Chapter 7
Iris boltedupright in bed in a state of panic. Her face was damp with sweat, her pale wavy hair stuck to her head, she felt like she'd been through the worst trauma in the world, but she wasn't sure why. As far as she was aware, Iris couldn't recall much aside from lying in her bed and dreaming about flying up high above thesky...
Oh,ofcourse.
The truth hit like a ton of bricks, almost knocking her right out once more. Her father had passed, they had been through the horror of a funeral, and then there was a willreading...
Shehadbeen through a trauma, and it wasn’t overyet.
Everything was going. Iris was losing her home, her bedroom, her friend... it hadn’t escaped her knowledge that if she had to move out, then she would not be able to see Daisy every day anymore, which stung badly inside. Not only that but her only inheritance was a dowry for a wedding that she didn’t want. She hadn’t been given anything forherself.
Ugh. It didn’t matter how long and hard she thought about it, which angle she tried to take, there was no escaping how terrible this made her feel. Even after the lovely time she’d spent with her family, it didn’t make anything go anywhere. The sadness, the unbridled panic, the ice cold terror just was not goinganywhere.
Usually, Iris lay in her bed until Daisy came to see her in the morning times. She waited until her breakfast was brought up to her before she could even consider facing the day. It was simply the way things had been ever since she was confined to her room. If her mood was low, which occasionally it was even now, that would be it for the day. But since she was about to be forced from all of her routines anyway, she figured she might as well start now. She didn’t have to like it, but she did have to faceit.
Iris moved silently like a cat across her bedroom and she pulled the curtains wide open. The rain was still there, tainting the perfect view outside her window. This time the sky was greyer, everything appeared much duller, the entire garden looked as sad as Iris felt inside. It was as if her sadness brushed over the scenery, leaving it dark and a littlepathetic.
Iris found herself unable to look at the view for too long because of this, it only made her feel worse about her predicament, so she turned rapidly and made her way quickly out of the room. If she would have to leave her house soon, she wanted to experience as much of it as she could while the chance was still there. She wanted to wander slowly through the hallways, to examine the paintings that she hadn't ever paid enough attention to, she needed to embrace the soft, familiar carpets underneath her naked toes while she still could. She wanted to commit every inch of her happy place to memory, so hopefully, she could go back there when things gottough.
“Oh, Miss Iris,” Daisy gushed as she saw her friend wandering a little aimlessly through the home, appearing as lost as she probably felt inside. “I am terribly sorry, am I very late with yourbreakfast?”
"I will take it in the dining room this morning," Iris replied calmly as if this was completely normal rather than a huge, strange change. "Thank you,Daisy."
Daisy's eyes widened in shock, she hadn't known Iris to eat in any formal room for as long as she could remember. She knew it was a knee jerk reaction to her father's death and what was to come next, but still, it felt a very heavy change for her. Daisy could not help wondering what thismeant.
"Of course," she replied, totally gobsmacked. "Whatever you want. I will get it sortednow..."
As Daisy raced into the kitchen to get everything right for breakfast, Iris took a seat at the table to wait. She didn’t sit in her father’s chair, there was no way she was ready to do that yet – or possibly ever – instead she took the chair opposite where her mother used to eat. She imagined her sitting there now, smiling down at her, telling her that everything would be alright in theend.
It wasn’t much of a comfort since it was an image that would never be real, but it was much better than forgetting her existence completely. Iris wanted to keep her mother as close as she possibly could, which made her even more grateful for her imaginativemind.
“I wasn’t sure what to make,” “Daisy gushed as she returned to the dining room. “Since I am used to bringing you up a single plate to your room, so I got the cook to arrange everything foryou.”
“Oh, Daisy, that is silly of you,” Iris exclaimed. “Most of this will go to waste. You will have to make sure the servants get the rest of this food because there is no chance I will eat itall.”
“Oh, right.” Daisy blushed brightly as she realized her mistake. “Of course, I amsorry.”
She paused awkwardly around the table, unsure of where to position herself in this new arrangement. She almost hopped from foot to foot until Iris patted the chair next toher.
“Please, Daisy, do not treat me any differently. Sit withme.”
As Daisy did what Iris asked of her, the fact that everything was going to change hit her hard all over again. She always wanted more from her life, there was no denying that she had much bigger ideas for her life than could ever come true and she harboured a lot of jealousy because of that, especially for the Warwick girls, but she also wasn’t keen on losing her friendship with Iris. Iris was the one girl that her jealousy didn’t fully stretch to. For one, her friend was lovely and adorable, it was impossible to have a bad thing to say – or eventhink– about her. For another, Iris was not happy with her life. It was hard to be resentful of someone who was sosad.
“Are you alright, Miss Iris?” Daisy asked nervously. “This is a little troublesome, I do not know how to feel about all ofthis.”
“All I have done is come to eat in the room I am supposed to be,” Iris chuckled, but the mirth didn’t totally come with the sound. “Nothing is strangethere.”
“Not for anyone else,maybe...”
“Yes, I see what you mean.” Iris smiled. “It is strange for me, but I am trying to find some happiness before everything changes. I guess if I facesomechanges now, then everything won’t seem so hard in theend.”
“Yes, that might bewise.”
As Daisy stared out of the large window in the dining room, she could see a shift in the air. Nothing looked the same, every blade of grass had a different shade of green than it had before and she was sure that the flowers were struggling to standupright.
That was probably the way that it would always stay now. The home would never be the place it oncewas.
“So you are better now?” she asked absentmindedly. “You are more used to what will happennext?”
