To Daisy, it was as if all the pieces of her life were finally falling into place. She'd fought hard to make her life better, and now in the short space of one night, it had all happened atonce.
As Iris staggered down the stairs to sleep in the bed that really was hers, for now, she wasn't so sure that this was the right thing to do. Fooling society, tricking the Duke, acting in front of the new family that she would work for, felt wrong. But really, there was no right answer to this one. The more Iris thought about it, the more she realized that while it felt wrong, this was probably the most positiveoutcome.
She moved past all the other staff quickly without saying a word to any of them, and they could all see that she needed time alone so they didn't speak to her either. Betty's face curled up into an incredibly worried expression, but she did not say a word as Iris fell onto her bed to sleep. The poor little lamb had been through a very challenging night, clearly, it had worn herout.
I am Daisy now, she thought to herself.Daisy the maid.She did not even know what her friend’s surname was, it had not ever come up in conversation before. The last names of the lower class just did notmatter.
Now she would have to findout.
Maybe as Daisy, she could find the sort of love that she wanted. It would not come with money and luxury, life would possibly be very hard, but without expectation, Iris thought that maybe she could do it. She could find a carpenter or a butler, and she could fall deeply, madly in love. They would never want to be apart, and they'd want to be together for many reasons, other than creating an heir... after all, an heir would have nothing toinherit.
Maybe, if Iris could find love, all of this would be worthit.
It wasn’t until her eyes fluttered shut, and sleep came to claim her, that she thought about Ewan again. The handsome Lord who danced with her in the hallway, making her feel special. He liked her as Daisy, he enjoyed her company despite her background, although he leapt away quickly proving that he would never marryher.
Still, it did not matter, it was a sweet and happy memory now. The moment was magical, but never to be repeated. She would never see him again. He would have to live on only in her dreams, in place of her prince... startingtonight.
