𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 : 𝘈 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦

Chapter 3: Devoirs

The next few days after the Earl's proposal seemed to fly by faster than wind. Emilia had written to her mother regarding her succesful engagement to the earl, and Mrs. Chbosky was coming to visit her that day.

"It's so good to see you my dear!" Mrs. Chbosky threw arms around Emilia and engulfed her in a warm hug.

"How are you, mama?" Emilia asked, grinning at her.

"I'm well, and ecstatic too, about your wonderful engagement - I say, lady Gibson, I'm so so grateful to you for taking such care of my Emilia. "
Mrs. Chbosky and Lady Gibson were both caring, kind women and the sponsoring of Emilia brought the two of them even closer.

Mrs. Chbosky had a striking resemblance to her daughter, the same red curls, green eyes, and even the slightly mischievous , slightly shy smile.

The three women spent the evening laughing and talking, mostly about Emilia being a countess soon. In the middle of their chatter, Emilia excused herself to go for a walk in the Gibsons' beautiful garden. Soft wind was rustling the leaves and the sweet aroma of various flowers was lingering in the air.

Emilia hummed to herself, and brought her finger close to her eyes to examine her engagement ring. The last few days had been a whirlwind and she didn't get a single moment to herself to reflect on what was happening.

She was going to be a Countess. A tremendous responsibility, no doubt. Emilia was taught to manage a household perfectly but she felt nervous at the prospect of being the lady of a house so soon. Theodore Bancroft had been nothing but sweet and kind to her, and she knew he would make a wonderful husband, and yet she couldn't shake off the feeling of fear and apprehensiveness.

And then there was the prince. She had spent the last week trying not to think of him but he seemed to have taken a permanent place in Emilia's mind.

Sure, it was just an infatuation. Just a little brush of hand, but it could have happened with anyone. Besides, if the prince had truly taken a fancy to her he would have had asked her for a dance,or called on her, but he did neither.

Emilia was just one of the many many young ladies to the prince, unimportant, ordinary and forgettable.

***************
Emilia woke up next morning to find her lady's maid opening the windows in her room. She got dressed in a light blue satin jacket gown for promenade with the earl.

At the promenade, however, a little shock was awaiting Emilia. As she was waiting for the earl, some young ladies behind her were whispering about something that seemed very urgent. She followed their gaze and got a tremendous shock indeed.

It was the prince, promenading with a young lady.

The lady was stunning, undoubtedly.

The sunlight reflected on her caramel coloured skin, and she had black , beautiful curls cascading down her shoulders. They were talking and apparently the prince said something amusing as the lady seemed to be quite enjoying herself.

Although Emilia shouldn't have, she felt a pang of jealousy.

"Well, the prince seemed to have made his match. Which is.... surprising because he declared that he wouldn't marry this season." Lady Gibson told Mrs. Chbosky as they approached Emilia.

"Who's that young lady, anyway? Another new debutante?" Mrs. Chbosky asked.

-"She's viscount Kimberly's daughter, Vanessa Kimberly.  I've heard she was a little late to make her debut this season, but she's certainly successful if the prince has taken a fancy to her." Lady Gibson said, as they sat on a bench.

After promenading with the earl,Emilia rushed to have a tea with Miss Ruth, another young lady who had debuted this season.

She was known as the "gossip queen" of Mayfair and normally Emilia would not have acquired her assistance , but she was extremely eager to find out about the lady who had caught the prince's eye.

************
"Dear, why are you not ready yet? We've a ball this evening!" Mrs. Chbosky knocked on Emilia's room.

"I'm not feeling like going, mama." Emilia's pensive voice came.
Mrs. Chbosky sensed something was amiss. She opened the door and found Emilia sitting on the window perch, distractedly drawing circles on the window as she hummed a melancholic tune to herself.

"Mama, am I not enough to catch a prince's attention?" Emilia turned around at the sound of Mrs. Chbosky's footsteps.

Mrs. Chbosky was certainly surprised and didn't know what to answer. She didn't know where this question was coming from.

"Emilia, are you unhappy with your engagement to the earl? If you are, say so now. You must know that although we're in dire need of money I'd never want you to be unhappy with your marriage." Mrs. Chbosky kept her hand on Emilia's shoulder.

-"No... no, not at all. I'm perfectly fine with my engagement to Lord Bancroft, mama. I just wanted to know, what's it  Miss Kimberly has that I so lack?"