2
Delilah was standing at the edge of the lake peering down at her reflection. It was muddy and distorted and it expressed exactly what she felt like on the inside. It had been three years since the ball and the unrest in her life created by it still accosted her frequently. She had been labelled unmarriageable by the village folk and she often caught people looking at her with pity.
The rumours the Prince had rejected her had travelled the instant she had returned back home; Lady Winston and her imaginative daughters had told their own dramatic versions of how from the being Queen's favourite she had been cast aside. Rejected, they had whispered in sotto voices to everyone in their circle of acquaintance. From there the wildfire of rumours proceeded to be narrated to even the common grocer.
Delilah had been unperturbed by the sudden interest in her private life. Even her own brother had been unable to extract the whole story from her. So many details remained unanswered and Delilah was unwilling to share the burden with anyone.
Her father and brother like the rest of the good folk of their village set to assume the snub as an unfortunate play of fate and eventually let her be. Little did they know that the snub had been deliberate and orchestrated by Delilah herself.
After the Queen had broken down from her son's diatribe Delilah had tried to comfort her forgetting her own pain completely.
"Oh, Delilah, how wretched this situation has become. I never spoke of this to you but I knew you were perfect for my son as soon as I saw you," The woman had sobbed miserably into Delilah's shoulders. Delilah tried not to let the Queen notice how much her hands were shaking as she tried to comfort the woman.
"I'm not good enough for him, I never was," Delilah spoke so gently and softly almost as if she was speaking to herself.
"No, don't say that. I know my son better than anyone else," Queen Rosemary uttered equally soft.
"But your decision will never make him happy. He will always be resentful of both of us for forcing me upon him," Delilah shook her head; her hair falling from tightly held bun.
"He will learn to love you; he must," The Queen answered with quiet determination and a strength similar to her son.
Delilah stood up and walked towards the window, "Then I must be the one who refuses."
The Queen stood up behind her, surprised. Delilah turned around to face her.
"I refuse," Delilah looked at the Queen straight in the eyes showing no hesitancy at all and the woman looked down defeated.
"I can't force you, can I," The Queen muttered.
"No, it wouldn't be worth it," Delilah fingered the soft fabric of one of the sofas as she paused and resumed once again, "It needs to end. This dreaded business needs to come to an end."
"But how?" the Queen spoke, agitated, "I have been publically liberal with my affection for you. They will not forget so easily. The gossip vine never dies."
"Then snub me at the final evening of the ball. They shall be expecting a great deal to talk about after the grand announcement so give them something to talk about by ignoring me."
The Queen came closer and peered into her eyes trying to see any signs of doubtful but found only determination and calm. She touched Delilah's face tenderly and Delilah felt a pang of heartbreak; her mother had never looked at her this kindly. For a moment she felt she would gladly enter a loveless marriage to feel this kind of acceptance.
"Do you even understand the magnitude of what you're asking; think again; think wisely, Delilah. This will be a topic of much repetition. A girl rejected by the crown prince; your prospects will be diminished greatly."
Delilah gave a short laugh, "My prospects were hardly bright to begin with. I doubt my social status will be affected much. My father is the baron of a few, small hamlets; Talk of the palaces and castles rarely reaches there."
Delilah sensed the Queen wanted her to reconsider the situation so Delilah took her leave before further words could be exchanged. She bowed in front of the Queen and to her great amazement the Queen bowed back. It was a sign of great respect and Delilah felt honoured.
"May you have a prosperous and a peaceful life," The Queen blessed Delilah as she walked out of the room.
As soon as she walked out of the room Delilah felt her strength and resolve crumble under the pressure of the thoughts in her head. She could barely swallow due to the knot in her throat. She quickly wiped stray tears and darted back to her rooms to be miserable in solitude.
As Delilah sat next to the pond she could still acutely remember the pain she had felt. The rejection was a cruel, final death blow to all her hopes and dreams. She would never walk away from her parent's house and become mistress of her own home. She would never have fine gardens and beautiful sunsets to watch. She had doomed herself to her own misery.
