"...another bite, did you see?" one of the girls giggled as they entered the room, leaning back on the door to close it behind her. She collapsed against it, her tiny frame convulsing with repressed laughter. I recognized the peal of my cousin's graceful laugh and saw that she, too had arrived, setting herself daintily on the couch to remove her shoes. Yet another girl, this one older than both Ella and the other girl, had taken a seat across from Ella, pulling a set of combs from her hair.
"Of course I saw," Ella replied, a smile on her perfectly proportioned face, "I doubt anyone could have missed that,"
"Oh girls, we must be kind," the brunette sitting on the chair opposite Ella said, her tone gently chiding. The tiny girl at the door giggled anew, noticing me.
"Tea, please," she said, snapping her dainty fingers at me.
"Hello, Ella," I said, deciding I already didn't like the small blonde girl. Three pairs of rounded eyes looked around at me upon my use of such an informal greeting.
"Elizabeth?" Ella finally asked, breaking the awkward silence. The brunette's face melted into a look of undisguised horror while the little blonde's mouth had popped open.
"I prefer Libby, really," I said, taking a step into the room. Ella's eyes dropped to my uniform dress.
"Oh no, did they lose your luggage?" she asked, rising from the sofa in her stocking toes.
"No, my trunk just arrived," I said, glancing back into the room.
"They sent you here from Hargrove looking like that?" the little blonde girl demanded, her pale eyebrows almost reaching her coiffed hairline.
"Oh hush Emily, surely she hasn't had time to change out of her traveling clothes," the brunette said, rising to follow Ella who had come to survey me.
"Elizab...Libby," Ella started, coming to stand in front of me with a kindly smile beneath her horrified eyes, "I'm so happy you've made it. Shall we call for some food for you?"
"That would be nice," I said, twisting to look around behind me as the brunette circled me, her fist pensively pressed against her mouth.
"Is this your school uniform?" she asked, taking a handful of my grey-tinged apron.
"Yes, I have several actually. And a ball gown," I said. The brunette shot a panicked look at Ella.
"A ball gown? As in a single one?" she asked. Ella bit her lip, the brunette's panic mirrored on her face.
"Oh why did Annabelle have to get sick!" Emily, the tiny blonde, whined as she collapsed dramatically on the couch.
"Let's go have a look at your trunk with Rosanna," Ella said, linking arms with me and leading me back into the room with three beds. Rosanna, the brunette, hurried over and unlatched my trunk.
"I can do that!" I protested, kneeling down next to her. She scooped out my books, dumping them on the floor in a hurry to get to the dresses folded at the bottom. She pulled out the first dark grey uniform, running a critical eye over it before tossing it onto the bed. The other two she showed far less interest in, pushing them aside to dig for the deep blue ball gown my mother had sent along "just in case". As Rosanna held it up, she looked back over her shoulder towards Ella, who gave a little nod.
"And her day dresses?" Ella asked, her arms crossed as a worry-line creased between her beautiful brows. Rosanna rose, holding my well-worn travelling dress, saying nothing but wearing a panicked look. Ella inhaled, uncrossing her arms.
"Right. Emily? Summon a seamstress," she called over her shoulder. I could see Emily shooting me a dirty look from the sitting room, but she rose and tugged on a tasseled rope hanging next to the fireplace.
"Is your mother sending along any more clothes?" Ella asked, looking past me towards where Rosanna had laid out the ball gown, travelling outfit, and three plan grey uniform dresses on the bed.
"Well...I can't be certain, I came as soon as I got your letter," I said, clasping my hands behind my back in an attempt to hide my nerves.
"I'm sure your aunt is sending something, she understands how important the Season is," Rosanna said, coming to Ella's side.
"I didn't leave very much by way of dresses at home," I said, shrugging. Rosanna pursed her lips as Ella looked down at the five dresses on my bed. There was a click and a rustle from the next room and I heard Emily asking quietly for a seamstress before the door closed again with a snick.
"We'll make do with one of our dresses for tomorrow, but the seamstresses will have to pull through for the rest of her wardrobe," Ella said, as if making a decision on something, "Is there really nothing your mother could send to you? Perhaps she was having something made for your graduation ceremony at the end of the summer?"
"I doubt she would go to that kind of trouble," I said, following as Ella and Rosanna exited to the sitting room, "The truth is that the day I received your letter, I was on my way home from Hargrove,"
"You finished early?" Ella asked, looking around in surprise. I screwed my mouth up as I looked away, searching for the polite way to say I'd been expelled.
"She's been kicked out of Hargrove?" Emily exclaimed, fixing Ella with an incredulous stare. Ella's surprise quickly turned to dismay.
"Oh don't be absurd, Emily! That's not what you're saying, is it dear?" Rosanna asked, her eyes silently pleading. I shot a glance from her to Ella.
"Oh no," Emily said, shaking her head vehemently as she came to stand next to Ella, "No no no, Ella I really must protest. You absolutely cannot have a Hargrove dropout as a lady in waiting!"
"My ladies?"
The voice made us all look around as a woman with a roll of measuring tape around her neck and a sewing basket on her arm emerged from behind a tapestry next to the fireplace.
