I could hear Mrs Livia screaming through my bedroom walls. "This makes me look like an old hag, I hate it! Take it off! Try something else before I lose my sanity!" For her, nothing could ever be done right unless she had done it herself, but she wouldn't dare to do it. The Ball was a few hours away and her hair was not looking anything close to what she wanted it to. This may have been the fifth hairstyle poor maid Julia had tried on her, and she didn't seem to like not one. She didn't want to accept the fact that her long greyish black hair was thinning and maid Julia was really trying. I could also hear Emma's whinnying little voice complaining that her dress couldn't fit. I shook my head pithily. I couldn't be more unbothered.
Holding my father's letter close to my chest, I glimpsed o
