Following traditions.

2

Connor and I were screamed at, as expected, and then sent to our rooms in disgrace. Connor goes to his room, sneaking a few books up with him, and I trudge up the stairs into mine and Bells room. My sister is trying on a new hat, styling it with a pastel pink dress and white buckled shoes. She is peering into the mirror, and hasn't noticed I'm inside our room yet. I raise my eyebrows as I sit on my bed and she simply continues gazing at her reflection,
"Good afternoon to you to, Bell." I say sarcastically and she jumps,
"Oh! Marnie I didn't see you there!" She laughs,
"I figured. You were much to busy staring at yourself." I answer,
"Oh guess what Marnie! Emily and Emily have given me a new dress, complete with a headdress and shoes, but it's not for me, it's for you! They've become very fond of you since the time they came over for dinner and you drew them!" She says dreamily. Emily and Emily are the owners of the clothing shop she works for: The Two Emily's. I do like her bosses, they're very kind. When Bell first told us they'd be coming over, I was skeptical. But they were very nice and they weren't rude at all when I told them about how I loved the suffragette movement and thought them as my idol. They didn't mock me when I told them I wanted to be an independent woman when I grew up. They simply encouraged me on all these things. I wasn't as much of a fan of dresses as Bell was, but I didn't hate them. My sister pulls out a blue dress with a white waistband, a white strip of buttons, white ruffles around the buttons, a white collar and a dark blue bow around the collar. She gives me a pair of brown boots, and a fake rose for behind my ear. She hands all these to me and I hold them tenderly. The boots are suede leather with a faux fur lining, the rose is made of velvet petals and the dress is wonderfully soft fabric,
"Bell I love them! Thank you so much! Tell Emily and Emily I really appreciate it!" I throw my arms around her. Bell laughs and tells me she'll pass the message on. My foster sister can be a real pain at times, but I love her dearly. I resolve to wear these more often instead of my school uniform.
**Next day**
Saturday is the greatest day. No school, sweet shop open all day, mother not rushing you to get up in the morning... I love it. Once I woke up at eight o'clock (usually it's six in order to get to school on time) I stayed in bed for an extra half hour before Bell started groaning as her alarm screamed in our ears,
"Shut uuuup!" She moans,
"Haven't you figured out how to turn that thing off yet?" I groan back, slapping my finger between the ringing thing.
"Hey, I want to keep my fingers smooth and white as snow for when I find the right man. I'm not getting them covered in bruises." She glares at her alarm. I raise my eyebrows,
"Oh be quiet!" She says. I wasn't saying anything, but it was clear from my expression what I thought. I melt out of bed onto the floor like a puddle of slime,
"I'm getting dressed. You go do whatever you do on a Saturday morning." I tell her. Flinging her duvet over her head, she disappears back behind the bed clothes. I grin and pull out my new blue and white dress. After taking a good look at the blue and white dress, and my other dress (green with a dark green top, white collar and yellow bow around neck) I choose my blue one. I tuck the velvet rose behind my ear and slip my feet into my slippers. I walk downstairs and mother is there, serving Cheerios for our breakfast and nattering away to some guest,
"Bell will be down soon, but don't count on it. It usually takes years for her to choose a dress out of the many ones she has. She always looks splendid though." She natters before glancing at me,
"Oh good, I got one to come down. This is Charles Edwards, a customer of Bell's. Mr Edwards this is my foster daughter, Marnie. Breakfast on the table, Marnie. Eat up." She says to me. I nod and sit down, starting to eat my Cheerios,
"I'm going out later with Nancy, we're going to the park to walk our dogs." I say to mother,
"Alright then. Have a good time." She says. I notice she can't keep her eyes off Mr Edwards, he's a reasonably handsome man, but our mother is married and she's probably disappointed about this.
Oh well, she'll probably force him upon Bell.
Connor is downstairs already,
"Marnie do you mind if I come with you and Nancy?" He asks. I frown confused at him, and he mutters quietly in my ear,
"I won't actually come, I just need an excuse to get out the house. Charles is going to be here all day apparently." Then I see why he wants to "come with us",
"Yes you can come. Don't promise Nancy anything though." I answer,
"Don't go until Bell comes please." Mother says to us,
"I promised Nancy we'd meet at one in the afternoon. Bell will be up by then." I answer,
"Oh she's taking even longer today. Marnie go wake your sister." Mother sighs and plasters a fake smile on her face. I sigh, put my spoon back in my bowl and lift my skirt slightly, then dash up the stairs to our room. I crack my head through the door, my sister is lying under the bed clothes, peering at herself in the mirror,
"Bell!" I hiss. She jumps and turns to look at me,
"Get ready! Some customer is downstairs waiting for you and mother's impatient!" I say,
"Customer? Oh my which one?!" She asks and throws open the door to her wardrobe,
"Someone called Charles Edwards. Hurry!" I answer. As I'm running back downstairs I hear her groaning,
"Why did he have to come here? And on a Saturday for that matter!" She mutters under her breath. I sit down at the table,
"Bell has woken up and will be with you soon-ish." I say politely. Mostly because mother is glaring at me with the look of, "put-your-best-manners-on!" So I'm not taking risks with this man. Finally, Bell comes downstairs,
"Ah, here she is. Sorry for the delay sir." Mother smiles. Bell smiles like an angel, she is wearing the pink dress, white heeled shoes and hat I saw her modelling yesterday,
"Good morning, Mr Edwards. So sorry for the delay. Shall we get to work?" She says, her eyes locking onto his,
"Indeed. Lovely hat, miss Smith. That one would be a wonderful gift for my sister, do you know how it was made?" He replies,
"I don't know originally, but I can improvise. Would you like some breakfast?" My sister continues smiling,
"No thank you, Mrs Smith, would it be alright if I took your daughter to the royal for breakfast?" Mr Edwards asks our mother,
"Oh, why of course it's alright! You lucky girl, Bell Smith." Mother answers. My sister beams,
"I'll get my coat." Is all she says before dashing upstairs,
"Excuse me." I say and dart after her.
"Bell, are you sure this man is a customer? He seems very.... Fond of you." I frown,
"Marnie, who cares if he's a customer or not? He's handsome and rich, if he's fond of me that's good! And anyway, the royal for breakfast! I'm so excited!" Bell shrieks quietly,
"Just be careful. Mary told Carol and Carol told Linda and Linda told Betty and Betty told Nancy and Nancy told me that it was an Edwards who got Mary's mother in the family way during a business meeting." I warn her and hand her the stylish coat she was looking for,
"Oh Marnie, don't you worry! I know how to look after myself, don't I? Catch me landed with a baby!" She giggles. But she's so excited that I think she might not know how to look after herself at this moment in time,
"Like I said, just be careful." I call after her as she runs back downstairs.
"Ready." She says to Mr Edwards,
"Lovely. We'll be back later, Mrs Smith. Have a good day!" He says to mother again. I wave after them, worried for my older sister. I glance at Connor. He seems worried to. I take a glance at mother. She is hopping with excitement,
"The Edwards' are a very rich family! If Bell marries that man, we'll be part of it!" She squeals. This makes my hair stand on end. We've only just met him and mother is thinking they'll get married? How long had she known father before they got married?
Mother moves really quickly.