Afternoon










May 1829


The grooming was a very long process. I picked a forest green muslin dress to wear, along with some dark slippers. Afterwards, my hair was brushed, I swear, for more than an hour. I do give credit to Mary, the maid doing my hair, for after she was done with it, it was shiny and lustrous and tied at the base of my neck. She left out my side bangs as well as some wisps of hair around my ears. I felt as if I was some sort of princess, being pampered and looked after.

Although I do not like dresses in general, I admit that the muslin I wore was far more comfortable than the jeans and sweaters I always wore.

Then, Elizabeth came into my room and brought me downstairs. Standing there, were five strangers. The woman with similar features as Elizabeth, standing next to the tall handsome man with dark hair and a beard introduced themselves as Duke and Duchess of Ashcombe. I knew enough to realize that they were very high up in the aristocracy. There were three males that were staring at me openly. They all followed their father’s features; all tall with dark hair and blue eyes. The tallest of the three, and the eldest, introduced himself as Edward Ashcombe. The shortest of the three, introduced himself as Nathaniel Ashcombe and the last one introduced himself as William Ashcombe. I felt highly uncomfortable with the six strangers, plus the maids that were flitting around, staring and scrutinizing my every move.
We settled in the sitting area and the maids brought in some fruits and sweets for us. The first thing I asked was if we were in England. I guessed the country from Elizabeth’s think British accent but I wanted to make sure. They all started laughing, and I was a bit embarrassed. To be truthful, I was also secretly pleased at myself for “breaking the ice”.
Elizabeth eagerly asked if I could accompany her to the ball being held at the Windham Mansion. I cringed inwardly knowing that I would be required to dance at a ball, and I could not dance to save my life. My face must have betrayed me, because Elizabeth smiled kindly and told me that her three brothers would dance with me at the ball. In other words, they would save me from falling flat on my face. Bubbling with excitement, Elizabeth quickly dragged me upstairs to her closet, which was the size of my old bedroom. In there, it was like a department store; dresses of every colour lined up along the wall. It was then, that I realized that getting ready for tonight’s ball was going to be a very, very long process.

Serena