Daisy twisted her body around on the bed and she smiled at her friend. “Oh yes, you are right. That isn’t what she wanted at all. Maybe I should be horrible instead. Make him hate you. Then he’ll break the betrothal and everything will goaway.”
Iris knew that Daisy was only joking, but there was something about this idea that spoke to her. Maybe therewasstill an escape route, she just needed to make sure the Duke didn’t fall in love with her. If he did not want her, then he would break the arrangement. That was the sort of thing that men could do all the time. If only women had the samepower...
“What will you do?” she asked, keeping her tone light but also wanting to know more. She didn’t want to act like she was digging around for ideas, but secretly shewas.
“I will walk without grace, I will speak out of turn, I will lose all table etiquette.” Daisy’s eyes danced and sparkled. “Duke Loftus Pembroke will soon forget about Miss Iris Warwick, and he will be onto the next poor lady inmoments.”
“Oh yes, well it is just lucky that I am easy toforget.”
“You will be... when I belch at the table,” Daisywinked. “
Belch!Iris couldn’t believe that Daisy had the nerve to say such a word. Iris had been brought up in a way that made such words almost illegal. Again, she looked at the life of a maid through rose tinted glasses. They had it easier than they knew, yes things were restricted, but only to the things that Iris did not want to doanyway.
“Oh, Daisy, I cannot believe you. You are sobad.”
Iris tried to keep the jealousy from her voice. She should have been born into thatlife.
Iris smiled through gritted teeth, wondering if this was something that she could do herself. Maybe not the belching, but the other things. Everyone knew that she hadn’t left her room in years, and clearly they’d all figured out their own reasons as to why this might be. There was a chance that she hadn’t learned how to behave in polite society during thattime.
She had, of course, there was no way that her father would allow her to get away with not knowing, but people outside the family didn’t have to knowthat.
Sure, there was some uncle coming to oversee things, but this was a man that she didn’t know. It was someone that she couldn’t ever recall meeting, so he couldn’t call her out on her behaviour. Yes, he would be furious with her, but there was more of a chance that he’d blame the people in her life that were no longer around for her lack of goodbehaviour.
It could work. The idea of it was utterly horrifying but intoxicating too. It gave her an intense warmth in herchest.
Iris’s imagination got the better of her. She almost forgot that Daisy was in the room as she pictured herself rebelling against what was expected of her. For someone who wasn’t brave about anything, this was the first thing in the world that she actually felt like maybe she coulddo.
Maybe.
“Daisy, I...” she started to query more, to see if her friend thought that it would be a wise idea, but a voice from her door frame interrupted her before she could get that sentenceout.
“Iris?”
Daisy jumped up as Olivia walked back into the room. In a heartbeat, she went from ‘friend mode' to ‘maid mode'. She blended into the background and almost ran from the room to get away. For a moment, Iris wished that she could follow her. She wanted to escape into the wallpaper life of aservant.
“Come in, Olivia,” she sighedinstead.
“Everyone is leaving now. I have sorted it.” There was a stiffness to her tone, which made Irisuncomfortable.
“Thankyou.”
Elizabeth walked into the room behind Olivia and she clicked the door shut behind her. Iris instantly felt a little more at ease with the three of them there. It wasn’t just because Olivia had to take the house from her, it was mostly because she felt more herself around Elizabeth. It had always been thatway.
“Iris, I am so sorry that father has done this to you,” Elizabeth instantly jumped in, with true sympathy on her tone. “But I am here for you. We both are. Whatever we can do, we will make this easier foryou.”
Get me out of it!Iris wanted to scream, but she didn't. Instead, she nodded tightly instead. That ship had sailed... maybe. But no one could change it but her. “Thank you. I appreciateit.”
“We should all stay in here for a while?” Elizabeth stated, but it sounded more like a question because she was so unsure. “Spend some time together, like we used to when we wereyounger.”
She didn’t saybefore mother died, but she didn’t have to. The words clung thickly to the airregardless.
The tight knot in Iris’s chest loosened at the idea of returning back to the good old days. She needed a time out from her real life, and this sounded like the most fun waypossible.
“Can you two do that?” she asked quietly, feeling more like the youngest sister than she’d ever done before. “Don’t you need to get back...home?”
“I will send my husband home,” Elizabeth grinned brightly. “I will have someone transport me back later. It will be fine, he shallunderstand.”
“And I am fine too,” Olivia promised. “I do not have to receive the children again until tomorrow morning. I would love to stay withyou.”
