The Sun Will Rise | T Shelby

seven

Over three months had passed since Angelina said goodbye to Arthur. She hadn't seen him, John or Thomas since that day. She spent her days with Agnes, the woman who employed her to work as her apprentice seamstress. She worked through the day and the two of them often had dinner together in the evenings if Lorenzo and Stefano weren't going to be at home.

Angelina had made a couple more friends. She became acquainted with Agnes' daughter, Charlotte, and two women who she was close friends with. Luckily, they drank in The Marquis too, so there was no clashing of territories.

Lorenzo and Stefano still hadn't been totally honest with their sister about what they got up to every day, but after another gentlemen ended up on their kitchen table with a razor blade slash to the side of his face, Angelina decided to stop asking questions. Sometimes it was safer not to know.

Angelina was still not shy of male attention. Most of the men that drank in The Marquis had tried to speak with her at least once, even those with a ring on their finger. It just amused her, and put a smile on her new friends' faces too, seeing men her repeatedly rejected by her.

She had only slept with one gentleman since Arthur, a man named Harrison. He was kind and reserved, much more laid back than the other men she'd come across. He worked as a tailor in Small Heath, and mentioned something about knowing the Shelby family, but the two of them only spent one night together and Angelina didn't find out anything more than that.

It was a Saturday the next time Angelina met up with Charlotte, May and Ivy. The four of them had tickets to the races that day and all of them had been beyond excited for weeks, especially Angelina.

The way her friends had described the day was like something she had never heard before. She couldn't imagine it, as much as she tried. But once Charlotte mentioned the requirement to dress up to the nines, Angelina's excitement grew even more.

The morning of the races, Angelina woke early. She heard her brothers leave the house around 6:30 and she was unable to fall back to sleep, so she decided to start getting ready for her day.

The dress she decided on was a deep red colour that clung to her like a glove. The neckline plunged low at her chest with thick straps across her shoulders, the dress reaching just below the knee. A white fur shawl was placed over the top, with white court heels and a Pearl necklace across her chest, a single ring on her finger and earrings that draped like tassels hung three inches from her face.

She sat and waited patiently till she heard the call from outside her home. Fortunately for the girls, Mae and Ivy had both married wealthy men. Two cars pulled up outside her home, one with Ivy, her husband and Charlotte, the other with Mae and her husband.

"Angelina, allow me."

Ivy's husband jumped down from the car, offering her his hand to help her inside.

The women in the first car chatted the whole way, Ivy's husbands doing their best to get to know Angelina, telling her and Charlotte how many single and wealthy friends that he had, some of which they would meet that day at the races.

Once they arrived, the group spent a rather large amount of time inside a huge ballroom. A golden chandelier hung from the ceiling with gold ribbons and decorations scattered about the room. A live band filled the space with sound and a bar at the back kept the drinks following, waiters appearing every direction to offer more champagne.

There was much less horse racing involved in the day than Angelina first thought.

"I'm just going to get another drink." Angelina shouted over the music to Charlotte, who was speaking to a tall gentleman whom she clearly quite liked.