“I shall come for you tomorrow evening at eight o’clock sharp. Please do not be tardy,” he urged.
“I shan’t.” Her words were devoid of any emotion.
Better.The sooner they find her a husband, the better. This strange arrangement shall come to an end, and he will finally be able to go back to his life.
Chapter 5
Marjorie was seated at a small vanity table, with a wobbly hind leg, which she adjusted with some cloth underneath. The owner of this abode, Lady Beadley, had told her that she could do whatever she wished with the old thing, throw it away or keep it. Marjorie did not have the heart to throw it away. So, she took some paint, and redecorated it herself. Now, it stood as a wonderful reminder of how little it took to repair something and make it valuable once more.
“Which earrings have you decided on?” Edith wondered, although if anyone asked her, the choice would be obvious.
There were two pairs of earrings laid out in front of her, waiting for her to make her choice. The first pair was a simple choice of button earrings, which featured a lack of any intricate work, but the flower shape was still lovely in its darkened silver collets, which rested inside gold-colored flower bases. If they belonged to royalty, they would be rose cut diamonds done in pure yellow gold, with exquisite, hand-engrained details.
But they did not belong to royalty. They belonged to Marjorie, and before that, to her mother. They were in fact, the only thing that was left to her of her parents. A very kind nun had kept them safe for her during her infancy, and returned them when Marjorie was ten years old, with the instructions to keep them safe, always tucked in the sole of her boots, so that no one would ever steal them from her.
“Remember when that horrid boy, George Higgins, tried to steal them from me?” Marjorie asked, hinting that her own choice had not been made yet.
“How could I not!” Edith chuckled. “You punched him so hard his nose bled.”
“But that was only after I asked him to give them back to me three times,” Marjorie said in her defense, although she, too, was smiling. A slight tingling along her knuckles reminded her of that past argument.
“And he told you three times that he didn’t take them.”
“I know he did, I saw him,” Marjorie explained. “That enraged me even more. Not only did he try to steal them, but he also lied about it. At least have the decency to admit what you’ve done once caught,” she mused.
“Unfortunately, that was a lesson he did not learn,” Edith sighed. “I’ve heard he has been incarcerated.”
“I cannot say that surprises me,” Marjorie admitted, although she harbored no ill will towards the man George had become, as they had parted ways a long time ago. “The streets of London can be worse than Hell itself sometimes.” An old anguish clenched at her heart hard.
“Now, now,” Edith recognized the signs immediately, and always knew when to act upon them. “This is no time for a doleful trip down memory lane. You are going to a ball, my dear! And you must look the part.”
The part.Marjorie knew what Edith was referring to. Her mother’s earrings were not meant to be worn at a ball where she was to search for a husband, among the ton of all places. No. The choice was obvious.
A pair of diamond drop earrings lay nestled in a plush box, as opposed to her mother’s earrings, which rested on an old handkerchief. The box had arrived earlier that morning, to her complete and utter surprise, with a hastily scribbled note from Alexander.
I thought these would pair very well with your new dress. A.
How familiar they were, and yet, they knew almost nothing about each other. If he had known anything about her, he would know that she did not like diamond earrings. She preferred something with less sparkle, something dainty, barely noticeable, but equally elegant. These earrings demanded attention, which was completely unlike her. They were a set of three, brilliantly cut diamonds, with the principal one being a pear shaped one, suspended from two other diamonds in a scroll design. The diamonds sparkled more brightly than the moon itself.
“Do you need help?” Edith wondered, seeing that her friend was making no effort at putting on the final touch to her ball outfit.
“No, thank you,” Marjorie sighed, as she reached for the diamond earrings, in her heart knowing that she was making the wrong choice. But it was true that Alexander knew more about these things, balls and gowns and ladies’ jewelry. Although she had been taken in by an earl and she lived the part of an earl’s child, Marjorie felt that she had never become a lady in the true sense of the word. Nor did she wish to.
She adjusted the first earring, then the second. Her hair was a simple chignon, with several little curls framing her face. There were no other decorations in her hair, so the diamonds glistened in the softness of her fiery hair. She hated to admit it, but Alexander was right. The earrings looked stunning. Marjorie could scarcely believe it was her own reflection she was looking at in the mirror.
“Why, Margie,” Edith’s jaw dropped the moment her friend turned around to face her. “You look…”
“Not quite like myself,” Marjorie smiled a little nervously. “I do not know if that is a good thing or not in this case.”
“You look breath-taking,” Edith gushed, not minding her friend’s modesty. “I cannot imagine you having any trouble finding a husband looking like you do.”
“These balls are a bit like the market, are they not?” Marjorie frowned suddenly. “People buying and selling… well, themselves.”
Edith chuckled. “I do believe you are overthinking the whole thing. You are supposed to go and have fun. Leave the earl to do all the work of finding you a husband. If you like the man, splendid. If you do not, the earl shall need to keep searching.” There was still a frown of displeasure on Marjorie’s face. “Come, come,” Edith urged her. “No more of that. A lady needs to smile, not frown.”
“Actually, a true lady remains unaffected by emotion,” Marjorie suddenly remembered what she read in a book a long time ago. “If that is true, I shall never be a true lady.”
“Oh, you are quite stubborn,” Edith pretended to sigh heavily, then wrapped her arms around her friend carefully, so as not to ruin her hair or wrinkle her gown. “But I love you nonetheless.”
