Miss Debutante

[Ida Hill]

Date: February 8th, 1886 | Outfit: This | Tag: @'Gwyneth Cadwallader'

Ida assumed - and perhaps wrongly - that Miss Gwyneth Cadwallader would be one of the girls who would debutante and marry after their graduation. She was a pretty and wealthy girl - this sort rarely pursued a career. A second reason that Miss Cadwallader really needed her help - in Ida's mind, at least - was that she was bereft of a mother. It was Ida's duty to give the girl any help that her mother would have otherwise given her.

"You must have already begun your plans for your coming out ball, my dear," Ida said. They'd already exchanged their pleasantries and the like. By now, Miss Cadwallader would know why she was here, so Ida had not bothered elaborating. "After all, those dresses you girls have to wear take so much time to make! Are you planning on getting - oh, what were they called - a Lytton dress? I hear they're very popular among you young people."

  

[Gwyneth Cadwallader]

It was a presumption Gwyneth dearly wished was not true but it was accurate nonetheless. She had known as long as she had been able to understand what awaited her after graduation and she had never minded—at least, not until now. Now the prospect of her inevitable future seemed wholly unsatisfying and more and more miserable with each day. Oliver was set on a career as an auror, Zelda as a member of Mrs. Parkinson's department and she? She would be paying calls and attending balls and nothing she had done here, nothing she had learned, would mean anything.

Of course, there was nothing she could do about it, nor would she at the risk of complicating her brother's life and she smiled warmly at Miss Hill instead. "I expect I shall. My sister recently commissioned several gowns from Mr. Lytton and they are very beautiful. I'm not sure my brother has thought much about it though!"