Chapter 9
Iris giggled hystericallyat herself as she examined herself in the mirror. She looked absolutely ridiculous in Daisy's maid outfit, the effect was almost comical. The dress didn't quite fit her slender frame right, it hung out awkwardly at her hips and squeezed a little too tight around the top, but still, she preferred it to the prison of the dresses she usually had to wear to make an appearance in front ofanyone.
“You cannot leave your hair like that,” Daisy insisted in a hushed tone. Her face was pale and stressed, she seemed to be having much less fun than Iris with regards to what would happen today. “You need to knot it up at the back of your head, so it does not get in the way while youwork.”
“I do not know how to style my own hair,” Iris admitted a little pitifully. “I have always had someone to do it for me. Do you think...” She paused, flushing with embarrassment. “Do you think that you could do it forme?”
“I cannot.” Daisy did not have time to worry about anyone else today. The reality of this crazy plan was weighing heavily on her, she was no longer sure that she could go through with it. The potential consequences were terrifying. “You must do it yourself. Remember, you are not a lady today. Us servants do not have someone to style us, we do what we can with our ownappearances.”
“Oh yes, ofcourse.”
Iris grabbed hold of a chunk of her hair and she attempted to weave it around the back of her head in the way that she now realized Daisy must do all of the time. As she twisted it around, strands of hair fell frustratingly back down over her face, making her more and more annoyed as timepassed.
“You need to get rid of the concept of perfection,” Daisy told her with more kindness to her tone now. Much as she was worried for herself, she didn’t want to see her friend fall apart either. It seemed that even when her own life was on the line, she could not stop herself from putting Iris’s needs first. “This is not the hair of a lady. It does not matter if it does not lookimmaculate.”
Iris cocked her head to once side while she considered this. The idea of giving up on perfection was almost too much for her to handle. Appearances and perfection had been forced down her throat from the very moment that she was born. As she wrapped a band around her hair, allowing it to look a little dishevelled, and she laughed again to herself. This feeling was strangelywonderful!
“How is this?” As Iris turned to question Daisy, she suddenly realized that her friend desperately needed her help. Being a maid was much easier than being a lady, the other way around was not. “Are you feeling alright?” she asked her friend. “You are not worried, areyou?”
During all the time the girls had practiced swapping roles, they both held onto the notion that one of them would back down. In the beginning, when they were both so terrible at being one another, it felt comical that they might actually go through with the plan, but as time moved on and they both improved, they both became convinced that it would neverhappen.
But now the family had received communication. Iris’s uncle, Walter, would be here at some point today. It was time for the girls to take this plan to the next stepentirely.
"I am just worried that it is obvious that I am lower class," Daisy sighed with defeat. "I do not think I can be a lady in front of a high-class male. This is not a gameanymore."
“No,” Iris agreed. “No, it isnot.”
She opened her mouth, wanting to tell Daisy that they could still back out now if they wanted to, but the words got stuck behind her tongue. If she uttered that sentence, and Daisy agreed to call it off, she would end up married... and that thought was terrifying enough to make herselfish.
“You have done so well, Daisy,” Iris insisted instead. “You now act just like me, and you have all the manners and etiquette exactly right. And look at yourself.” She twisted her around until Daisy could see herself in the mirror. “You look like a beautiful, sophisticated lady. Much better than I do when I am in all of thoseclothes.”
Daisy could not deny what Iris was telling her, she did look the best that she’d ever done in her life. If she examined herself too closely then she could spot flaws in her skin, and awkwardness in the dress, small little signs that she did not truly belong, but a man was much less likely to pick up on thosethings.
Or so shehoped.
“We will still tell him that it is a silly, girlish prank if he guesses, won’t we?” Daisy asked hurriedly. “It will bealright?”
“Oh, of course.” Iris waved her hand dismissively, while secretly hoping that it did not come down to that. “We may get a small telling off, but there won’t be anything to worryabout.”
“Miss Warwick, Daisy,” a panting tone of voice rang through the room, causing them both to jump. They turned to see one of the other maids, Eloise, standing in the door frame with bright red cheeks. “I am sorry to disturb you, but you asked me to tell you... oops,sorry.”
She curtsied, unsure of how she was supposed to act around these girls now. She had never seen much of Iris before, Daisy was always the one to spend time with her, but now over the last few days, all of the serving staff had seen the girls more and more as they concocted their crazy plan. Not everyone agreed with what they were doing, but no one dared to speak out their concerns because it was the first time a lot of them had ever seen Irissmile.
No one wanted to be responsible for sending her back into her bedroom for another six years, so they all agreed tohelp.
“Remember, you do not have to curtsy to me now,” Iriswarned.
“But you do me.” Daisy grinned triumphantly. “But only when there is companyaround.”
“Oh, right, yes, I understand.” Poor Eloise was getting herself more and more confused. “I just wanted to inform you that your uncle ishere.”
Iris and Daisy stared at one another with wide, shocked eyes. The time was upon them, there was no holding back anymore. They did not even have the time to switch back intothemselves.
“I... I suppose we better go down the stairs then,” Daisy replied breathlessly. Her head swam, she felt sick with fear. She would never have agreed to this if she knew how terrifying it would be. “To greet youruncle.”
“Youruncle," Iris reminded her while rubbing her back gently, trying to comfort her. "Do not forget, as of this point you are now Iris Warwick, and I am Daisy, the servantgirl."
She couldn’t help noticing that there was something oddly liberating about that statement. As a servant girl, she could be out among people but no one would want to look at her. She could blend into the background, become a part of the wallpaper. Iris felt excited to see how this wouldwork.
