An Innocent Affair

XXVI

"Love never dies. It fizzles out maybe but it stays there in your heart buried by emotions controlling you. Once the fire is rekindled, love resurfaces again, breathes a new life." Elizabeth E. Castillo

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XXVI.

It had been two weeks since Cressie and Zara had arrived in London. They had only been back to Belle's shop once to confirm Zara's debutante gown, as well as to order a half dozen other designs for subsequent invitations that would undoubtedly follow. They expected Zara's debutante gown to be delivered in the coming days, ready for the presentation ball this coming Friday.

It had also been two weeks since Cressie had been in the presence of her husband, and yet she felt just as caged as she had done in Yorkshire. Distance had done nothing to loosen the chains that Everett had on both her body and her mind.

"... I saw Anne Kimpton walking today from my window. I went to school with her, you know. I swear she was wearing one of Belle Desjardins' gowns. I feel I would know them anywhere now." Zara spoke, often to herself, as she filled the silence at mealtimes.

It was the morning, and breakfast had been served. Cressie would ordinarily have been served up in bed as a married woman, but she could not well leave Zara alone to eat. So, her maid served Cressie her tray in the dining room each morning and stood there to watch exactly what she ate.

Zara, on the contrary, was served a full portion for every meal.

Cressie had become used to eating so little that she did not suffer from hunger anymore. Or perhaps she had managed to somehow talk herself out of hunger. It had been a realisation she had made some time ago. Everett preferred her thin, of course. But he loved her weak.

"... It really makes me wonder what she will be wearing at the presentation. I know that we will all be wearying varying shades of white, but I hope my lace – Cressie!" The way in which Zara's tone shifted made Cressie jump. As if she had been able to read Cressie's mind, she said, "Cressie, you are about wasting away in front of me, and no wonder!" she exclaimed. "You pick at an egg each morning and consume nothing of substance. I have been noticing, you know!" Zara lifted the dish that was in front of her, only to reach over to Cressie's, before she passed over two thick slices of ham and cheese. "Please, eat them!" she urged.

"That won't be necessary," Cressie's maid, Imelda Wrigley said, stepping forward from the side of the room to reach for Cressie's plate. "Mrs Delaney does not require anything further."

Zara frowned at the sudden and unorthodox interruption from Imelda. "I think Mrs Delaney can decide for herself if she requires anything further. Don't you have anything better to do this morning than to stand there, Wrigley?"

Cressie could hear the frustration in Zara's voice, and it sounded completely foreign as she was so used to her young niece's excited and optimistic tones.

But Imelda ignored Zara's question and took Cressie's breakfast plate from her. She then disappeared through the servant's entrance with the remnants of Zara's breakfast upon it.

Zara was dumbfounded, and Cressie said nothing. She did not fight it. What was the use?

"I ... I have never had a maid of my own before," Zara murmured, "but I do not think that I would allow her to ..."

"You're right," Cressie said, interrupting her. "You have never had a maid before. You don't know." Zara didn't know what it was to have a husband either. Perhaps Everett could not be called a husband, as Cressie had observed husbands in her time who were not at all like her own. Zara had never had an owner before.