When the night of the ball arrived, Emily was still fuming. She wasn't sure if she was angrier with herself, Nate or Mary.
On second thought, she knew. It was Mary she was furious with.
She found herself in Alexandra's room with Cassie and Allie, trying to choose between two gowns. She herself was more partial to a yellow one while both Cassandra and Alexandra were insisting that she wear a cream lace gown. When Ella, Cassandra's lady's maid, walked into the room, she too declared her preference for the cream. In the end, Emily decided to listen to them. There would always be another opportunity to wear the yellow.
"Is Miss Smithson ready, Ellen?" Cassandra asked, once they'd all dressed.
"Yes." Ellen said, grimacing slightly. "Forgive me, milady, for complaining but I don't think I can ever go back to help her again. She screamed until I tightened her corset and screamed more when it became too tight. She didn't allow me to do her hair properly, and accused me of pulling. By the end of it, she asked me to hand in my notice to her, as if I were under her employ!"
"I detest that girl." Emily growled, dragging the brush in her hand a little too roughly through Allie's hair, making her squeal lightly. "Oh, sorry, Allie!"
"It's alright." She said, managing a smile before scowling. "But I agree wholeheartedly about Mary. She boasted about her dress all day today and, in the end, asked me if I would like to try it on. Before I could answer, she 'changed her mind' because my complexion was entirely too wrong for her perfect dress and it would simply wash my skin out, whereas her complexion is so flawless that it would only enhance her own natural beauty. Those were her exact words."
"Natural beauty?" Cassandra scoffed, having long since given up on being kind to Mary. "She doesn't even come down to breakfast without wearing at least powder and rouge. Once, she even stained her lips to go riding alone."
"Since when have you given up on your crusade of being kind to her?"Â Allie asked, sticking her tongue out at her sister, who responded by making a face.
"Since the time she told me that my daughter is far too chubby in the thighs." Cassandra answered plainly, making Emily, Allie and Ellen's mouths drop open.
"How dare she!" Emily exclaimed. "Juliette is absolutely perfect, just as every baby is. To make such comments about an innocent baby is despicable."
"Oh, I put her in her place after, so don't worry." Cassandra brushed it off, smiling gleefully. "I do wonder how Mr. and Mrs. Smithson can live with her, though."
"There's a reason they sent her here, where she could torture us." Allie commented, smiling devilishly as she allowed Emily to do her hair in twining braids. Emily had recently learned that she was quite good with doing hair, and Allie had allowed her to practice on her. She was planning on plaiting Allie's hair into multiple braids before twining them together in the form of a crown atop her head. Since Allie had long, waist-length hair, it would look lovely when she was finished.
While still concentrating, Emily found herself spilling the story of what had happened when she had accompanied Mary to the seamstress the previous week, down to every last detail. She remembered that moment for it had been playing over and over in her head ever since it had happened. At first, she hesitated, but she even told them of what Nate had said to her.
It seemed private, which was why she'd been reluctant at first, but she remembered Cassandra once telling her that friends told each other everything, except only those things of utmost confidentiality. Over time, she'd grown to consider both sisters very dear friends of hers, although she hadn't thought Allie would be the sort of girl she could befriend.
"I think I should go down to her room and give her a piece of my mind." Allie said brusquely and roughly, clearly tempted to do exactly that. "She has no right to say anything like that. Why is she still in our house right now? Why has Nate allowed her to remain?"
"I haven't exactly told him what she said." Emily confessed hesitantly, prepared for what was to come next. "I didn't want him to know. It would only put him in a difficult position." And she was angry with him for an idiotic reason and she didn't want to disclose that. She'd only come across as being silly.
"What do you mean?" Cassandra asked, frowning as she adjusted her dress a little. "If she is disrespectful, then why should we be obliged to host her?" She spoke rationally, but Emily knew that debts and relationships between people were much more intricate than that.
"What I mean is that Nate would have to explain to the Smithsons the entire situation. He would have to send their daughter back to them, potentially damaging an important relationship with someone. The Smithsons did so much for all of you after your parents died, especially for Nate. Mr. Smithson spent months teaching Nate how to run the estate and, for that, Nate feels that he is indebted to him. I cannot be guilty of bringing any sort of harm to their friendship."
"That's understandable, I suppose." Cassandra agreed reluctantly, but Allie still seemed unsure as to whether Emily was making a valid point or not. She'd learn eventually, though. Ellen, who had remained silent throughout, seemed thoughtful and simply content to listen. To treat servants as though they were inferior or not worth respect was unforgivable, which meant that Ellen had more reason to complain than any of the others.
