opportunity |H.S|

• one •

May 24th

"Tighter for god's sake, do you want to make us look like fools?"

"No, no of course not madam, my apologies."

The conversation between my mother and the tailoress begins to be tuned out in my mind as she tightens the corset-like dress I'm wearing, making it as tight as possible causing me to suck in a breath harshly, my hands flinching forward slightly in reflex.

"My apologies Lady Abram." She whispers in my ear sensing my discomfort. I only nod subtly in response so mother doesn't notice the slight interaction as I'm "not meant to converse with the help." I never thought it a big deal, they are people just like me after all, the amount of wealth one holds or what they do to earn a living should not determine the amount of respect one does or does not get.

All morning I've been down at the Modiste with my mother getting fitted for gown after gown, all of which I'm meant to wear during the different balls, parties and whatnot where I'll be meeting with different suitors and their families.

Yesterday was my last day of "freedom" and tomorrow is set to be the first ball of this journey or whatever you'd call it, where men will be traveling from all over to make their first impression on my parents and get themselves higher on their radar.

It's not as common as it was back in the day for young women to be married off like it used to be, women now have the option to go out, date, and fall in love the normal way. Marry whenever they are ready with someone they truly wanted to spend the rest of their lives with and not someone who's simply "good for the family image".

However I just wasn't as lucky to have that freedom. My parents have prepared me for this moment ever since I was old enough to think about having a significant other. I wasn't allowed to date as I was always meant to make up for the shame I brought upon this family by marrying into one that would account for it.

I didn't mind it, I grew up not knowing any better and didn't care to have a significant other for the most part.

Besides him.

It's been two years since him, since he left me. We met when I was sixteen and before him I never thought I could feel such a way for another. It was a feeling I only read about or saw in the movies but not one that I was ever surrounded by in my real life. He felt like the sun, warm and comforting, there to turn my dark nights into bright days, hopeful.

I was never one to disobey my parents, I didn't want to upset them further and tried my hardest for them to forgive me but yet I'd still find myself sneaking out at night to meet him during the late hours of the night or the crack of dawn when the first rays of sunlight would grace their way across the surface of the land while everyone was still asleep.

We felt for each other something that I didn't know was real, or at least I thought we did.

I was left waiting in the alley we'd always meet by but he never showed, he never called, and I've yet to see him since. Gone without a word. He left me and never told me why. Maybe what I felt wasn't real after all.

Once word gets out that the daughter of a duke is on the market for a husband, men will rise from the depths of hell ready to do whatever it took to make a good impression for my parents. Everyone knows it's my parents opinion that really matters in the end so they bring up their titles, their inheritance, their wealth, their land and whatever else they have to offer in exchange for the hand of a duke's daughter.

Think of tomorrow as an opening event, where all the men will be gathered as well as other women whose parents have chosen this path for them, except since my family is the host and they are a Duke and Dutchess, my appearance matters the most. All eyes will be on me. Lovely.