"We need dresses," Ella said, clutching my arm and dragging me over towards the seamstress. I could almost feel her hands shaking as she released me, Emily still fuming in the background but clearly not wishing to continue her argument in the presence of a palace servant.
"Very good," the woman said, setting down her basket and unravelling the measuring tape before stringing it around my waist. I didn't miss the way her eyes popped ever so slightly as she took in the condition of my current dress.
"What kind of dresses would you like, Lady Canterbury?" she asked, slipping the tape up to measure my bust, followed by my shoulders and each arm. She marked each measurement on the tape.
"We'll need five day dresses, four formal dresses, and at least two ball gowns," Ella said. The seamstress nearly dropped her tape.
"My lady, that's practically a complete wardrobe," she said, looking over in shock at Ella.
"Have them put on my account. And I'm sure you can understand that we'll need at least a day dress and a formal dress by tomorrow," Ella said, pointedly meeting the incredulous look of the seamstress. I gathered from their interaction that most girls never needed this many dresses so early in the Season.
"Of course, my lady," the seamstress said, pulling the tape down to measure my height, "I'll do what I can to have something ready for tomorrow evening, but I can't promise anything before then,"
"I do appreciate that so very much," Ella said, as the seamstress took her few last measurements and hurried away to start working on my wardrobe.
"Libby, you really should have told me you'd been expelled," Ella said, as soon as the service door had clicked shut again.
"I was only following your request to come immediately!" I protested. Emily was glaring at me from over Ella's shoulder and Rosanna was still looking on in dismay.
"All is not lost," Rosanna said finally, coming to stand before me, "I'm sure that you must have learned a thing or two before they...let you go,"
I gave a small smile at her generous choice of words.
"Of course," I said. Rosanna looked back at Ella and the two looked a little less panicked.
"Well that all depends on how long she was there before they kicked her out," Emily snapped, crossing her arms.
"I was there for almost half a year," I said, staring her down. Emily made an incredulous noise and Ella closed her eyes, holding a fist to her forehead.
"But that wasn't my first finishing school," I continued, if only to break the silence. Emily cocked an eyebrow as Rosanna chewed her lip.
"I promise, I know enough to be of help here," I said, looking to Ella now. She was watching me with a look of despair.
"All right then, why don't we find out?" Emily said, sitting prettily on one of the chairs, "Which fork do you use for a salad?"
"The leftmost one if the salad is the first course," I replied, keen to match wits with this little brat of a girl. Rosanna took the chair next to Emily's but Ella remained standing.
"And when must you curtsy to a member of the royal family?" Rosanna asked, apparently also keen to evaluate my finishing.
"The real question is when must you not curtsy," I replied, remembering a favorite expression of one of my first etiquette teachers at Miss Coolidge's. Rosanna's face registered yet more relief and Ella came around to sit on the couch.
"How should a lady eat her bread?" Emily countered.
"She should eat it like bread?" I replied, confused. Emily gave a smug, triumphant smile.
"You should only break off each piece as you intend to eat it and only butter each piece immediately before you eat it," Rosanna corrected.
"Not that ladies need extra butter," Emily quipped, raking her eyes over me, "Although perhaps some extra curves could help your cause." I felt the heat rise in my face. Emily was a slight, dainty little thing, and her implication that my gangly frame needed fattening up was very much unappreciated. I met her stare with a steely one of my own.
"How do you decline the attentions of a man below your station?" Emily persisted, eyes flashing.
"Oh Em she won't need to know that," Ella said, almost rolling her gorgeous blue eyes.
"Well?" Emily asked me, ignoring Ella.
"I'm quite certain I don't know," I said flatly, wishing I could throw a mouse at her to wipe the smirk off her face.
"You feign fatigue or illness to excuse yourself," Rosanna said gently. I inhaled to attempt to calm myself as a maid appeared from behind the tapestry, bearing a tray of tea.
"Thank goodness," Ella breathed, as the maid set a cup in front of her.
"How does a lady excuse herself to use the washroom?" Emily asked, continuing her assault on me.
"You say excuse me," I replied. Her smile turned sour and I realized I must have gotten that one right.
"Which glass is yours at a table?" Rosanna asked I glanced down to my hands, utilizing the trick I'd picked up at St. Milicent's Academy for Young Ladies.
"The right one," I replied. I looked up to see Emily's smug grin right back in place.
"See? She can't even do it without reminding herself like the little schoolgirl she is," Emily sniffed, "Ella, I really must emphasize that you need the best help you can get for your debutante season. Rosanna has been here before and she provides excellent knowledge and experience. You and I went to school together, so you know I'll be invaluable. But her? She's a liability, she'll do nothing but hold you back when you should be shining,"
I gnashed my teeth together as I watched my cousin absorb Emily's mean little words.
"Yes Ella, clearly all I'm good for is amusing people in etiquette quizzes," I snapped, before storming out of the room. Rosanna and Ella cried out in protest as I charged through the door to the hallway, taking off towards the main staircase.
"Libby! Wait!" Ella called from behind me. I was running as fast as my flat uniform shoes would permit, skidding around the corner and dashing down the stairs.