Chapter 5
As always, Ella intended to dress very plainly for dinner. She wanted to give very little effort, correctly deciding that nobody else at the dinner table would much care if she wore a fine gown or not.
“What about this gown, Miss Winfield?” her young lady’s maid, Violet, had said hopefully. “I think the pale pink would suit your lovely dark hair very well.”
“Forgive me, Violet,” Eleanor said kindly. “It really must be a very boring experience for you dressing me. I just find that I do not have the enthusiasm for my appearance these days, at least not here inside the hall.”
“Oh no, Miss Winfield, it is not boring at all. I am very pleased to be your maid, really I am.” Violet had an adorable round face with large, pretty blue eyes and a small mouth in the shape of Cupid's bow. “I am just worried that I am not doing my job very well if I do not mention such things. I would be happy to do whatever you wish me to do, with your gowns and with your hair, anything at all, Miss Winfield.”
“You really are very sweet, Violet. Tell me, how long have you worked here at Dandridge Hall?”
“I have been here since I was just twelve years, Miss Winfield. I began as a maid of all works and worked very hard to pick up the skills of the lady’s maid instead. But, try as I might, neither of the Earl’s daughters were keen to accept me and, instead, both chose maids of their own from outside the household.”
“Well, that is their loss, Violet. As much as I have not made the very best use of your services, I can tell already that you are exceptionally clever with hair and clothes, and you are on top of all the latest fashions. And perhaps you would not have been quite so happy to be maid to either one of the Earl’s daughters.”
“I am sure of it, Miss Winfield,” Violet said and laughed and then, as if she had completely forgotten herself, clapped a hand over her mouth as her blue eyes grew wider still. “Oh, please forgive me, Miss Winfield. I should not have spoken so.”
“Oh please, Violet, do not distress yourself about it. You have not spoken out of turn at all, and you must surely have seen for yourself that I am far from happy here in this house. Do not forget, I was the one who opened the door to this particular turn in the conversation, not you. You have nothing to reproach yourself for, my dear.”
“Thank you, Miss Winfield,” Violet said, her cheeks blushing wildly. “But are you really so unhappy here?” As awkward as the poor young woman seemed, she was clearly concerned.
“Violet, it is true to say that I have never been this unhappy in my entire life,” Ella said, and suddenly her eyes filled with tears. “Oh dear, please do forgive me, Violet,” she said and tried to laugh as she hurriedly searched for a handkerchief.
“Here, Miss Winfield, take this,” Violet said and handed her a clean handkerchief from her pocket. “And there is nothing to apologize for. I wish I could do something to help.”
“I am so sorry, I did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” Ella continued, full of embarrassment. “But I think you are the only person who has truly shown me any kindness since I arrived here, and I include my own mother in that. I had not meant to cry, really, I had not. You must think me terribly silly.”
“I do not think you silly at all, Miss Winfield. I think you must be finding it very hard to accept all the changes in your life. You must feel that you have no say in it all sometimes as if it is all happening and there is nothing you can do about it.”
“That is precisely how I feel, Violet. What a very perceptive young woman you are, and so very kind.” Ella sniffed loudly and dabbed at her eyes. “Now, I suppose I really ought to stop crying like a baby and hurry up and get ready for dinner. The Earl is already dead against me as it is without me walking in late.”
“Well, I will have you ready in just a minute, and I’ll make sure that you get down to dinner on time.” Violet gave her an encouraging smile, and Ella had to blink hard again.
Really, the tears had taken her so by surprise she was still a little in shock. Violet really was a very kind young woman, and Ella had not realized just how welcome such kindness would be.
“Perhaps I will wear the pink, Violet,” Ella said and put on the brightest smile she could manage.
“Really?” Violet seemed suddenly very cheerful.
Perhaps she really would like to perform the task of lady’s maid to its fullest, even though the young lady she was attending to was really not a lady, as such.
“Yes, why not.” Ella felt somewhat returned to herself again and determined that she would thank Violet properly when she was no longer in danger of dissolving into tears.
True to her word, Violet had got her ready very quickly, and she was the first to arrive in the drawing room. It was not long before Patience and Georgiana arrived, both of them dressed as if they were getting ready to go to a ball.
Ella was amazed, they really never did anything by halves. It was a simple evening meal with family, and yet the notion of dressing to impress everybody around them was so ingrained that they could never give it up for a moment. They really were a curious pair, so alike in looks and personalities. Perhaps that was what made them such great rivals.
“Is that gown new?” Patience almost barked at her as she looked her up and down.
“No, it is not new, Patience,” Ella said in her practiced nonchalant tone. “But it is true to say that I have not worn it here at Dandridge Hall.”
“Quite,” Patience said coldly as she looked up and down still, something akin to annoyance on her face. “But I cannot think why you are bothering to put in such effort this evening when you ordinarily do not seem to bother at all.”
Ella could think of nothing to say and so instead looked to Georgiana. Quite why she thought that Patience’s sister would provide any comfort to her at that moment, she could not say, except that she was, perhaps, relying on the rivalry between the sisters to work in her favour for a moment.
But it did not come to pass as Georgiana seemed as intent on openly studying her as her sister had been. And she too looked annoyed, leading Ella to finally realize that the sisters thought she looked very well in the gown.
It was the only thing that could explain their annoyance in it all. It appeared that their little jealousies extended beyond their own competitive relationship. Well, at least she knew that the pink gown suited her if nothing else.
The sisters did not speak to her again before dinner, and even then, so rarely that she might just as well have been fully ignored.
The ordinary run of boring conversation seemed to reign supreme at the dinner table, as it always did. That was until the Earl made something of a surprise announcement.
