The House of Beardsley

Chapter Twenty-nine

Weeks passed, even though it passed very slowly, as I hadn't seen Eugene in any of those days. Nor his drawings.

On Saturday the girls and I cleaned extra hard to make up for our day off on Sunday, where we would go shopping. We were going to Ravensborough again, but not the monthly market.

It was December already, and it had began snowing a bit. We were the extra chore of taking care of the fireplace. Modt of all we had less than a month to prepare for the Christmas Ball. Thinking about it, I had already been in the House of Beardsley for more than four months. While I certainly got used to the people, chores, and had made friends, there were also some things that were entirely new to me.

For example, the business going on with Eugene.

That morning there was a gentle rapping at our door after we got dressed.

"Young ladies, are you ready?" Mister Kupka asked. "The masters are waiting in the front hall, and the carriages are ready."

"Coming!" Beth threw open the door. "Good morning, Mister Kupka," she said before she raced down.

"Heavens, that girl!" He turned to us. "You all better go down too, and not keep the masters waiting. There's two separate carriages, the maids will be in one and the masters in the other."

"Yes" Clo said, and we began to file out the room and down the stairs.

There I was greeted with the sight of the masters, dressed in matching black overcoats and top coats. They looked like three wealthy apparitions.

"Good morning, ladies," Augustin said, smiling. "We will be relying on you today, so I hope we get along."

The two quieter masters only nodded.

"Us too," Beth said, smiling. Only she was on the same level as Augustin. As they stood there, bright and shining, leader of both sides, I could only hope everything would go fine today.

When we entered the carriages, helped in by the footmen, like princesses, Clo was the most excited one out of us, surprisingly.

"I love the feeling of carriages," she said. Tucking in her thick coat the color of periwinkle, which matched her hat. "Don't you?"

"I'm bad with anything that moves around too much," Beth said, still in her bright red cloak and coat trimmed with fur, but this time with a different dress. "But I'm looking forward to shopping."

Me and Rhiannon were dressed in our usual dull coats, but with thick layers of dresses underneath.

We only rode the carriage for around twenty minutes and had a small chat about our expectations for the Christmas Ball before we arrived at the department store. It was a large building and Tobias held the doors open for us. We walked in after Augustin, and all let our sequential gasps.

"Wow!" I said. "Look at the posters: they sell everything here! Fitted shoes, fabric for tailoring, cosmetics, glassware, and carpets."

"That's correct." Augustin smiled. "You're Miss Shuyan, right? You were an orphan, so is it your first time here?"

"Ah, yes," I said, suddenly reverting back into my old self, embarrassed at how much I was shouting—and I was eighteen already!

"Let's choose a Christmas tree first," Valentin said. "After all, it's essential for Christmas."

The department store was huge, but so crowded with people it didn't feel as large. There were even more people than in the market, maybe because it was in an enclosed space. It wasn't cold at all, and in fact it was cheery, with a huge Christmas tree in the middle, so tall it reached the top of the ceiling. There were stores all around it, some like booths, some with their merchandise displayed outside, some with only a stack of catalogues.