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My eyes fluttered open. The first thing I saw was Ella, who was sitting beside me on the bed, staring down at her fingers in deep contemplation. When she noticed I was awake, she looked at me.
‘You mean… you mean the lieutenant was lying?’
I sneaked a glance at the old grandfather clock in the corner of the room. Two hours and twenty-six minutes. Not bad.
‘Exactly. You’ve figured it out. Bravo!’
‘But… that’s horrible!’
I shrugged. ‘Well, depends how you look at it. Lying can be quite useful sometimes, you know. For instance when there’s something going on in your life you don't want anybody to know.’
Ella’s cheeks turned as red as a ripe tomato. I had been thinking of my new occupation when speaking, but it was clear that her thoughts were on something very different, or rather somebody.
‘Um… I suppose so,’ she managed.
‘And? Tell any good lies lately?’ I inquired lightly, propping myself up on my elbows to get a better look at her.
‘No! I didn’t. Definitely not!’
‘I see.’ As hard as I tried, I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. Ella, who seemed desperate to change the subject, blurted out:
‘But what will you do? I mean, if Lieutenant Ellingham isn’t the young man you’ve been seeing, what will you do? If he continues to pay attention to you, Aunt Brank will expect you to marry him, you know.’
‘Oh yes, I know. But then, that’s no surprise since Aunt Brank would expect me to marry any willing creature in trousers who walked through the door downstairs, just to get me out of the house.’ I rolled my eyes.
‘What will you do?’ Ella repeated, anxiously. ‘How will you reconcile yourself to having to say goodbye to your true love and marry somebody else?’
Oh right! Ella was still convinced that every time I went to work, I was going on a secret rendezvous with my mystery lover. Opening my mouth, I was about to explain to her that I didn’t have and never would have a love in my life when it occurred to me that this would raise a whole lot of questions regarding my frequent absence. So I just said:
‘Believe me, I’m not going to marry that blighter.’
Once again, Ella seemed to have problems with grasping my thought processes. ‘But… Aunt wants you to marry him!’
‘Yes.’
‘And you’re not going to?’
‘No! You can bet your best silk parasol on that!’
‘But… that would mean… defying Aunt.’
I clapped my hands. ‘Bravo! You didn’t even need two hours to figure that one out.’
‘Tell me, my dear sister.’ Eagerly, Ella knelt down on the bed beside me and clasped my hands. ‘How would you do it? How would you bring yourself to walk up to her and say: “No! I do not want to marry this man, for my heart belongs to another!”?’
‘Err… well, I would just do it.’ Apart from the my-heart-belongs-to-another part.
‘Oh Lilly!’ Ella embraced me with all the strength and sisterly affection she was capable of. And while she didn’t have much of the former, she had plenty of the latter. ‘You’re so brave. How I wish I had your courage. And you will truly rebel? Set yourself against this marriage with everything you have?’
I simply nodded and held her tightly, wishing so much that I could help her in her predicament. But unfortunately, she would have to find the strength herself.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I will not marry Lieutenant Ellingham.’
‘Oh Lilly!’ She hugged me once more. ‘Tell me about him, will you?’
‘About who? The lieutenant?’
‘No, not him! About your young man! The one you see on your rendezvous! The one whose love inspires you to such bravery!’
