Beauty Unseen: The sisters of Folly trilogy (Book One)

Chapter Three: A mother's love

WARNING: E.D. Trigger 

"Mother, I... I feel quite faint all of a sudden" Wendy heard in her own her tired voice the way her words wavered with an emotional and physical kind of exhaustion that was settling deep into her bone, her eyes met with countess Folly, her cheeks lifting in disgust with a twist of her lips as she stayed in the doorway of her room. Her maid, Sarah, poised behind her at the ready to cinch her corset over her shift, preparing for the ball at Lord and Lady Baxter's "Perhaps it is for the best if I were to stay home tonight than you would not have to worry about me being under foot."

Wendy turned her head towards Bianca just as a scowl marred her features, she moved slowly into the room, her heels clicking loudly in the silence as her cool hazel eyes ran the length of Wendy's body. She pushed Wendy's maid to the side and took ahold of the corset strings, placing her right, heeled foot against Wendy's lower back, she leaned all of her body weight back, leveraging herself with the foot that continued to dig into her back, a pain stabbing up her back and down her leg. Bianca then gave the strings a violent tug.

Bianca gave a yell saturated in hate as she tugged again "Ahh!" Wendy let out a loud sound of pain that sharply gave way into a breathless gasp, pain needled into her ribs and her lungs protested in a heaving gasp against the restriction of their movement.

"I will hear no more of your complaints, foolish girl" Bianca's voice carried a note of disgust that tore at Wendy's rapidly beating heart as she pulled the string down to tug at once again "Your figure is simply too full to attract a suitor " Another tug and Wendy failed to conceal another sound of discomfort as she groaned, the pain in her ribs screaming for her to inhale the stifling air around her too hot body, crying out to release the pressure "Sacrifices must be made for beauty and marriage, you, child, have to make so many more due to your unseemly features" She punctuated her words with tugging at the strings one last time, she stepped back from her. Wendy's maid moved forward to fix the corset as Wendy hands held her stomach with shallow breaths, "Leave it!" Bianca cut in with a harsh command and Sarah stopped in her tracks, head down as her eyes stayed glued to the floor. Bianca sighed heavily as she met Wendy's watering blue eyes in the full-length mirror, they stood in front of "I suppose that's the best that can be done with you. Think not of eating at the dinner tonight, Wendy, there is little time, and few enough balls left this season to be foolish and losing this disgusting bit of weight may finally tempt an offer of marriage from someone. Do not look for a man of too high a title or fortune, they are looking for a young beauty not an embarrassment." Bianca rattled off her list of instructions and insults that Wendy had engraved in her heart, words she had been hearing for as long as she could remember. Bianca looked her over once more, shook her head and muttered her usual words of disappointment, making her way out of the room as Wendy attempted to swallow the tears that she felt choking her as much as her too tight corset did.

"Miss Garren" Sarah whispered gently as she touched her shoulder lightly, leading her to her vanity, seating her in the scarcely cushioned seat, Wendy's hand running along the edge of her seat until finding the tear in the fabrics and twisting the fraying threads around her fingers from habit.  Sarah began the difficult task of detangling and styling her mess of curls, they hung to touch her mid back and stuck out in all odd directions from her head, her eyes me her reflection, noticing the tears streaking their way down her cheeks, refusing to give into the sob blocking her throat. "Do a simple style please, Sarah, you know how the countess hates when I leave it too wild for polite society."

A frown overtook the pretty young maids face, biting her lip to not speak out against her mistress's mother and her own employer. "Your hair is something quite pretty, Miss" she pitched her voice cheerfully, uncertain of how to move past the display of hate that still lingered in the room "My own hair falls flat at any attempt that's made to curl it, my sisters once got their hands on some hot irons just to get it to hold some form the day I applied at your house.  but it fell as flat as always, I would have liked very much to have your pretty wild curls, Miss Garren."