“Eloise! Eloise! Oh, wake up, you frigid girl!!” 

I wake to Mother's disapproving voice.

I sit up in bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“Mother.” I sigh and squint at her, “Mother, what is it? Has the house burnt down? Is everybody dead? Am I an unmarried widow? Wait a minute, it must be worse. Your dress is creased. Am I right?”

“Oh, shut your mouth, Eloise.” Mother hisses, “Why do you want to ruin this for us? Get up, quickly now. You must get dressed and be down for breakfast in no less than ten minutes. Mary, prepare her, please.” 

With that, Mother strides out of the room.

“Yes, Mistress Adeline.” Mary says, scuttling over to me timidly. I allow myself to be dragged to the dressing table.

Mary combs out the knots in my hair, “Are you feeling better today, Miss Eloise?”

I sigh, “I don't know, Mary. Before yesterday, I have never thought about not being close to Damon. He is very important to me, more important than my own mother. I simply cannot let him go.”

Mary takes the strands of hair that obscuring my face and pins them back, leaving the rest of my hair to flow down my back, “I know, dear. I know. Now, let's get you dressed.”

Mary picks out a periwinkle dress that is cinched in at the waist with some black detail and bears no sleeves. Mary helps me into my corset and tightens it at a tear-inducing rate. After helping me into my dress, Mary retrieves a lace shawl, wrapping it around me.

“To provide a little decency in case the Colleton family do not approve of this style. It is most modern.” Mary tells me as she pins the shawl to my dress with a large gemmed brooch.

“Of course, Mary.” I sigh.

Mary looks up at me and then takes my hand in hers, “I know what is going on in your mind, Miss Eloise. The honour of this house is not just yours to uphold. It is also your mother's. She has made this decision after a lot of thinking. She would not simply give you to the first bachelor who comes along.”

I nod, unconvinced, “Yes, Mary. We should go to the dining room now.”

Mary smiles gently, “Of course. Come, Miss Eloise.”

We link arms all the way to the dining room. The dining room is painted a lavish violet, with contrasting cream sofas to make up the adjoining seating room. Mother is seated at the end of the dining table, Emmanuel and his mother have taken the seats nearest to her. I take my usual seat opposite Emmanuel, refusing to meet his eye.

“Good morning, Mother.” I say, “Good morning, Lady Elizabeth.”

They both smile at me in return. Mary disappears through a door, returning moments later with a tray of extravagant breakfast. 

She is immediately at my side, buttering my crumpet with a smooth knife, “Do you require anything else?”

“No, Mary, that will be enough breakfast for me.” I say as she puts the crumpet on my plate. I take a bite, feeling the butter run down my throat pleasantly. 

Lady Elizabeth looks at me, “I trust you and my son had a good time getting to know each other yesterday?”

“The best.” I say in a monotone. I see Mother freeze with shock out of the corner of my eye. Mary nudges me imperceptibly, warning me to watch my attitude in her silent way.

“That is good to hear.” Lady Elizabeth shows her yellowing teeth in a sneer, “After breakfast, why don't you show Emmanuel your horse? The one you found in a ditch?”

“Chastity.” I correct her, nodding slightly, “It would be my pleasure to.”

Noticing my sarcastic comments, my mother takes the moment to kick my shin under the table. When my head snaps toward her, she glares warningly. 

I ignore it, wiping my hands with a handkerchief. “If you excuse me, I should go and tell the stable boy to prepare Chastity and our next best horse so they can be ridden. Mary, would you care to join me?”

“Yes, Miss Eloise.” Mary scampers to my side and we leave through the servants' entrance. Peter is replacing the stable hay.

“Peter!” I wave at him. 

Peter waves back, standing up and rubbing the small of his back.

I approach him, peering into the stables, “Can you prepare Chastity and Lightning to be ridden, please?”

“Who's going to ride Lightning?” Peter grins, “Mary?!”

“No!” I giggle and Mary frowns. 

I shake my head, “Peter, you know better than to tease our Mary.”

“Forgive me.” Peter suppresses laughter.

“Peter, Emmanuel is going to ride Lightning. I must go and change into my riding gear.”

