Chapter Two
Rangoon riverside, Burma 1886
Relena woke up feeling the usual disorientation feeling that one has when sleeping in a different place for the first time. At first she couldn't remember where she was. When she did she felt her heart sink. This morning, she wouldn't be able to open the window and see the beautiful seaside and the green, Cornish countryside.
Instead, she felt the same sticky heat she had felt the day before. She desperately needed some new dresses. The woollen ones were out of the question and the only one that was summery enough, a nice cotton flowery dress, was no longer appropriate for her age.
She finally decided for a light blue linen one. It left her neck slightly uncovered and it had short sleeves. Even though linen was supposed to be a cool fabric, with all the layers of fabric she wore underneath, she hardly felt any difference.
She decided to brush her blond mane and, after plaiting it, she rolled and pinned it up her head. It took her a huge effort to get washed and dressed by herself but the maid Lucrezia had introduced to her the previous evening, was nowhere to be seen.
Finally, she left the room and started wandering through the corridors. She couldn't remember the way to the living room so she got lost.
"Miss, can I help you?" a young local girl, coming out of the blue, asked her in English.
"Yes, actually, I'm lost…I'm trying to find my brother Milliardo or his wife, do you know where they are?" replied Relena happy to find someone in that huge house.
"Sure, Mr Peacecraft is out in the plantation like every morning, Mrs Peacecraft is having breakfast in the terrace. I'll show you the way if you wish…" said the girl smiling .
"That would be very kind. Thank you" replied Relena politely.
As the girl had said, Lucrezia was indeed in a terrace placed in the back of the house which overlooked at the cotton fields. She was sitting having a coffee and reading a newspaper.
"Ah Relena, good morning…I'm sorry I didn't wake you up…I thought you would need your rest… but wait, did you dress yourself this morning? Why didn't you ask the maid to come and help you?" asked Lucrezia seeing that her sister in law had not been able to properly do the buttons at the back of the dress.
"Well, I didn't know where to find her…" replied Relena quite honestly.
"You just have to pull the cord next to your bed and she'll be there in no time…" informed Lucrezia asking her with a gesture to sit down next to her.
"Lucrezia, where can I get some new dresses made?" asked Relena as soon as she had helped herself to tome toast with butter.
"Oh, I'm actually going to town today to pick some fabric for the dress for the ball and I was hoping you would come with me…" replied Lucrezia putting down the paper that, as Relena saw, was in a foreign language completely unknown to her. She decided it was probably Italian.
Half an hour later, they were in the carriage on their way to the city of Rangoon, Relena had read about that city but was surprised to see how beautiful it was.
They stopped by Lucrezia's usual dressmaker's shop and, after browsing through some fabrics, Lucrezia ordered two evening dresses, one for Relena and the other for herself, and some summer dresses for Relena.
Relena was scandalised by the design of the dresses Lucrezia was buying for her. They left good part of her neck, shoulders AND breasts, uncovered. Two straps of fabric pretended to be sleeves and the major shock came when Lucrezia told her that she only wore a thin chemise and a pair of knickerbockers underneath the dress. Relena thought she would never be able to wear them. She was used to the Victorian style dresses, very conservative and made using a considerable larger amount of fabric.
In any case, Lucrezia insisted that this was the way colonialist women dressed so they ended up buying them.
Each day of the following week was spent following the same routine. In the morning, Relena and Lucrezia would have breakfast together, then they dedicated sometime to walk around the plantation and Lucrezia would tell her all about it and answer to all the questions Relena had.
Then, Milliardo joined the two women for lunch and then, after spending sometime with them, he would leave again to either check something on the property or to meet up with his friends.
The day ended with the three of them having dinner and, after playing chess while Milliardo read something, they would all go to bed.
Relena had learnt that Milliardo was a rather strong man and everyone, with the possible exception of his wife, was terrified of him. Relena did not know how to behave in front of him, she was scared she would do something that may upset him so she was really careful.
Lucrezia was totally different, she was a really nice girl and, thankfully, was becoming a true friend to Relena. They spent hours talking about their respective countries. Relena found out that Lucrezia missed Sicily almost as much as Relena missed Penzance. She had also learned that her family had left Sicily to move to the Australian region of Queensland where a colony of Italian people lived. It had been there that Lucrezia had met Milliardo and her father had agreed to let him marry her.
Relena still missed Hilde but, receiving a letter from her, made Relena feel a bit better. Hilde was telling her that New York was indeed as great as she had imagined. They lived in a big house which Hilde described in full detail. Duo was being great and, although he was quite busy, Hilde had learnt to occupy her time. She was currently reading the American constitution and the history of the 110 year old country.
