Pauper Princess

Chapter Twenty-Five

I had one, single takeaway from the night out- opera was incredibly, endlessly, sinfully boring.

It started with the greeting. 'Oh, hello Lord Fently. What a surprise to happen upon you here'- as if there were not only a few select families well-off enough to afford a night out to the opera.

Then the introductions. 'You remember my wife, and my oldest daughter, Elizabeth? Why yes, I did say my oldest daughter. This is the newest member of our family- isn't she a lovely little thing? Amelia, say hello to Lord Fently and his wife, Lady Fently.' I would curtsy. They would coo and aww at me, carrying on and on about how adorable I was and repeatedly asking me about how I liked my new home and family, though I could hear the assumptions in each of their tones as to how grateful I should feel.

It was not that I wasn't grateful. It was that I could almost feel the judgement- the assumptions of my value, as if I had no worth until I was taken in by this rich, well-known family. It was absolutely infuriating, but I knew what was expected of me, so I just smiled and nodded as much as possible.

Next we were led to our seats by a man in a fine suit- he was dressed so elegantly, I could not help but wonder how he was in a service position when he could afford such attire.

Once we reached our seat- a private balcony above the stage- we were hushed by Lady Baldwin and reminded to sit up straight and not to squirm. And we were to stay like that for the entire performance- which not only proved to be incredibly boring, to hear women screeching at the top of their lungs in a language that was foreign to me, but the show also went on. And on. And on.

Four. Entire. Hours. Twice my leg was swatted for squirming, and several other times Elizabeth reached a hand over and placed it firmly on my arm or thigh, a silent warning that I was doing something wrong. Generally, that 'something' was kicking my legs back and forth, squirming, slouching, or struggling to stay awake.

I found a way in which Elizabeth and I were equal- the soreness and stiffness of the legs that she had felt after walking for four hours? I felt it myself after sitting for four hours.

Apparently, you just needed to spend four hours doing something you were unused to doing. I was grateful that Lord Baldwin told Elizabeth and I to link arms as we walked out of the theater, because I was unsteady on my feet. Not that we had to walk far- The carriage waited for us just outside, and the footman held the door open for us.

I fell asleep on the journey home, and awoke as Lord Baldwin lifted me from the carriage, securing my head as he raised it off of Elizabeth's shoulder. I glanced behind us as he carried me in, and saw that Elizabeth was still awake and was stepping out of the carriage herself.

But, as Miss Lancing undressed me and wrapped my curls to protect them, I went on about how much I had liked the performances. Lady Baldwin was still lingering in the room, and I did not wish to hurt her feelings. She had been so pleased to take me out and introduce me as a member of her family.

It would hurt her enough when I left soon. I could feel the guilt growing as I realized Lord and Lady Baldwin, and certainly Michael, as well, had all become a bit attached to me. I felt even worse when I recalled the way Lord Baldwin had defended me against Madame Duponte once- he had been so certain that I would not steal from him that he had not even demanded I turn out my pockets under her accusations.

I was letting them all down. But John needed me. Above all else, I could not let him down.

*******

Too soon, the day of my ball arrived. I had anticipated hearing knocks at the door, and being able to guess at how many people were arriving based on that. But the doors had been propped open more than two hours before the ball was to start, men stationed at the door to check names off of the lists and announce the arrival of different families.