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Chapter One.
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𝓣he letter arrived early in the morning, as did all mail. The girls gathered around, digging through the pile for anything that had their name on it, only to be met with a familiar disappointment, and Madam Field took the rest. Well, all but one. It was different from the rest, a faded envelope and scratchy writing, finalized with a crooked blue stamp. It wasn't formal to say the least. The postman handed it to Madam Field, who scanned it for a moment.
"Paisley, dear, deliver this to Amelia." She turned to the little girl who was hiding on the stairs, peeking her head through the banisters to spy on the adults. Her cover blown, she quickly hopped down the stairs, taking the letter from the woman.
She zipped throughout the house, getting stopped by everyone in her path, excited chattering following her at every corner. Letters were rare, in fact, no one received letters in Bentley Hall Asylum for Girls apart from the staff and headmistress. So, to receive a letter was to put a target on your head for every girl in Bentley Hall to want to know your business.
"Who is it for?"
"What does it say?"
"Let me see! Let me see!"
Paisley skidded to a stop as the letter was ripped out of her clutches by an older twelve year old. The other girls following now crowded around, desperate to even touch the envelope, wanting to feel what it felt like. The wax seal was a vibrant red and very enticing. However, none of the girls dared open it, in fear of the headmistress finding out.
"It's for Amelia, from someone named E. Holmes."
Some older girls who gathered around shrugged it off, for it could mean a passing family member, or a debt collector, or something of the like. But, a small part of them understood the younger girls excitement. They all had dreams that a letter would arrive declaring them the niece of a wealthy aunt and uncle who were coming to pick them up, to save them from this asylum.
Paisley grabbed it back, holding it protectively. The letter floated through the first floor then up the rickety staircase to the teenagers hall, passing open doors until they reached a closed one at the end of the hall. Paisley's little feet echoed across the wooden floors, and skirted to a stop right in front of the door. She knocked gently on the door, and it was still for a moment before a shuffling was heard and the door opened.
"Paisley, what is all the commotion downstairs?" Amelia looked at the young girl curiously. Amelia never went downstairs for mail time. After a few years living at Bentley Hall, she stopped bothering to get her hopes up. No one was going to send mail for her. No one wanted to collect her, especially as she got older. Being 16 now, she had a few months before she was supposed to head off to finishing school. Amelia didn't find the idea very meaningful. The last thing she wanted was to be wed to a thirty year old man. Unfortunately, that was the future for the majority of the girls at Bentley Hall. Being an asylum, the girls had no status, money, property, or family. It was unlikely for them to find suitors, and the end result of that was generally being married off to a widow or a man who was ugly or broke enough not to get a wife in his younger years. Thankfully, she had managed to convince Madam Field to let her stay a little longer to "bond with her foster siblings".
