The World Is Your Oyster

Chapter 2: Alone and lonely

Lizzy pushed open the large oak doors of Langsvy, the Grosvenor manor. Lemon furniture polish and bleach enveloped her sense of smell. As she walked through the foyer, she stared around at the familiar sandstone walls and the impressionist paintings that adorned them. White busts stood in alcoves, and golden sculptures which seemed to float on the pale blue consoles which lined the perimeter of the foyer. 

"Mother," she called, "Mum, are you home?" Instead, the maid Mary came scuttling out. Mary curtsied and responded: 

"No, Miss Lizzy, she is not. I believe she has a social engagement."

"Oh, I should have guessed. Is she having tea at the Gardiner's? Or perhaps she is at charity fundraiser with all the other rich women in Oxford?" Mary was taken aback.

"She didn't really specify, Miss Lizzy."

"I was joking, Mary. And you don't have to call me Miss Lizzy, just call me Lizzy. I don't care what my mother's told you." Lizzy said, frustrated.

"Are you alright, Lizzy? Is there something I can do for you?"

"No, no, it's perfectly fine. I just wish my mother would spend more time with me," She said softly. "Anyway, why don't you go and relax. This place is spotless, there is really nothing else you can do. Have fun." And with that, Lizzy walked up the giant staircase and into her bedroom.

She slammed the door and flopped onto her bed. Lizzy's room was large, larger than most of the girls at school. When she had first moved in, it had been decorated in a very minimalistic style. But over time, Lizzy had decorated the room and made it her own den. One wall was covered in a large map, with pins attached to the places she most wanted to visit. Fairy lights hung all around her room, and the floor was covered in a beautiful vibrant Persian rug. Scented candles adorned every free space, and as soon as she had walked into the room, she had been enveloped in scents of cinnamon, vanilla, lemon and apple. In a corner next to her bed hung a patterned canopy above a nest of pillows. She had an ensuite with a large bathtub, and the window outside the bathroom was covered in hanging roses and ivy. Lizzy had a walk-in-wardrobe (her least favourite part of the room) full of some of the most beautiful dresses in the country, for her parents spared no penny on their daughter. Her favourite pieces of clothing hung in pride of place; a light brown sleeveless shirt and a matching skirt with a patterned red scarf. Lizzy had decided long ago that this would be the outfit that she would wear when she went to the middle east for the first time. It had always been her dream to go the mythical land of Arabia. Although it was the most war torn place in the world, it had always seemed so exotic to her. Since she could talk, Lizzy had wanted to ride camels across sand dunes, buy spices in crowded alleyways and haggle for treasures at bazaars. 

                                                                                             ***  

Marie Grosvenor had to be one of the most glamorous people on the planet. As she strode through the hallway and into the dining room, she seemed to radiate finesse. She wore a sleek yellow dress that framed her perfectly sculpted body, and shiny white heels. A string of pearls adorned her neck and ears, and a small fur coat was wrapped around her shoulders.

"What's for dinner?" She asked pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Vietnamese style salmon, kale and potatoes a la creme." Lachlan, Lizzy's father, responded.

"Oh good, it isn't pasta again, for I was getting quite sick of it," Marie said as she picked the skin off her fish, "What did you today, Lizzy?"

"Oh, I just went to the library."

"You bewilder me Lizzy. You would rather spend your time cooped up with books and boring old scholars than socialising with people your own age. Tell me, Lizzy, is this because you think you are above everyone else who is thirteen years old?" She asked.

"Marie." Lachlan said warningly.

"No, it's not that, mother, it's just that they're interested in the most boring things and we just don't get along, okay?"

"No, don't you okay me, young lady. It is time you got your nose out of books and instead started acting your own age." She said, red-faced.

"Lizzy, your mother is right. You will benefit from this." Her father said, with a sigh.

"No! Neither of you will ever understand. You're too caught up in your own worlds." Lizzy shouted, breathing heavily. 

"Lizzy Emmeline Grosvenor, you will not be allowed to speak to us like that. You will do as you're told and socialise with people your own age." Marie yelled.

"No, you just do not understand and you never will!" Lizzy shouted, getting out of her seat. She stormed out of the dining room and up the grand staircase into her room, where she slammed the door shut and flopped onto her bed. Lizzy just wished she could escape from the world, away from the dragon-claw-like constraints of society. For in this world, she was not only bored, but alone and lonely.