I wake up to the warm rays of the morning sun hitting my face. The warmth felt good against my soft skin. I get out of my bed with my nightgown on, and call my maid to help me get dressed for the day. After that, I make my bed and go downstairs.
"Good morning," I say.
"Good morning, sweetheart," says my mother.
"Good morning," says my father.
I go to the dining table where they are, and I sit down. Not long after, the footmen come out of the kitchen with our breakfast. The chef walks behind them. One of the footmen, Oliver, sets the food at the table for us while the chef tells us what he made. It all sounds and smells really good, then again, Claude was an amazing cook, so all his meals were great.
"Thank you, sir. You may go now," says my father flicking his hand.
Claude exits the dining room with a respectful nod. I do not like my father's cold attitude or lack of gratification, so I shoot him a kind smile (so does my mother) as they exit. I cannot speak up or say much without my father lecturing me in disapproval, so hopefully my smile will do. Our other footman, Arthur, goes around the table pouring us tea while Oliver serves us our food. They too exit the dining hall leaving us alone, but not more long. Our maid, Martha, enters.
"Is there anything else I can do Mrs. Darlington?" She asks my mother.
"Just the bedrooms and ballroom are fine. As soon as you're done with that, you have a while to yourself, and please, call me Gwenyth," says mother with a sweet smile.
"Oh, and don't worry about my bedroom Martha, I cleaned it already," I say.
"Alright, Ms. Darlington," says Martha smiling.
I respond with a kind smile. 'Ms. Darlington'... such a formal title. Martha never calls me that in private seeing as I've asked her not to. However, my father is around and he'd collapse if he heard 'the help' (his words) be informal.
Martha returns my smile and leaves.
"Gwenyth, I assume everything else is ready for the ball tonight? We've been planning it for weeks, everything has to be perfect," says my father to my mother.
"Yes, all of the preparations have been arranged and everything is perfect," says mother with a chuckle.
I widen my eyes looking down and sigh silently, "Are the Rhodes coming?" I ask.
"Of course, they are. The Rhodes are our closest friends," says my mother.
"You know Odette, the ball can be a great opportunity for you to spend some time with young Archibald. After all, you haven't seen him in a while. He's a sweet young man..." says my father.
I scoff and mumble, "and two-faced."
"...and he would be great for the family," Says my father, oblivious to my dig at Archibald.
I sense my mother became silent and uncomfortable at my father's last sentence.
Great for the family? I think to myself.
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I finish my breakfast with my family.
"May I be excused?" I ask.
"Yes darling, you have some free time to prepare for the ball tonight. You should start getting ready around seven past noon. The ball starts two hours later at nine," says my mother.
"I understand, thank you," I say smiling and going to my room.
I enter my room and sit on my bed. I'm happy that I have some time to myself before there's hundreds of people in my house. I've never been much of a social butterfly. If someone comes up to me and starts a conversation, I'll entertain it quite well, but I don't go out and seek interaction with new people. I tend to stick with what and who I know. Like I previously mentioned, I don't have many friends. But my grandfather always told me, "Friends are counted on one hand. Anyone else is an acquaintance." My group was small, but they were genuine and loyal. Unfortunately, none of them will be attending the ball tonight. They have things to do which I understand completely.
