Part Three

Lucy lay on her bed with tears streaming down her face. She was tough, tougher than her brothers, but even cold people needed to cry sometimes. When it all got too much, Lucy didn't know how she had ever gotten through the last few years. When her father had killed himself, her mother had fallen to pieces. It had been up to her elder brother Thomas to organise the family and, well, organising was not one of his strong points. The little money they'd had saved away from her father's gambling hands had gone in two months, and they'd had to sell their house and all their belongings. They now lived in a two up, two down house in the middle of lower class London, and Lucy hated it. She hated sharing a room with her four younger siblings, and her relationship with her mum was non existent.

And Thomas had turned to the drink the same as her father had turned to gambling. Her wage was the largest amount of money coming into the house, and now it was gone and she didn't know what to do. Her two younger brothers brought in some money when they could, picking up small work wherever it was available, but her sisters were too young to work. Her elder brother was useless, and her mother too old.

Lucy turned over and wiped her eyes. How come it was OK for Thomas to fall to pieces, but when she walked into the house and announced that she'd lost her job, her mother had picked up a poker from the fireplace and thrown it at her. Her arm was blossoming into a nice purple bruise, and it ached like hell.

Why did it all have to go wrong? If it wasn't for her stupid father, she'd probably be married, but now no proper man would ever want to wed her. What was the point? The family name meant nothing and she had no money, nothing to give to the marriage. She sighed, and closed her eyes, slipping into a black world of dreamless sleep.

When she woke up, the sky outside the window was dark, and her sisters were asleep next to her. Fumbling around in the dark for her shoes, her hand rested upon the dress that she'd stolen from the shop. Holding it up to the faint light coming from the moon, she took in its rich, red colour and the small silk ribbon that decorated the sleeves and hem. She'd been making it for a client's daughter's introduction into society ball, and it was beautiful. Lucy peeked out into the hallway, saw that no one was there and closed the bedroom door firmly. Slipping out of her brown, itchy work clothes, she carefully stepped into the dress, pulling it up and over her undergarments and fastening it at the back.

The expensive cloth made her feel like a princess. The skirts moved around her feet as she swung her hips, skimming the floor and giving nothing away. The cut revealed Lucy's pale skin, quite low on the chest. The sleeves reached her upper arm, and ended in a wash of black silk. The whole dress was overlaid black lace, in an extremely intricate design. Lucy smiled. This was one of the favourite dresses she'd ever worked on, and here she was, wearing it!

She peered into the small mirror that rested on the chest of drawers. Her long, brown hair was striking against the lace, and her green eyes glistened out from her face. Applying a little makeup made her look like she used to look. How she wanted to look again. The look which would attract a suitor, and help her out of this…this shit hole.

Lucy's mouth pulled into a smile as an idea formed in her head. Nobody had to know who she was. She could slip out of the house, and go into town where suitable men would be gathering for an after work drink. She could go into one of those pubs that she'd walked past on her way to and from work everyday, in the better part of the city, and pretend that she was from a wealthy family, but lost and disorientated. Surely some kind man would take her under his wing, and she would smile and be charming and do all of the things that she had learnt to do.

The smile grew wider, and Lucy picked up her purse from where she had thrown it on the floor. She pushed her feet into her best shoes, shoes she had salvaged from the auctions, and pulled on her black coat, also saved from sale. Slowly and quietly, she opened the door and crept down the stairs. Her mother was asleep in the only chair in the room, and she could hear her brother banging about in the other room. This was just too easy, she thought, as she slipped open the latch on the door and stepped out into the warm summer night.