At home we all collapse into our parlour chairs. “Well, that was a good
night don’t you think?” asks father.
“Elizabeth, I don’t understand why you fraternize with that ridiculous
young man. What he does is simply not respectable.” Wonderful, another lecture
from mother.
“Mother, he is my friend. You can’t just make me stop seeing him.
Father, I am feeling quite tired after that. Thank you so much for taking us. I
truly loved it. Now, if you will excuse me, I will make my way to bed.” I kiss
my father on the cheek and leave the room, walking up two flights of stairs and
into my bedroom.
I take the gift that Lewis gave me from my bag and look at it. It is
small and looks like a box. It is wrapped in gold and cream paper and there is
a card with ‘Elizabeth’ written on it is atrocious penmanship. I can identify
it immediately as Lewis’. I can’t help but wonder why he would have given me
this. I open the letter first and read what it says:
Dear Elizabeth,
We have been friends for a long time, as I am
sure you remember. I am terribly sorry that I missed your seventeenth birthday
while I was visiting my cousin in England and am thus determined to make up for
it. This is a small gift, not only as a birthday present but also as a token of
appreciation for being such a dear friend and companion all this time, against
the obvious wishes of your mother.
I hope that now I am back we will be able to
spend more time in one another’s company. I have missed you immensely and it is
my dearest wish that we will not be separated for such a lengthy period of time
anywhere in the near future.
Your
dearest partner in greatness,
Lewis
I look at the small square box for a moment before I reach over and
start unwrapping. Inside is a jewellery box that has clearly come from
Hutchinson & Co. the most respectable and expensive jewellers in town. I
open the box to find a pair of beautiful white gold and diamond earrings. They
are the most exquisite things I have ever beheld.
I lift them up to admire them further and place them in my jewellery
box. When I come back to what I assume to be an empty box, I see a white lace
garter with a blue streak in it. Placed neatly on the garter is a small note
that says:
This is for your mother, to make sure that her
opinion of me never improves. Tell her that this is what I gave you. Say
nothing of the earrings.
I laugh to myself, knowing that when my mother sees this she will become
the living embodiment of Mount Vesuvius, ready and about to erupt. I rip off
Lewis’ signature from the note and place it back on the garter. Then I close
the box and put the real card and the remainder of the note in a drawer. Then I
get ready for bed, intending to let mother find the present when she comes to
me in the morning.
***
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