Emily

Chapter Three

A/N: The picture to the side is Keira Knightley, who plays Emily Carter.

Emily let Cassandra's lady's maid, a girl named Ellen, help her into her chemise, corset and other undergarments, hating the way the restrictive thing muddled her breathing. She wished she could abandon it, but now that she was in English society again, she had to conform to some of its norms at least.

So, she sat down again on Cassandra's bed, as Ellen moved to assist Cassie. Unfortunately for Cassandra, her dress was tighter in the waist than Emily's and, therefore, required her corset to be more tightly laced. Ellen tied up the stays deftly with steady hands and Emily recalled from one of Cassandra's letters she'd received in America how upset Cassandra had been when Ellen had arrived.

Cassandra's previous lady's maid, Amelia, had left almost exactly two years before to marry a sailor in the Navy. Afterwards, it had taken Cassandra months to look for a replacement and had finally found Ellen. She'd missed Amelia at first and hadn't been too pleased to have Ellen, but she'd soon gotten over it. Ellen was talented, to be sure, but Cassandra hadn't achieved anywhere near the same level of closeness with Ellen as she had with Amelia.

Emily watched as Ellen helped Cassie into her dress and then motioned for Emily to stand up so she could do the same for her. One of the things Emily had missed about England were the fancy gowns, and she adored the one she had bought specifically for this occasion.

It was a deep, royal purple silk with simple embroidery that had been delicately stitched in thread of nearly the exact same shade, giving it a subtle design and adding to the elegance of the dress. As soon as she'd seen it at the seamstress's she'd fallen in love with it and Cassandra, thankfully, approved. It appeared that Emily's fashion sense was not as bad as it used to be.

Ellen was a talented lady's maid and was very good with hair. She'd already done up both Emily as well as Cassandra's hair and had done it very prettily, with purple flowers twined through braids for Emily and a complicated updo for Cassandra, which was perfectly complimented by a delicate looking tiara.

"Well, Ellen," Cassandra began, once both of them were dressed, "Since there's still at least an hour before the guests start arriving, I think we shall just wait before we go downstairs. Would you please inform His Grace and Lord Hawthorne of the same and bring Lady Juliette to me? She is with her father."

"Of course, milady." Ellen said with a curtsy, and Emily smiled softly as she made eye contact with her before the younger girl exited the room, hastening slightly.

"Are you excited for your first ball since you've returned?" Cassie asked teasingly, her eyes glinting. She knew just how much Emily disliked any and all social situations that involved the ton. In her opinion, almost every single one of them could do with being taken down a peg or two.

"Of course not." Emily scoffed, and Cassandra giggled. "When have I ever wanted to have anything to do with those people?"

"Kit's the same." Cassandra informed her, plopping into the chaise at the end of the bed beside Emily and reclining. "Most of the time, I agree with him. Sometimes, though, balls and parties provide some sort of entertainment. It's such fun watching people fall over themselves to impress one another when you don't have to worry about any of that anymore."

"Has marriage been everything you thought it would be?" Emily asked curiously, her mind elsewhere.

"Of course not!" Cassandra replied immediately, with a small snort. "Remember how against marriage I used to be?"

"Oh, yes." Emily said with a nod. "You were adamant on remaining unmarried even though anyone with two eyes could see how in love you were with Christopher. It took so much convincing from us all to say yes. I remember how happy I was when I received the news a week after reaching New York. Although I was happy there, I wanted nothing more in the world than to be by your side as you made this wonderful leap." Emily reminisced, thinking of everything that had happened all that time ago.