Page 17 of Loving a Noble Gentleman
Chapter 8
As the carriage took Mary past the row of shops along the main street in London, she gazed out the window with a wish in her heart. She would have loved the chance to wander into one of them, to pick out the outfit that she wanted, and to maybe have some fun along the way.
But that was not becoming of a Lady. Stepping out of the carriage and moving freely among the shops was something that was just not done. That was why she had to go to a special dressmaker instead. She would visit Gloria in her home to get measured and to pick out the fabrics and design of the dress that she required. Usually, that was something that she enjoyed very much, but today, she could not muster up the enthusiasm at all. With her future hanging in the balance, she could not get excited about anything. She had only decided to come out to get a new dress to show Walter that she was making an effort. She hoped that if she could start attending society events with the hope of finding a husband that she actually liked, he would relent. Mary felt that he was sticking to her father’s vague rules too strictly.
“Are you feeling alright?” Daisy asked Mary. Once she made the decision to go to see Gloria, she asked her new friend to come with her. It was under the pretence that she would help to dress and undress the Lady if there was anything she decided to try on, but really it was for the friendship. “You have gone very pale.”
Mary smiled to herself, enjoying the way that Daisy felt more comfortable around her now. Once, she would never have been brave enough to speak without being spoken to, but now she felt content enough to ask questions about her appearance. That was a change that Mary found rather refreshing. “I am quite well, thank you, Daisy. I am just thinking.”
“Yes, I presume that you have a lot to think about, considering the area of town that we are in.”
Mary’s eyes automatically glanced outside once more, only this time she was given a wholly different view of the city. Things had dramatically changed from the lovely street of shops to a place where much poorer people lived. It was not the poorest part of the city, but it was bad enough to have Mary’s heart thumping wildly.
The homes were cramped and dirty; grime spilled down the brickwork like it belonged there. People in filthy brown and beige clothing yelled loudly at one another in what Mary considered a very uncouth manner, and children ran and screamed. From the day she could speak, Mary had been told that children should be seen and not heard. Clearly, the same rules did not apply here. There was even one man who had fallen to the floor in an apparent drunken state. A wet patch stained his trousers which made Mary avert her eyes quickly.
No wonder Charlotte was affected by this ... we have spent our whole lives being sheltered from this side of life.
Mary’s stomach churned while her pulse raced, and her whole body shook.
Then her eyes spotted something even worse, something that made her heart stop dead. A young girl, possibly the same age as Mary, stood just outside a pub with what looked like material wrapped around her for a dress. The garment had absolutely no structure and fell off her shoulder, almost as if it were designed to reveal as much of her body as possible. She clutched a fan between her fingers and peered seductively at the men who loitered near her.
She must be a street girl,Mary thought in a panic.A girl who sells her body for money.
Despite Charlotte’s offer, Mary could not help thinking that she would end up as a street girl when she rejected marriage to the Duke and she lost everything. It was like a nightmare that plagued her in the back of her brain ... but it was always a mysterious thought. Not something that she knew anything about. Seeing a real-life street girl standing in front of her made the nightmare all too real.
“You have a kind heart.” Daisy interrupted Mary’s thought pattern, causing her to jump. “Like I said to you before, there are not many people who care much about the living conditions of the working classes. Even if there is never anything that you can do, it is enough that you care.”
I care because I might end up as one of them,Mary thought desperately, her eyes welling up with tears.
“Th ... thank you,” she stammered as a reply instead. Even if Daisy was more her friend now, this was something she could not discuss with her. This was the sort of thing that she could only talk about with her sister, who might well understand her. She would have to make a call to her whenever she got the chance.
Mary could not stop her mind however much she wanted to. The last thing she wanted was to imagine taking the place of the girl, standing in the street and trying to lure the men towards her. With her title and position, the worst thing she had to worry about was a man kissing or touching her in a slightly inappropriate way. That was enough to ruin her reputation completely. How much would she be ruined if she were a street girl? She shuddered at the mere idea of it.
It was not something that Mary ever wanted to experience.
She could not imagine herself existing in those cramped houses, living among so many other people. And not just any people. Loud, dirty people with terrible smells emanating from them. Maybe she was not so unkind that she viewed the poor as only a parasite, but she did not want to be anywhere near them either.
“Daisy, did you grow up on a street such as that one?” Mary asked nervously as they pulled away from the horror and closer to Gloria’s home. Mary had been on this journey a hundred or so times before, but she had never bothered to look out before. Now, she wished she hadn’t again. Mary did not think that was a sight she could ever recover from. “Is that how you lived?”
“It was not that street.” Daisy’s lips tightened together. “But it was quite similar.”
Mary gulped and nodded slowly. Daisy knew so much more about the world than she did; she had knowledge that Mary did not even know she was missing.
“That is why I am so glad to work in your home.” Daisy’s face lit up, and a bright smile spread across her lips. “The roof over my head is so much better at your house.”
Mary had visited the staff quarters only once before when she was young and wandered off. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she explored the only part of her house that she had never seen before, although when she was caught, she acted as if she had gotten lost.
Mary did not say it to Daisy, but she did not think what she had under her roof was wonderful. It was small, very basic, incredibly boring to look at. Yes, maybe it was better than living on one of those streets, but was it fair? How had they come to live in a world where the lives of everyone were so different? One person lived in unnecessary luxury while the next could barely feed their children; one road was glamorous and lovely, the next dirty and smelly.
It seemed to Mary that something needed to change, but she did not know what. She just hoped that there was some miracle that ensured the lives of the poor ended up better before she became one herself.
“I think that we are here,” Daisy spoke out once more, causing Mary’s head to snap up to look at her. “The driver is stopping. This is Gloria’s house, is it not?”
Mary twisted her head to see the home that was more familiar to her than anything else she had seen today. This was the home of one of the most famous dressmakers in the whole of London; all the Ladies loved to see her because she made the finest things. Mary was lucky, but still she felt hollow. It did not feel right to spend so much money on an item of clothing that she did not really want, for a ball that she was notreallykeen to attend when there were people that had nothing.
Unfortunately, there was nothing that she could do about it now. The driver had brought her all the way, and she had to keep her appointment.
This is just to show Walter that I am trying my hardest,she tried to make herself feel much better.At least it is for a good reason.
