Chapter 2. Invitation
The next few days passed with the weather holding onto its fine qualities. Annabelle had thus ample reason to walk to the gardens every day. No doubt she was hoping to run into the handsome young Lord Craven again. No such luck, however, and the long walks in the cold weather had given Maria a bad case of the sniffles. She was excused from some of her less pressing duties due to this, and was even allowed to retire early to try to sleep and recover her health. And so it was that she missed when the letter of invitation came to their door, delivered with the evening post. It was only on the following morning that she discovered what had happened.
Annabelle was beaming, prancing around in the rooms of the house in one of her best moods. She ate her breakfast with great appetite and read the invitation letter out loud to Maria, who was in the process of brushing her ladyship's coat free from dust.
"It's dated for next Saturday." Annabelle's voice quivered with excitement. "Lord Craven is having a ball to make up for the one he missed, oh I cannot wait to go! I must have a new dress, of course, and how lucky it is that uncle just sent me more money."
Maria bit her lip to keep her tongue from wagging. That money had been, in part, meant to pay her wages, which had been lagging behind now that Annabelle herself was in charge of payment. Her uncle, the Lord Arundell, was always punctual with her salary, small as it was, and she really needed the money soon. Free lodging and two meals a day was a very good deal, and she knew quite a few maids who worked for nothing more, but her small salary was slowly adding up and she had gotten used to putting away some money each week. That new winter coat will have to wait… She listened politely to Annabelle as the lady went into another tirade about how much of a gentleman Lord Craven had been, how handsome he was and how anxious he had been to see her in particular. The invitation was written and signed by him, something she was certain he did to no other lady.
Cautiously, Maria reminded Annabelle that she would not only need her uncle's permission to go, but also that going without a proper chaperone or as part of a group would be unadvisable. Annabelle pouted, a habit from girlhood she had not yet rid herself of, and said decisively: "Oh but my uncle can have nothing against me going, not when Lord Craven is such an important and proper gentleman. And I will not be going alone, for I am sure that the Darcy's have received invitations as well, and they will have room for me in their party." The Darcy family was a very influential family from the north, where they owned several mines and a large estate. Their eldest daughter Caroline was only a year older than Annabelle's 20, and so they had entered society together. It would not be the first time that the Darcy's took Annabelle to a ball with them, so it seemed probable that they would this time as well. Maria sighed as she put away the clothes she had brushed clean, hoping that Annabelle would get over this infatuation quickly, as she had done with the others.
All went exactly according to the Lady's wishes, and on the eve of the ball she stood in her new dress and outrageously expensive new jewels, admiring her image in the mirror. The dress was an intense blue, accentuating the colour of her eyes. The satin hugged her shapely form which had been corseted tightly to shape her silhouette. Her jewels were of silver and sapphires, elegantly placed around her neck and woven into her hair. The result was a ball gown that was, while being extravagant, nowhere close to gaudy. Maria had to admit that it looked very pretty. She also had to admit, mostly to herself, that she never could have worn such a garment. She was too short, and her chest was too big, so that the neckline which looked modest on Annabelle would look highly inappropriate on Maria. She looked down upon herself. Her plain black working dress with a high collar made her look shapeless. She sighed, and waved as the Lady Annabelle stepped out to the carriage.