The day of the ball arrived, after all the preparations were done, the two ladies of the house went to their respective rooms to get ready.
Relena, while the maid was doing her hair, glanced at the dress she was supposed to wear. It was light yellow and made of silk. The neck was low, almost indecently low. Around the edges, there was a white ribbon that gave it an almost childish look.
As soon as she was finished, she looked at her image reflected on the mirror. The gasp of admiration from the maid confirmed that it was not that bad. Pulling the neckline up a bit, she decided that was ready.
She got to the main living room and found that Milliardo and Lucrezia were already there. Lucrezia was wearing a beautiful dark blue dress which made her look very sexy without being at all vulgar. Milliardo was wearing his military uniform and was breathtakingly handsome. Relena understood why Lucrezia was so crazy about him.
Milliardo saw his sister and, taking a couple of steps towards her, said:
"Why Relena…you are…you're quite a sight…I don't think I should let you be at the party after all…".
"He's joking of course…but I have to agree that my choice of dress looks even better than I expected…you're beautiful!" added Lucrezia.
"Thank you…so are you…brother, I think you should pay attention to your wife as well…" said Relena regretting such a bold statement almost immediately.
"Touché dear baby sister…" replied Milliardo with a smile and, offering both of his arms to Relena and Lucrezia, added "Ladies, I believe our first guests have arrived…".
The ballroom was soon full of all sorts of people. Relena got introduced to so many people that she could hardly remember any of the names. She was talking to a nice girl whose name she couldn't remember when her brother made a gesture and asked her to go to him. Excusing herself with the pretty girl, she walked towards Milliardo.
"Relena…here, I would like to introduce you Mr Treize Khushrenada, he's our governor and, I'm lucky to say, a good friend of mine…Treize, this is my little sister, Relena…".
Relena looked up and found herself staring at a very tall man with short dark red hair. He was extremely elegant and had an air of complete self confidence that probably made him very attractive to women. Relena though, felt a bit overwhelmed, Milliardo and Treize made her feel ridiculously small and fragile.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Miss Peacecraft, I thought your brother was making you up when he spoke about you…although he never told me you were such a beautiful creature…" Treize's voice, as she had imagined, sounded as confident as its owner.
Relena was going to reply when a woman with red hair dressed with an even redder dress, grabbed Treize's arm possessively and said:
"Don't listen to my dear husband here…he's got a horrible habit of embarrassing nice young ladies such as yourself…".
"Ah…meet my lovely wife, Une...Darling, this is Relena, she's Milliardo's sister…" replied Treize coolly ignoring his wife's display of jealousy.
Then, a third man joined the group. It was a young gentleman wearing an impeccable evening suit. His hair was brushed all to one side almost hiding one of his green emerald eyes.
"Monsieur Peacecraft, Monsieur Khushrenada…Madame Khushrenada…" greeted the newcomer with a very strong French accent, then looking at Relena and without bothering to hide his admiration, said "Ah…and you must be the long awaited lost sister…Mademoiselle Relena Peacecraft, why…it's a pleasure to meet you…I'm Trowa Barton, your humble servant…".
Relena was quite shocked at the French man's unconventional way to introduce one self but, using the strict discipline she had been given, said with her most polite voice:
"How do you do Mr Barton?".
"Oh…no Mr no…you must call me Trowa…I would be honoured if you conceded me a dance…" replied Trowa bowing.
Relena accepted and, taking Trowa's arm, let him lead her to the centre of the room. There was a band playing a very popular waltz and soon, Relena found herself spinning around the room.
The ball was almost over, the last guests were about to leave when Relena, almost by coincidence, heard a conversation between Milliardo and Lucrezia that were standing just outside the main entrance waving goodbye the last of the carriages.
"Have you told her?" she heard Lucrezia asking.
"Not yet…I don't know how to…" Milliardo's voice replied.
"Well, I would tell her as soon as possible…the monsoon is coming and she will need to get to Hanoi before it starts…" said Lucrezia resolutely.
"What should I tell her then?" Milliardo asked.
"You should just tell her that you've arranged for her to marry Trowa Barton…it should be clear enough…" said Lucrezia shocking Relena so much that she dropped the glass of tonic water she was drinking.
The couple stopped talking and, turning around, found a very shocked Relena staring at them. Milliardo was about to speak when Relena, turning on her heels, started running towards her room.
"RELENA!!!" she heard his voice calling her.
END OF CHAPTER TWO
