I had waited and waited for this day to arrive and finally it was here... Nobody had confirmed my thoughts but they hadn't denied them either; every time I subtly slipped it into conversation the other would always reply with a slight smile or a nonchalant "most likely". For some reason unbeknownst to myself I believed the night of him asking the question to be tonight - it was the anniversary of the two of us meeting; I just knew that it had to be tonight. Whilst readying myself I had one of the maids help to curl my long hair and pin it half back in a bun; I then rubbed my cheeks ever so slightly to make them marginally peachier than usual. Last of all was my dress: pastel pink or baby blue? The baby blue matched my eyes and contrasted well with my hair - but the pastel pink had sleeves that covered my pale arms. Eventually it was decided that the baby blue dress would win and so after slipping into that I was finally ready.
With fingers crossed I left my room to descend the stairs to meet with my family, my friends and my suitor.
On meeting them all at the bottom of the stairs I could already feel William's eyes follow me around the circle of people. First I greeted Louise who was glowing in her late pregnancy, father was to be greeted second with a slight courtesy out of respect; then there was Miss Pearcey and Mr Hare whom I graciously bowed my head towards. Last but not least I greeted my suitor William Burke who, looking as handsome as ever, bowed before me to kiss my hand. Our small yet joyful group entered the ballroom where we danced for a while uninterrupted by anything but our own chatter and happy spirits; when dinner was served there was slight disappointment from the dancing couples, such as myself and William, however we were overjoyed by the wonderful dinner that had been prepared. As soon as dinner was over the six of us headed back into the ballroom to continue our night and we danced for many hours whilst the sun dipped low beneath the horizon. After dancing with every man in the room, and William Burke twice, the room fell silent and in my mind I kept my fingers crossed tightly.
Like I had hoped, William knelt down on one knee in the centre of the room and asked for me to be his wife! I cried with joy and said yes a hundred times before I allowed myself to become quiet so he could kiss me like he so direly wanted to do. A moments celebration was held before the two of us danced our way through the next few hours as happy as could be. I had never gone against society's rules or expectations and so had not been with William sexually since we had met - but that night was arriving soon now that we were finally engaged. Two hours after the proposal had taken place we all believed that the night could get no better - until Louise gave a cry from her seat in the corner...
House staff and all guests at the house ran to her aid and panic arose when it was discovered that Louise was about to give birth to her baby. Two maids accompanied Louise, Mary and I to her room where we would spend the rest of the night in confinement from the men who sat down in the drawing room. The night wore on and it pained me to see my step-mother in so much pain - but what could I do other than offer support? Mary and I coached her and encouraged her until I finally saw the baby crown; then a maid pulled her from the safety of Louise's womb and tore the umbilical cord to separate the mother from her child. Seeing that Louise had fallen asleep and that the maids had taken my baby sister to clean her up - Mary and I left to get some rest ourselves; assuming that the men were already asleep from their lack of discussion downstairs I went straight to bed without seeing any of them.