E is for Elena

3 Anne

It had been a week since Alexander had first arrived back home. A week of late night conversations with the brother I'd missed more dearly than he could possibly know, a week of my mother flitting about the house making remarks about the available daughters of her friends or telling me that my dress made me look unkempt or that my hair wasn't holding up to the humidity, and a week of avoiding the boy turned recluse, Nathaniel Harrison, who seemed a permanent fixture of my father's study.

There was a ball tonight. My mother had ensured that the entire household was aware since she had gotten the invitation five days ago. She'd sent for a new dress for me. I supposed it was an effort to erase what had happened between us, her way of seeking forgiveness for throwing my future to the wind in favor of my brother's. It hadn't worked. She would have to do far better than a lace and chiffon light blue gown. Though it was beautiful.

I couldn't help but admire the way it fell from my body like waves when I raised my arms and turned to the side. I watched it now, in the mirror I was standing in front of, shimmering like glass against the floor as Marie fought to hem it to a proper height. My mother had nearly had a meltdown when it had arrived from the dressmaker's far too long for my short frame.

What's the use in ordering a custom gown if it arrives needing hemmed, she had queried.

I didn't mind. The solace I found tucked away in my bedroom, alone aside from Marie, and forbidden to move for at least an hour was better than I cared to admit. Plus, I had always adored ballgowns and dressing up and this gave me an excuse to stare at myself in a beautiful dress for an hour without being called vain. Absentmindedly, I raised my arms to pile my hair atop my head to help myself envision an updo and heard a hiss from Marie below. Dropping my locks, I looked down to see a blossom of red blooming on her thumb. She stuck it between her teeth and sucked, glancing up at me in irritation.

"I'm sorry," I told her, genuinely. "I forgot."

"Well, try to remember," she scolded. "Your mother will skin me alive if this gown falls even an inch below your slippers."

I nodded and stuck my arms rigidly at my side and stood in perfect soldier formation while Marie finished my tailoring. However, I only got to enjoy my silence a few minutes more before the door to my bedroom swung open and my mother stormed inside, muttering to herself as she sat a pair of slippers and a few choices of jewelry that I was presumably to choose from upon my bed.

"You would think those men could leave that study for at least an hour," she was complaining. "A mother should be allowed to see her son. Your father should know that. He knows how much I've missed Alexander. He knows how thrilled I was to have him back from university."

She was approaching me now, waving a few more servants inside as she grabbed my hair and pulled it roughly up to the top of my head.

"No," she grimaced and dropped my waves, letting them fall around my shoulders. "Down with this dress, I believe. It's all too light. The blue, your skin, your hair. There's no contrast. An updo simply wouldn't do. Pull it back."

Two maids nodded at her instruction and rushed forward to do as they were bid. I heard Marie sigh from below but there was nothing to be done for the intrusion. Once my mother had her mind set, there was nothing anyone could do to change her course. I'd learned that the hard way many a time in my life.

"I cannot imagine what's to be discussed which hasn't already been thoroughly argued by now," my mother continued, throwing her arms up in frustration as she began to pace behind me. I watched her in the mirror as the maids swirled around me, pushing and prodding and pulling to get me ready for this ball on time.

I said nothing. I knew precisely what was taking them so long, what they were discussing. Alexander had told me during one of our late night talks. We'd sat cross legged on my bed, eating sweets he had pilfered from the kitchen like when we were children, and laughing about all we had missed in our time apart. The conversation had turned serious when I'd mentioned the time they'd spent locked away and Alexander told me that our father was seeking to give him more responsibility in the family business in exchange for helping Nathaniel purchase his own practice. I had never thought to ask my brother how he felt about taking over our family business until that night. He had told me truthfully that trading in vain commodities hadn't been his first choice but there was never any room for creativity in the life of a man. I'd wondered what he'd meant by that ever since.