“Yes, Miss Eloise.” Peter disappears into the stables. Mary and I return to my room, where she pulls all of my hair into a thick braid and gets me into my riding breeches and the gentlemanly shirt. Riding is the one time it is permissible for respectable women to wear trousers, which is one of the reasons I love to ride horses. I like the feeling of the untamed breeze around my legs, un-muffled by the fabric of my skirts. 

Once I have my helmet fastened around my chin, Mary helps me into the sturdy boots and then we emerge in the hallway.

Emmanuel is just leaving his room. He is also prepared to ride a horse. I glide past him, “Do hurry, Emmanuel. Peter must be waiting.” 

“Who is Peter?” Emmanuel hurries to keep with my pace. Out of spite, I am making it difficult for him.

“Peter is our stable boy. Despite being a mere servant boy, he is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to horses.”

Mary coughs, trying to cover up her sniggers.

Emmanuel blushes a deep red, knowing what I am hinting at. I glance at her, a faint smile pulling at my lips. He did not know what he signed up for when he agreed to be betrothed to me. We take the side entrance and walk around to the other side of the house to get to the stables. Peter is stroking and cooing to Lightning, a chocolate brown horse with beautiful light blue eyes and a raven black mane. 

He used to be Mother's horse before Mother birthed me. I run to Chastity, stroking her long nose, kissing her muzzle. “Hey, Chaz. You okay, honey? Peter, did you feed her breakfast?”

“She had breakfast, Miss Eloise, trust me. She has become so sneaky. When I was busy with feeding the other horses, she took extra carrots from the bucket!”

I laugh, “Atta, girl. Chastity, you're going for another ride today.” Chastity snorts gleefully in response. I haul myself on to her and then spot Emmanuel standing on the ground, seemingly awkward.

Good.

Mary sends me a look so I sigh, despite enjoying watching him squirm, “Emmanuel, Lightning is your horse for today. Mount him.”

“Yes.” Emmanuel says curtly, gracefully hopping on to Lightning. Lightning whinnies and I smile down at him. He hasn't been ridden since last year, this is a most exciting turn of events for him. I lead the way, Chastity adopting a light trot. I hear Lightning's hooves plodding along behind me.

Emmanuel steers Lightning in front of Chastity when we approach the gardens, “May we walk from here?”

“Of course.” I say, averting my gaze and jumping down from Chastity, who snorts, disgruntled. I pat her nose and take ahold of her reins, steering her. Emmanuel grips onto Lightning and we walk into the gardens, stopping every so often when Lightning uses his teeth to chomp at an overhead fruit. 

“Eloise. You must forgive my most rude and inappropriate behaviour last night. I was out of my limits, but it all was in concern for you. I do not want that you are made a mockery of in society.”

“Now, now, Emmanuel.” I interrupt, “I do not want you to lie to me. The reason you were upset yesterday is because you do not your family to be made a mockery of in society. What would your society think if they found that the girl you are betrothed to shares a life-long friendship with a low-class man?”

“No, Eloise.” Emmanuel shakes his head, “I am worried for you, not my family. Society will not doubt my family. You are a respectable lady from a respectable family and this type of thing – friendship between different classes – does not happen. You will be judged upon it.”

“So let them!” I throw my arms wide, tying Chastity's rein to a nearby branch, “Let them judge me. I do not care for it. I told you yesterday, I am not your average girl. Society is not a priority in my life.”

“Society is a big part in my life and you are going to be my wife.” Emmanuel reminds me, “I do not know how your mind works, but you must understand me. I care for the people around me, which means I care for you.”

“Emmanuel, if we are to be married, you should know things about me. I do not care what others think of me. I do not care for cotillions and balls and parties. These do not hold an ounce of importance for me.” I say.

“I am willing to understand that. What I don't understand is why you were prepared to argue with me over your footman.”

I take my helmet off, “Emmanuel, Damon means a lot to me. He is one of the most important people in my life. I have known him since I was nothing but a baby. He is like family, which is why I was prepared to argue with you. I'm not going to lose him, I'm not ready to give him up due to a marriage. Even if that marriage is my own.”

“Well, I see that I cannot get you to see it from my point of view.” Emmanuel states, looking away from me into the distance.

“No, you cannot.” I say, untying Chastity, hopping on to her and galloping off, leaving Emmanuel to stare after me in disbelief. Mary walks after me, looking back at Emmanuel, chewing her lip nervously....

P.S. the picture is of Eloise's mother, Duchess Adeline