Chapter 20
The atmosphere was thick,no one could relax as they waited for the master of the house, but there wasn’t a single person in the house as panicked as Iris. She was not sure what time of the day, but any minute now, then he would be home, and everything would change. Hopefully for the better, but she could not totally besure.
“Are you alright, Daisy?” Amy asked her kindly, shaking her from her thoughts. “You seem distracted today? You have been brushing my hair for so much longer thanusual.”
“I just want you to look your best for this special day,” Iris tried her best to cover up her distraction. “And I have to say that you do. You lookwonderful.”
Amy had a long pale pink dress on, which fit her beautifully without being too uncomfortable. She had light makeup dusted across her face, just enough to enhance her features without drowning her in it. Now Iris wanted to tie her hair up into braids to really set off the whole look. Luckily, from watching Daisy do it to her for all those years, it was something that she could dowell.
“I am going to tie your hair up now; I hope that is alright withyou?”
“Thank you very much, Daisy, that is kind ofyou.”
Iris watched Amy’s face reflected in the mirror for a few moments, admiring the joy shining in her eyes. This girl was truly beautiful, naturally so. With her name and her stunning looks, she would be inundated with marital offers. Iris just hoped that the master would choose her someone much more suitable than her father chose for her. She did not think another switch would be a goodidea.
If this lovely young lady could find the right man, then her life would be as wonderful as she deserved. Maybe Iris would even be brought into her new life with her. The idea of starting over with a new set of staff scared her, but if she could continue to help Amy then it wouldn’t be toobad.
Anyway, Iris was getting ahead of herself. She was planning for a potential future that was not even on the horizonyet.
“Do you have learning to do today?” she asked to change the subjectrapidly.
“No, I have told the governess that I need to wait for my brother,” Amy told her seriously. “I will not be able to concentrate so it should be a waste oftime.”
Iris’s eyes drifted off of Amy and onto herself for just a minute. It was not so long ago that she was sitting in the other seat, having her hair done, but being on this side of the chair was preferable. To Iris at least. Where she stood now, Iris shone more, she looked healthier and better. She felt more content with herself and herlife.
The switch had been terrifying, but it had led to some truly wonderfulthings.
“So, what would you like to do today while we wait? Would you like to read, or write,or...”
“I think I would like to take a walk in the gardens,” Amy answered happily. “Would you care to joinme?”
“Of course. But do not forget your hat, the sun is shining very brightly, it would not be good for you to getburnt.”
Iris felt very excited by that idea. Since living under the Oakley roof, she had not been given enough time to explore the outside area of this house. She had spent a little bit of time gazing out the window, thinking how lovely it was, but the thought of walking through the grass out there feltwonderful.
The heat from the sun washed over Iris right away which instantly brought a smile to her face. She had never realized before how affected by the weather she actuallywas.
“This is nice,” Amy commented happily. “I feel much calmer out here. There is something about the fresh air that clears mybrain.”
“I feel the same way,” Iris commented. She really did feel like she could breathe much better out here. She sucked in a deep breath and smiled brightly. “So tell me all about yourself, Amy, I feel like there is still a lot to you that I do notknow.”
Amy laughed a sweet tinkling sound. Now that her new handmaiden had stuck around for a while, she felt more open to speaking about herself. “What is it you would like toknow?”
“Everything.” Iris extended her arms wildly. “Tell me more about your childhood, what was it like growing up in such a large home?” She knew it might be very similar to her own upbringing, but she wasn’t Iris Warwick. As far as Amy knew, she was Daisy Jones. “It must have been very exciting. It will be nice for me to hear stories about how the other halflives."
“Well, sometimes it was great, but there were timesthat...”
As Amy started to talk, Iris opened her ears. She wanted to know everything about this girl, least of all to take her mind off of what was to come. She liked Amy, it was nice to discover all there was to her, and now that she was being much more open Iris knew that she would get a much clearerpicture.
Maybe it wasn’t a direct story about how ‘the other half lived’, but Amy still lived her life in a very different than Iris so it was fascinating to hear her story. Iris could have listened to it all day long... especially if it kept her away from the inside of the house where she did not even want to know what washappening.
The longer she could keep away, the longer she could avoid the dreaded meeting. Even though she knew that she was going to have to face it eventually, she wanted to be fully mentallyprepared.
If that was evenpossible.
* * *
Iris did not needto be told that the master was home when she and Amy got back inside, it was instantly obvious from the change in atmosphere. There was a much stronger professional feel to the house. All the relaxing that she had done all morning vanished and her insides tied themselves up all overagain.