On the night of the final evening the Queen had played her part brilliantly. Delilah had stood in one corner of the room and bore the brunt of all the stares and talk. The Prince was nowhere to be seen and the Queen had swiftly ignored her favourite. Delilah caught some of the nonsense people were sprouting about her and she was glad the sharp audience had caught on quickly and there would no need for more performance. Before the night could even end Delilah had made her way back to her room and it was confirmed to the audience how unfavoured the former favourite was.
Once she had been returned back home other than the obnoxious whispering following her she was also left socially desolate. No young man would voluntarily stand up next to her for a dance and mothers would shy away from her. She had been rejected by the Crown Prince and the Queen for some unexplained reason so they all assumed there was something wrong with her. Thus the label of unmarriageable had been placed upon her.
In an odd way this had helped her build her own personality. Before the ball she was a passive creature with no interests or social life. She had realized the folly of her ways and found herself breaking free from her own estate to explore the world with new eyes. Her love for the outdoors thrived and she soon took to opening books to explore flora and fauna. She also learnt how to handle her overbearing mother. Delilah had met the best and worst kind of people in the month long ball and had developed thicker skin. She could tolerate most barbs her mother sent her way though the ones about how plain she looked and that no one would marry her because of them still stung; mostly because Delilah knew how true they were.
Delilah was so absorbed by her thoughts that she didn't notice the figure racing towards her until a few seconds before the person flung herself at Delilah; weeping incessantly.
"They won't let me go. They won't let me go," The younger girl sobbed into Delilah.
"Why ever not," Delilah asked gently straightening her sad cousin.
"I don't have a chaperon. That's why," Her fair haired cousin's face was red from crying, "I really want to go. What better way to debut than in the Queen's ball. A dance in the Thorton's Great hall is no compensation."
Delilah closed her eyes miserably. The Queen's Ball was all they ever seemed to talk about these days. The ball was being held three years after the first one was held. The rumours were that the prince himself had announced it so his participation was confirmed. Desperate women and their equally desperate daughters were once again eagerly making plans of snatching the Crown Prince. A lot of new debutants had appeared since the first one so their anticipation was palpable. Lady Winston had married her daughters eons ago to eligible gentleman they had met at the Ball and did not have any reason to undertake another arduous journey to Fronton Palace.
Cecilia, Delilah's cousin, was distraught at being unable to attend.
"Maybe Eddie can go with you," Delilah tried to console knowing it was full well impossible because her brother's wife was nine months pregnant and it was cruel to take him away from her bedside. Their mother and aunts were also waiting in anticipation of their favoured son's progeny. The women wouldn't have made the journey for Cecilia in any case. While social and aware of their surroundings they had never travelled out of the small villages they called home. They only made trips to one of the nearest towns for fashionable accessories and civilized conversation and that was it. Fronton palace's two day journey was considered too much for their delicate sensibilities.
"Eddie can't come with me. He has too much to do with the baby's arrival. I shall be stuck in this miserable place forever," Cecilia sighed and Delilah made her decision at that moment. Cecilia was like a little sister to her and she could not let her dreams crumble like hers had been. The village of Thorton was not the place for a young lady's dreams to thrive.
"I'll chaperon for you, Cissy," Delilah spoke quietly. Cecilia's eyes were wide like little buttons.
"But- but, you're only two and twenty. How could you possibly be my Chaperon?"
"Haven't you heard my mother tell me that I'm practically a spinster? I'm almost on the shelf as it is so I can't see how that can be a problem," Delilah answered matter of fact.
And that night after much hue and cry from the women in the household the decision was made in Delilah's favour to her surprise.
"Delilah cannot be locked in the past forever because of another man's folly. The chapter from the last Queen's Ball hasn't closed as yet. She needs to complete that volume of her life and perhaps a new one can begin over there," Delilah's father had uttered those words with a wiseness no one could dispute and Delilah was struck by how much her father understood her. He knew that even after three years she hadn't made peace with the past.
"New volume, father? I intend to chaperon Cecilia, not look for suitors for myself," She replied trying to bring levity to the situation. Her father had smiled while her mother frowned.
"It's not like she was successful last time," she muttered bitterly but kept silent in front of her husband. She only indulged in her tongue lashing when Delilah's father was away.
Delilah spent the next few days helping out with Cecilia's wardrobe and listening to a nervous girl's nightmares of falling flat on her face. The enormity of the situation hit Delilah the day she started packing for herself.
She was to go back to Fronton Palace.
