The world swam when she opened her eyes. She squeezed them shut again. It was too bright.
Where was she? Was this a hospital? What happened?
She remembered falling… then nothing.
She cracked one eye open slowly. Her vision was still blurry but after a few seconds, things began to come into focus. The ceiling was unexpectedly elaborate. She pulled herself upright with a groan.
A cheery voice made her jump. “Good afternoon, Your Grace.”
Thankfully, she wasn’t the type to shriek. Still, she was clearly startled when she swung her head towards the source of the voice. A uniformed woman was wheeling a cart towards her from a door across the room.
“You’re finally awake,” she teased with a shake of her head. “His Grace said it was fine to let you sleep in, but I didn’t think you’d be out until noon!”
Eliza blinked at her in confusion. The sounds coming out of the woman’s mouth were foreign to her, but she understood them perfectly. What was going on? The woman came to a stop by her bedside with a smile. Was she a maid? She’d referred to Eliza with a title.
Eliza sensed that they should be quite familiar with each other, but she had never seen the other woman before. And what was with this place? It wasn’t a hospital as she had first guessed, but a bedroom.
A grand one at that.
A quick glance down revealed that not only was her body completely fine, but that she was wearing a negligee.
Wait, did she even own one?
What was going on? Should she play along for now?
She opened her mouth hesitantly and was hugely relieved to find that the right sounds came to mind.
“I didn’t realise it was so late,” she said slowly. Her tongue felt like it was doing an unnatural dance. It helped that she was already bilingual and was comfortable switching between languages, though it was a very uncanny sensation to suddenly comprehend a new language overnight. As long as the right words came to mind, she should be able to muddle through this strange situation. “What… happened…?”
She trailed off, hoping that the other party would fill in the blanks for her. Her prayers were answered when the maid sighed.
“You gave Beth and I quite a fright last night, Your Grace,” she said with another shake of her head. “To see His Grace carry you up here, passed out like that… I heard from the others that you had a good time, but isn’t it embarrassing to drink yourself into a stupor on your wedding night? Even if you’ve been nervous about this for weeks, it’s not proper decorum for a duche—”
The door at the other end of the room burst open suddenly and a figure rushed in. It was a girl in the same uniform as the woman lecturing Eliza.
“Your Grace, you’re awake!” The girl exclaimed. “Thank the Gods!”
“Beth!” The woman said in a warning tone. “Where are your manners?”
“Ah—oh—sorry,” Beth said sheepishly. “His Grace sent word that he will visit in an hour, so I got a bit excited.”
“An hour?!”
Eliza winced at the screech. She stiffened as the woman rounded on her, a dangerous glint in her eyes. “You must get up immediately, Your Grace! There’s no time!”
“Okay, okay,” she held her hands up placatingly. She pushed aside the covers and stood up. “I think I have a hangover, so I’ll wash up after I have a bite to eat.”
Eliza didn’t know if this was what she was supposed to say, but she had developed some simple principles that she lived her life by.
Her favourite was; when in doubt, fake it till you make it.
True to her expectations, the woman merely nodded and disappeared through a door to the right of the bed. Eliza caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a walk-in-wardrobe and surmised that she had probably gone to prepare a bath.
She turned to the other maid—Beth. “Bring me today’s newspaper.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” She bowed and hurried out.
Eliza waited for a while after the door shut behind the maid, then darted across the room to a large full-length mirror.
There had been many thoughts racing through her mind since she became conscious, but at the reflection that greeted her, the cacophony disappeared.
Her first reaction was disbelief. Then, as she took in her appearance, it became denial.
How could a person be so beautiful? This was the sort of face that could stop traffic! It was the type of beauty that stories were written about – there was no way this was what she looked like!
She had always had an average appearance. Attractive enough when she tried, but her looks had not been something she could bank a future on.
But now—!
Turning her head slowly, she inspected herself closely. There wasn’t even a shadow of what she normally looked like. Her skin was a golden tan, and her irises reminded her of a hawk’s. The rest of her features were quite delicate. A slim nose; soft, full lips, and eyelashes so long that she knew instinctively they would cast mesmerising shadows if she looked down. Her hair was dark but there was a clear tinge of purple. The wavy tresses flowed messily to her shoulder blades.
Her heart was pounding – she couldn’t help the hysterical laughter at the wild thought that she might have fallen in love with herself. She had to take several deep breaths to calm down.
She felt rather than saw that her eyes were a little swollen. There was a dull throb in the top of her head, and her throat felt a little scratchy. Eliza had lived a full life. This body was clearly suffering from a hangover. She silently cursed her rotten luck for having woken up in such a state.
She slowly turned to inspect the room once she had her fill of the gorgeous face in the mirror.
The furnishings were familiar, if a little elaborate. There wasn’t very much either. A bed, the vanity, and a couple of armchairs were the only things in here. The room was massive – and the sparse furnishings made it feel a little cold.
There were three doors. One was a large glass door that clearly led to the balcony. The door that the older maid had disappeared through was likely the bathroom. Eliza headed to the door across the room from the bed.
She found herself in a sitting room. It was a warmer room, possibly because two of the four walls were covered in books. She hovered in the doorway for a moment, debating whether she should give in to the temptation. She loved books. It gave her butterflies to think about the possibility that all of this could be hers.
She returned to the bedroom. There would be time to inspect things in detail. For now, she had to stay alert and gather as much information as possible. Making her way to the cart, she cast her eyes over the dishes. There was something that appeared to be a vegetable stew, some sliced bread, and a small bowl of mixed fruit. The vegetables were well-cooked, so Eliza couldn’t identify them, but the fruits looked reassuring.
She picked up a red grape and popped it into her mouth. It tasted the way she expected it to. Relieved, she picked up a fork and speared a sliced kiwi.
Beth soon returned and held out a silver platter with the newspaper. Eliza made sure to keep her face devoid of expression as she picked it up.
It seemed like she had married very well.
She dismissed Beth with a nod and settled on the bed next to the cart to begin reading. Like the spoken language, she understood the unusual symbols on the pages before her. As she flipped through the newspaper, she occasionally shovelled food into her mouth; a habit that she had picked up when she first started working.
By the time the other maid reappeared, Eliza had finished the fruits and was nearly done with the stew. She had read all the headlined news and had skimmed through the rest of the newspaper. When she had more time, she would go over the other articles in more depth.
“I’m relieved to see you have a good appetite today.” Eliza’s hand faltered for a second. Had she made a mistake? “It seems you’re not nervous anymore, Your Grace.”
Eliza smiled faintly. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
The maid smiled kindly at her. Eliza wished that she knew her name. Would it have been too much to ask for them to wear nametags?
“The bath is ready,” the maid said. “The clothes have been laid out for you to choose from.”
Eliza rose with a nod. She paused on her way to the bathroom. “Can you get me a copy of all the newspapers from the last month?”
The maid blinked in surprise but quickly nodded. “Of course, Your Grace.”
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