Behind a family picture, behind
all the smiles and gentle touches lives a life of pain and sorrow. A pretty picture masks the lies, the
deceitful behaviour and the hatred deep within our hearts, the picture
represents what we wish we had and how we want to be portrayed but every smile
and every touch is every lie.
My name is Elizabeth Small; I’m in the picture next to my mother and Lydia –
the youngest in our family. The one with the smile plastered on her face trying
to hide my true feelings to the outside world. I am the eldest of 4 daughters
to Mister and Misses small, otherwise known as mother and father to us. We live
in a small rundown cottage outside of town where my father raises horses for
the Duchess, Dukes, Lords and Lady’s houses; it doesn’t bring in too much money
but just enough to get by the year with enough food and warmth. My sisters are
Marsha, Lydia and Catherine; they’re more like triplets, they have an extremely
close bond with each other. One that I never had let alone experienced. They
were born just little over a year apart, it’s nice to see true friendship
within this family and it slightly papers over the cracks that have appeared
over the few years.
When I turned 16, I was told I would be married to a Lord Camden when I turned
18. This was all agreed by my father and Camden’s father, neither Camden nor I
knew about it or even knew each other but it was to be done and I would become
a Lady and therefore the pride of the Small family. “But mother!” I remember
arguing, yelling angrily at my mother. I was 17 at the time and furious that I
would be wed to a stranger.
“No. No buts Elizabeth.” She said and dragged me to my room while I was
screaming, crying, yelling. That was when the cracks in our family began to
show. Sadly, I never fully forgave them.
I was too ‘young’ in their eyes to make my own decisions, to naïve to find a
husband and be able to look after myself.
Now, let me tell you about Lord Coe. He’s the son of the man my father works
for mainly, he loves horses and literature and we bonded over them when he used
to visit his horses. We got on until he was around his friends, when they were
around I was the peasant girl who had to worship him, it broke my heart to see
the person who I thought was my only friend was being so degrading, so mean to
me because of my family’s money. He used to be so nice until that happened, we
used to play by the river near his house. We used to laugh and run around; I
was free around him because he treated me like a human being, not a servant
like everyone else did – well until that day and I never wanted to speak to him
again.
When he found out I was getting married he told me to meet him in his garden.
Being the good young lady I was brought up to be, I went. How could I not? A
lord requested my presence. The garden was stunning, it always was but they
didn’t look after it themselves. They had gardeners by the dozen; I smelt the
pink flowers and smiled slightly. I did love their garden with a passion; I
loved nature and the feel it gave me. I stepped on to the huge house’s little
balcony and looked out into the distance, I felt a warm hand being placed on my
shoulder. I jumped backwards and turned around, my heart thumping 100 miles per
hour. “Don’t marry him” Lord Coe mumbled, his eyes filled with sadness and
jealousy. I could almost see them turning green with every moment that passed;
I looked down at the floor not knowing what to say to Coe. “Please, Elizabeth.
If you have any decency in your body you won’t marry him” His warm breath
flowed across my face, I suddenly realised how cold it was outside. I shivered
slightly and held my shoulders tightly; still my eyes were on the marble ground
we both stood on. |
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