Page 62 of The Marquis' Game of Seduction
“This is it,” Anna said finally.
Rose tilted her head onto her friend’s shoulder. “You invited Ernest, didn't you?”
“Of course,” Anna said. “Our letters have grown even more frequent. I finally fessed up that I didn’t know how to read and write before. I was anxious about revealing this, knowing it gave me away. Made me out to be the country bumpkin I truly am. But he found it to be terribly romantic—against all odds. He couldn’t believe that I’d learned to read and write only to correspond with him. I assured him he was enough of a reason. And—and Rose… We shared our first kiss after that, behind the line of carriages at the market. I thought I was going to float into the air.”
Rose was thrilled for her friend. She gripped her hands and said, “It’s happening for both of us. It’s here.”
Just then, there was a wild flurry of activity outside the bedroom. Rose rushed to the door and whirled it open to discover little Emily out there, still in her nightgown as well, carrying a doll against her chest. She blinked up at Rose, as though she was expecting her to reprimand her for being out of bed so early.
“What are you doing all the way in our wing, darling girl?” Rose said. She leaned down a bit and swept a few strands of hair behind Emily’s ear.
Emily beamed. “I’m so anxious for the wedding, Rose. I simply can’t wait. I’ve never been outside the estate before.”
Rose hadn’t considered this. The girl had been a relative prisoner there, never really knowing how big the world was outside the boundaries. In recent weeks, Rose had taken to teaching her about other continents, other ways of life. Emily had been mesmerised, asking countless questions about places like Africa and South America. They all seemed fantastical to her.
“Is London going to be like India?” she asked. Her lips parted with curiosity.
Rose shook her head. “No. We’re here in England, love, which means that it’s going to be a great deal like here, only much larger, with many more buildings and sights and smells and sounds. Why don’t you come in and talk with Anna and I for a moment, before you have to head back to your room to dress? We’re just chatting.”
Emily bounded in, boisterous and enchanted with the possibility of speaking with the “older girls.” Anna patted her lap and Emily crawled atop it, wrapping her arms around Anna’s neck. They’d only just been acquainted in recent weeks, but the two of them had taken a sincere liking to one another.
“Tell me more about the wedding, Rose,” Emily said, yearning once more for a game that they’d played a few days before—a game in which Rose played out the story of the rest of their lives, starting with that very day.
“Well. It all begins today, as you know, Emily. It begins with a love that will last forever, a love that matters more than anything else because it’s strong and powerful and takes no record of wrongs and will never fail.”
“Never,” Emily recited.
“That’s right. And then, it goes on to a white dress. A gorgeous dress that I will wear, because it’s what ladies in England wear when they want to pledge their total undying love to the man of their dreams. Today, dear Emily, I will feel more like a princess than I ever have. Do you know what it means to be a princess?”
“It means that you’re incredibly beautiful…” Emily gushed.
“What else?”
“And it means that you’re in love with a prince,” Emily continued. “And that you get to wear the finest clothes and dance to the prettiest music and everyone talks about you and cares about you. Surely it means you have babies very soon and you take good care of your babies, the way I take good care of my baby,” she said, gesturing down at her baby doll.
“All of that is very good, Emily,” Rose said. “But the best part is, no matter what, and no matter where you come from, you can feel like a princess, too. Did you know that I grew up without any parents?”
Emily furrowed her brow. In recent days, she’d taken Rose out to the grave where her mother was buried. It seemed that Colin had told her a great deal about her mother, about how kind and imaginative and beautiful she was. Emily told Rose a similar story about her mother. That although she’d come from “nothing,” she loved her with a heart of gold, and cared for her friends and her “prince” above all things.
“Like me,” was how Emily chose to answer.
“That’s right,” Rose murmured. She drew a line down Emily’s cheek. Her heart pounded with love for this child.
It was times like these that she reminded herself to always love Emily as her own, even when she had children later on. All children deserved this kind of love. She would have done anything for this kind of love. She knew that it was the most powerful thing.
“Shall we go find my wedding dress, then?” Rose asked after a while. Her heart thumped at the thought of it. The moment she tugged it up over her body, the timer would begin on her path to the altar.
Rose’s wedding dress hung in a larger guest bedroom, spread out from the wardrobe, as it was too large to fit. The wedding dress had belonged to Colin’s grandmother, and featured little jewels sewed into the fabric. The collar was stitched up to the neck, and the lower part of the gown burst out wide and regally. When Rose had tried it on, just for fun after finding it in an attic upstairs, Anna had nearly swooned. “It’s perfect. And it’s a family heirloom. You absolutely must wear it.”
Once in the guest bedroom, which had been set aside for her preparations, Rose splashed water across her cheeks and prepared her hair, sweeping oils over it and misting herself in perfume. Emily watched quietly, seemingly understanding that it was best that she step away, make herself small. All the while, Rose was conscious that the girl seemed to be taking notes—notes on the process of becoming this “princess.” Anna helped her step into the gown and buttoned the almost 30 pearl-like buttons up the back.
Beneath them on other floors, the house had opened up, the many servants preparing it for the after-wedding brunch, when all the guests would return to feast. Beyond that, Colin and Rose had decided to have Christmas at their home, inviting friends and family and acquaintances from the region to celebrate and dance and drink.
It was to be an extension of their wedding (with yet another gown, which seemed outside the bounds of reason for Rose—but, admittedly, it pleased her to no end). All the pomp and circumstance seemed a bit ridiculous to Rose, of course, but Colin was bursting with pride and love and insisted on celebrating.
Anna dressed in a yellow gown, which Rose had bought her from the market. Judith arrived to collect Emily, telling her on the way that she had her little white dress set aside for the ceremony. Emily gave a little wave before ducking down the steps with Judith. Her eyes glowed, and she whispered, “Good luck!” as though she understood how much Rose needed it. She was to be the main character in a charade for a much higher class. It made no reasonable sense.
Enjoy it. When it’s finished, you’ll have the beautiful memories. But don’t create havoc in your head. It will only destroy you.
