Putting on the Ritz

Chapter Fifteen - Virginia

***A/N: This chapter is dedicated to pinkycupcake ! Thanks for reading along! I hope you continue to enjoy this story. ***

Virginia had dismissed her maid that night, claiming she would get herself ready for bed, when in fact she was hoping to get ready for bed in an entirely different manner, and not in the least bit alone. For she had managed to slip a note to Lawrence at that dreaded tea party requesting his presence in a late night rendezvous. She smiled to herself remembering just how stiff and nervous he was all afternoon at the Vandercroft's mansion, which she had attributed to nerves about impending nuptials. Hers and his nuptials that is, for he was surely going to propose marriage to her soon, and she felt a certain amount of pride that he was nervous to ask her. It hinted that he was scared of her refusal, the thought of which sent Virginia's stomach into triumphant somersaults.

Virginia did not think such of thing of course. She saw them as equals. The best of their class, the prettiest, the most handsome, the smartest, to her, they were matched in all. And that was why she had singled him out as the only possible candidate for marriage. But she even so, she couldn't help feeling good about someone as handsome and as sought after as Lawrence Caldwell to be afraid of her refusal.

She had put on her silk robe, loosely tied so that she might show off an uncovered thigh through the opening if any persuasion was needed, and sat in her vanity chair staring out her bedroom window, waiting for his arrival. She fussed with her hair and robe, fixing her reflection in the mirror, making sure that her coal hadn't smeared and her lips were still the perfect shade of red, taking glances out the window every few seconds in between. They had done this many times before, and so she waited patiently for his figure to appear against the bushes signaling her to go let him in through the kitchen door.

But the clock had struck eleven, their usual meeting time for late night gatherings, and no figure had appeared. Patience started to wear thin quickly, and by the time that the clock struck midnight, she had thrown every object resting on her vanity against a wall or to the floor in frustration. Where was he?

There was a soft rap on the door, and Virginia realized she had been rather loud thrashing about her room. "Who is it?" She called in an enraged tone.

"Is everything alright miss? I heard a crash?" The timid voice of her maid came through the door.

"I'm fine." Virginia snapped. She was anything but fine. She was being stood up by Lawrence Caldwell. She tried to tell herself that he was just too nervous about the proposal to come. Or, perhaps, he was afraid of slipping up and ruining the surprise. But none of these things made her feel better because the one fact remained: Lawrence Caldwell was not there.

"Go away. I want to be alone tonight," she said rather harshly to her maid.

"Yes, miss." She heard the girl say before retreating.

She fumbled to light her cigarette, and took a swig from her flask, refilled from her daddy's cupboard. Stepping over the upturned items from her vanity she marched to her closet and started plucking out garments, careful not to burn cigarette holes in any of the fine fabrics.

Virginia thought of herself as a problem solver. She had a problem, and she was going to fix it. She was going to march right over to Lawrence's and demand to know why he hadn't shown.