And she would never think of Darenset again. Only in her nightmares. Being a servant wasn't the part she hated. She didn't mind cleaning or helping Trudy. It was the highlight of her day. What she disliked was being away from home. Away from her childhood friends. Friends she'd been forced to leave without any notice.
One day she'd come home from her dear friend Ruby's house. Her father had greeted her with a bag and escorted her out to a waiting carriage, not a white one.
Mostly Emma understood why she had to leave, but she was more than ready for this part of her life to be over. She would miss Trudy. Though the two were close in age, their appearance and attitude about life couldn't be more different. Trudy had the most beautifully different red hair Emma had ever seen, blue eyes that were so light they looked like the sky on an early autumn day, and, though she wasn't nobility, Trudy had a titled air about her. She expected certain things in life and pouted when her expectations weren't met in her desired time. Trudy's one downfall.
Emma had stone blue eyes, a round nose, and dark blond hair just like her mother. The mother she would never see again. The mother she still grieved for, though it had been nearly seventeen years since her passing when Emma was only two. Her mother's death had left her with a father and a newborn sister. It had also led to her father's grief and mounting issues with currency.
No matter what was whispered in haughty tones every time she went to the Darenset marketplace, Emma knew the truth. Her father had done all he could to take care of them. It wasn't his fault Mr. Dodsworth had called in his debt.
None of that, Emma chided herself. She would not waste time worrying over things she could not change. In a week's time, her father would come and fetch her home. It would be wonderful.
Emma choked back a tear. She wouldn't cry. Not now. Not when it was so close to being over. And not with Trudy looking so beautiful in her ball gown in front of her. Tonight was special for her friend, and she did not want to ruin it.
Too late for that.
"Is something the matter?" Trudy asked, staring at Emma through the mirror for the first time that evening. Her forehead creased, and she appeared troubled.
"No. Nothing." Not wanting to cause a scene or take the attention away from Trudy and her big night, Emma shut her eyes tightly and willed the tears to cease.
Trudy turned in her seat and took Emma's hand in hers, gently patting it. "Do not lie to me, sweet Emma. I've known you far too long for that. What is troubling you? Are you sad you cannot come to the ball? If I asked father…"
"No," Emma said louder than she'd meant. She removed her hand from Trudy's quickly and nearly knocked her over in her haste. When she faced her again, Trudy's eyes were wide in surprise. Emma couldn't blame her. She hadn't told Trudy her thoughts, so she had had no idea what had been going on in her head while she'd rambled on about the coming Season and the handsome Lord Waverly she'd hoped to dance with. Though, when she'd spoken of Lord Waverly, it was with a sullen whisper.
"No," Emma said a little more calmly, wiping her hands on one of the insufferable white aprons Mr. Dodsworth insisted she and Elizabeth wear. "It is not that. I promise you. Though I would love to attend your first ball, I understand why I can't. If things were different…"
Trudy stood with a sad smile on her face. Again, she took Emma's hand firmly and bent down so she was at eyelevel with her maid. "Emma Rose Hartwell, you are my dearest friend, and it does bother me that you have to work for my father, and it absolutely kills me that my friend cannot attend my coming out party or share the Season with me. It isn't fair."
Emma appreciated Trudy's words, but she knew the ways of the world. Though of noble blood, the daughter of a baron, she was a maid paying for her father's debts. She could not attend the ball without scandal, and she would not wish that on her friend. She would not wish scandal on anyone.
Five years ago, scandal rocked her home in Enhurst, and she refused to live though those times again. "It really is alright. I promise. Soon, the Season will start and you will find a suitor. Or several. Maybe even the Lord Waverly you go on and on about. You will forget all about me."
Trudy's cheeks blushed, and she held on to Emma's hands tighter. "While Lord Waverly is a dream of a gentleman, I daresay I will never have him. Not if my father has anything to do with it. Besides, never in my life will I forget you, Emma."
She let the words sink in. No, she would not cry again. "And in a few days I will have paid my father's debt to your father and will be on my way home. So, you see? We both have things to look forward to."