Yours etc.
Elizabeth Hawkins
“How did you like the Opera, Miss Woodhouse?” Aunt Isolde asked Elinor as they entered the Gardens.
Elizabeth turned her gaze from the hundreds of glass lamps illuminating the night to Elinor’s red, cold-kissed face.She must be freezing,Elizabeth thought sadly as she took in her friend’s thin cloak.
“It was wonderful! I enjoyed the happy ending the most.” Elinor smiled dreamily, and Elizabeth thought that even Isolde’s heart would thaw in the presence of her otherworldly beauty. “I am so excited to see Vauxhall Gardens, I can scarcely breathe!”
Elizabeth squeezed her friend’s hand affectionately. Elinor had, despite her family woes, remained soft enough to dream and hope, and to express those dreams and hopes freely. It was something Elizabeth greatly coveted for herself, but, with her characteristic sobriety, was aware she’d never attain.
“My friend Mary and I,” she told Elinor in almost a whisper because she didn’t want to share this with Isolde, “we used to dream of visiting the Gardens, and seeing the fireworks display. We’d even started saving our money for it, but it would have taken us months to set aside enough for two tickets then.”
Elinor listened, blinking very quickly.
“Did your friend get a chance to go?”
“Oh yes,” Elizabeth smiled at the memory. “We went last May with our mothers, her father, and her husband. We all were in absolute awe.”
“That was only recently, then,” Elinor frowned slightly.
“Yes, this is only my second visit, and I am almost as excited as you,” Elizabeth smiled at her friend, who was more at ease now, knowing that she wouldn’t be the only one marvelling at every single thing.
During one of their visits, Elinor had told Lizzie details about her family and mentioned that her cousin had graciously offered to host her and give her a Season in London in hopes of securing a good match for her.
I have nothing but my looks,Elinor had admitted in a whisper, even though they had been alone.
Elizabeth was spending her own money to foot the bill for her household, the servants, maintaining a carriage, all the fur-lined cloaks and muffs and silk dresses she needed this Season, and her stomach hurt every time she looked at the amounts. She still remembered very well what it was like to deny yourself things so you could purchase coal for the entire year. But it had to be infinitely worse to be at the mercy of another.
“This lane is called the Grand Walk,” Isolde informed Elinor as they headed down a wide, tree-lined avenue. “To the left, you can see the Rotunda, and the music you hear is the Orchestra on the right. After supper, we can enter some of the buildings if you wish, but for now I suggest we simply walk about.”
Elinor nodded eagerly. “It is all manicured so meticulously, and the decorations are most peculiar. Are those supposed to be stars?” She asked, pointing at a figure of artfully arranged lamps which, indeed, were supposed to represent stars.
“I think so,” Lizzie said, squinting at the lights.
“Someone told me that there are more than ten thousand lanterns in the trees illuminating these paths,” Isolde told them, and both girls gasped.
“That cannot be!” Elinor exclaimed, and Lizzie tried counting those closest to her to get a sense of whether it was possible.
“I personally like the coloured ones best,” Isolde said in an uncharacteristic display of gaiety. “They remind me of a Turkish lamp myPapahad.”
This was the first thing Elizabeth ever learned about her paternal grandfather, and she stored the precious morsel of knowledge away for future inspection.
“Are those flowers?” Lizzie asked, pointing up at what were, in January, supposed to be empty tree branches.
“Looks like it,” Isolde said.
“No, they’re lights,” Elinor said. “Yes, bouquets of lights. How magical!”
They seemed, indeed, to be different coloured lamps arranged to look like large flower bouquets. The women marvelled at the ingenuity of this and observed the plants, pavilions, and mechanical displays around them as they slowly reached the end of the lane.
“Let us turn back,” Isolde urged, “the paths tend to be less lit from here on.”
That had to bethe wildernessshe’d heard of, Lizzie thought; the dark part of the park filled with narrow serpentine walks where proper ladies didn’t venture to.
They soon turned left and eventually reached the supper room, where they found a table and ordered some food and drinks that Elinor insisted on paying for.
“Have you decided on a gown for Wednesday?” Isolde asked, then turned to Elinor to clarify. “Elizabeth will attend her first ball at Almack’s this week.”