With a sigh, Emily pinned up Alexandra's hair and pulled back, silently signalling that she was done. Ellen had also done both Cassie and Emily's hair into an updo, which meant that they were ready for the guests that, she was sure, were already arriving.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Cassandra called for whomever it was to enter. They did, and Kit was revealed to be standing on the other side, Juliette in his arms. Kit also appeared to be extremely annoyed and glanced derisively to his side, where Mary was standing. Christopher, who Emily knew already had little patience for people, had soon realised just what Mary was like, probably even before Emily had. He'd never entertained her demands or suggestions, which meant that she didn't try too much of her rubbish with him.
"I thought I'd pop in with Juliette so that she could see her Mama before Ellen took her to bed and I met Mary in the hall while coming here." His expression clearly showed that he needed some saving, and Allie decided to help her brother-in-law.
"Mary, dearest, your rouge has smudged all across your cheeks." She informed her, making the other girl's widen as she immediately slipped out of the room to check her reflection in the looking glass.
"Thank God for that!" Kit sighed, relieved, as he passed his daughter on to Cassie who immediately began cooing at the baby. Kit soon after came to stand behind her and leaned down, resting his chin on Cassie's shoulder as the both of them spoke to Juliette in hushed tones while tickling her, making her giggle.
"You look beautiful." Emily heard Kit say lowly to his wife, but the near silence in the room ensured that the other three heard it too. Emily met Allie's eyes, and it was evident that the younger girl was close to squealing in excitement at the sight of their very obvious love for each other. In all honesty, Emily probably would have lost faith completely in the idea of love if not for Cassandra and Christopher, because those two were the most adorable couple she'd ever seen in her life.
Once, she'd even made the mistake of calling them perfect, but Cassandra had quickly corrected her. She said that they were far from perfect and that they fought just like any other couple, but the important thing was that they came back to each other after every single fight and that was entirely because of the love and trust that they had built their relationship on. Besides, she'd said, if you didn't fight at all, didn't that mean you didn't have anything to fight for?
Moments like these, however, were exactly when Emily envied them for what they had, especially now that she had someone she could potentially share in this same feeling with. She had someone she could start a family with, but they couldn't be together because of the stupid fact that a girl like Emily wasn't meant for love, not in a society like the one she belonged to. She just hoped that Nate knew that it wasn't he who was the problem, but rather her and everyone else.
She'd tell him that, but she was still oddly irritated with him.
"I think we shall go downstairs and leave you two to yourselves." Emily suggested, and Allie nodded in agreement. Cassie and Kit barely even noticed as they slipped out, Ellen right behind them. She disappeared through the servants' staircase while Alexandra and Emily stood in the corridor for a little while longer.
"I don't care if I'm being rude, but I'm just so glad that Mary's 'perfect dress' turned out the way it did." Allie commented in a short whisper, punctuating her words with a giggle.
Reluctant as Emily was to comment on someone else's fashion choices since she herself was not very good at making them, she felt that this was one instance where she could afford to say something because she looked like the gaudy carriage from Perrault's The Little Glass Slipper.
Her dress was entirely gold silk, from top to bottom, with the bodice layered with gold gauze. The dress was covered in little gold flowers that protruded outwards. A long piece of gauze was oddly attached to the bottom of her skirt like a train, but was sewed on directly at the end of the silk, which didn't allow the fabrics to meld into each other. She'd added many stiff petticoats to make the dress stick out, and it now ballooned out around her more than any gown Emily had ever seen before. Her corset was also laced exceedingly tight, so much so that it made the dress loose at the waist. It was a rather ugly dress, and did nothing to flatter Mary's features or her figure, because all the eye of an observer could focus on was all the gold.
"Aren't you glad I didn't help her pick out a prettier dress?" Emily asked rhetorically, a devilish glint in her eyes as she did so, drawing a grin from Allie.
"Incredibly so." Allie answered, "At least I'll be prettier than her, even if it is just for tonight."
"Hush, Allie." Emily ordered, "You are beautiful and you always have been. To me, you're ten times prettier than Mary. She might be lovely on the outside, but her personality makes her ugly on the inside. That ugliness can be seen in the set of her features, even to the casual observer. Don't you dare compare yourself to her, because you are vibrant and lively and good, which makes you stunning both inside and out."
"The dress does help, though." Allie replied, gesturing downwards and changing the subject, but Emily could see from the glow in her eyes that she was grateful for Emily's words.
"It does." She found herself agreeing because Allie's dress truly was lovely. It was a midnight blue gown that hugged her figure until her hips before widening gently, not dramatically. It was embroidered subtly in silver thread and had bell-like sleeves. It stood out brilliantly against her skin and blonde hair, making her look like a beacon.
"Wonderful!" Allie said, clapping her hands together. "Now that I am satisfied, we can go down."
For the first time in days, Emily found herself smiling a true, full smile.