for cripples."
Harry smiled again, and Lizzie's empty fist clenched so hard that her knuckles turned white.
"I think she'll make an exception for the very rich ones."
"And you think Miss Lennox will allow that?"
Harry shot Bert a glare, his blue eyes as warm as a block of ice.
"Mary Lennox is stupid enough to turn down Edmund Harries' fortune. And, she's a woman. What the hell is she going to do?"
Oh, just you wait, Harry dear, thought Lizzie. Just you wait and see.
Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)