This time as Iris smiled, it felt more genuine than anything else had done in a very long time. With her sisters by her side, it wasn’t all sobad.
* * *
By the timeher sisters had gone back to their own homes, there was a much lighter mood surrounding Iris. It was nice for her to forget, even if she couldn’t do it forever. It was the first time that Iris had been surrounded by such love since she lost her mother, and it was a wonderful reminder of how life couldbe.
Except, itcouldn’t...
That was a one-time thing, there was no way Iris could have that a lot. Both her sisters had their own families to worry about and if her father got his own way then she would soon,too.
Unless she followed Daisy’s crazyplan.
Iris lay her head back on her pillow and she chuckled to herself at the image of herself acting un-lady like. She pictured the Duke turning up with high expectations and her dashing them in a heart beat when he witnessed her bad table manners and she continually interruptedhim.
It wouldn’t be wise, it probably shouldn’t be the sort of thing that she was considering, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. The idea was just too intoxicating. It made her laugh to herself, it gave her a false sense of security, it got rid of the iciness in her chest. Having some fun with this awful man would make it all not seem sobad.
She snuggled into her sheets and smiled deliciously to herself as she pictured how that might go. Rationally, she knew that it was just an idea, another dream for her brain to play around with, but she didn’t want to cave to rationality for the time being. She preferred to live in her imagination where she had control over herself and herlife.
When she was younger, Iris used to write all of her dreams down like stories. Even when she was awake she liked to dream... dream that she was a writer. She loved reading books, and she wished that she could write them. If that could ever become a reality, then she could support herself. She wouldn’t need her father’s money or some husband, she could just be herself which was all that she’d everwanted.
Still, Iris knew, not all dreams cametrue.