“I have heard a very interesting piece of news today,” he began in so amiable a tone that, had she not known him at all, Ella would have assumed him to be a very much more agreeable man. “Very interesting indeed, as it happens.”
“And what is that, my dear?” Ariadne said in her most theatrical version of the dutiful wife.
“I have heard that the attorney, Henry Mercer, is spreading news abroad that the Duke of Hillington is searching for a wife.”
“The Duke of Hillington? I thought I had heard that he had seemingly sworn off the idea of matrimony. He must be some years more than thirty, surely?” Ariadne’s interest was piqued, as it always was when talk of men of great title abounded.
“It would seem that he is keen to ensure the Duchy remains within the family line. If you ask me, he ought to have seen to that years ago, but still, we might do very well out of this indeed.” He cast an eye over his daughters, both of whom looked suddenly very excited.
“I wonder if I will be able to meet him, Papa?” Georgiana took the lead, as she always did in these matters.
“Yes, but both of us. Not just you, Georgiana. And I am the oldest, do not forget,” Patience spoke in a tone which reminded Ella of an angry, buzzing wasp.
“Of course, you will both meet him, my dears,” Ariadne said in an attempt to soothe them.
Ella simply continued to eat her meal, not quite sure whether she was hurt or amused by the fact that nobody suggested for a moment that she ought to meet the Duke of Hillington. Not that she knew the Duke of Hillington nor cared to. If the Earl of Dandridge was anything to go by, Ella had had quite enough of titled men to last a lifetime.
“Yes, you must both calm down.” Ronald laughed, sounding every bit the amused, indulgent father. “You will both meet him soon enough.”
“Do you know something, Papa? Is there something more that you have not told us?” Patience said in an excited squeak.
“Nothing much,” he said and shrugged in a teasing manner. “Except that the Duke of Hillington is to give a masquerade ball, and the finest families of the county will be invited.”
“And do you think that we will be invited, Papa?” Georgiana said hurriedly.
“Did I not say that the finest families would be invited? And are we not among the finest families for many, many miles?” He was trying to remain amusing, but Ella could see the little bristle of annoyance about him. His ego really knew no bounds.
“Oh wonderful, how exciting!” Georgiana said, unaware of the offence she had just caused. “When is it, Papa? I really must have a new gown, for I have nothing at all to wear.”
“And I must have a new gown too,” Patience said, keen not to be left out, as seemed to be her normal state of being. “I must have a gown as fine as the one that Georgiana is to have. Finer, really, since I am the oldest, and if the Duke is going to marry either one of us, it ought to be me.”
“Do not be so silly, Patience, no Duke in his right senses would marry you. If he is to choose between two sisters, he will undoubtedly choose the prettiest.” Georgiana sounded so pompous that Ella had to fight an urge to pick a potato up from her plate and throw it right at her.
Instead, she contented herself by looking down at her plate to hide the smirk of disdain on her face. For all that the young Bellville women thought they were so very fine, when it came to men of title, they were truly desperate. Not only were they desperate, but it did not bother them at all to show it. Ella knew that she would have more pride than to squabble over a man at the dinner table, especially one to whom nobody had yet been introduced.
“My dear girls, you are both so beautiful that the Duke will be hard pressed to choose between you,” Ronald said, and Ella bit hard on her bottom lip. She really did want to laugh now. “You will both go to the masquerade ball, and you will both have gowns made especially. I shall have a seamstress sent for tomorrow, and she will see to it that your gowns are not only beautiful but ready in time. For I believe that the ball is not far away.”
“Oh yes, how wonderful. I will be fitted first, of course,” Patience said in her competitive, desperate manner. “I shall be fitted first because I am the oldest. I do not want to come second.”
“You will have to come second when the Duke chooses me, Patience. Perhaps it is best that you get used to it now,” Georgiana said spitefully, and Ella winced.
Really, that sisters could be so very cruel to one another was amazing to Ella. And not only that, but their father seemed to tolerate it as if competition of such magnitude was all very natural. It was not natural at all; it was ugly and demeaning, and Ella thought it ought not to have been encouraged. She also conceded that it had probably been allowed to go on for so long that it would be almost impossible to stop it now.
“Well, we all have something to look forward to now, do we not?” Ariadne spoke again. “And I do so love a masquerade ball. It is so exciting, is it not?”
“Yes, very exciting, my dear.” Ronald gave her a tense smile. “But I think it probably best that we take only Patience and Georgiana. No need to confuse things, is there?” He spoke without even looking at Ella.
So, she was to have no right to attend the ball with her family. Ella looked to her mother to see if she could find at least the smallest sign that she was on her daughter’s side.
“Very wise, my dear. We would do well not to be too great a party,” she answered her husband without even looking in her daughter’s direction.
Once again, Ella felt very alone. She knew she did not care to go to the masquerade ball, and she cared even less for the fortunes of the Duke of Hillington and his search for a wife to bear him children.
He sounded very tedious indeed, and she thought that it would serve him right if he ended the rest of his days stuck with either Georgiana or Patience Bellville. That would teach him to search for a wife in same the manner that a farmer might look for a cow at market.
But even so, she still did not care to be left out in that way. She did not want to be with her family, but she did not want to be left at home and without any thought at all.
As Georgiana and Patience continued to argue over a man whom they were obviously convinced would only have eyes for one or the other of them , Ella found the familiar curiosity and amusement creeping in again. She wondered what sort of spectacle they might make of themselves if their competition would be so open when they were out there in the world.
And suddenly she needed to know, she wanted to see it with her own eyes. Ella wanted to see just how badly Patience and Georgiana Bellville behaved in such circumstances. As cruel as it seemed, Ella wanted to amuse herself at their expense. But she knew it was borne of her own hurt.
And it was then that her little seed of an idea for attending the masquerade ball unknown and unannounced began to germinate.