The Idle Maiden of Wealth

The Idle Maiden of Wealth

A snapshot

Just a short description heavy view into the life of someone trapped in a prison of finery and the simple joy that can free her.


Related Pieces: Parting , Needlework

The early spring sunlight stroked the platinum blonde silk of her hair and caught on the brilliant blue sapphire of her silver hair pin. Around the sapphire were small opal stones that shattered the light that touched them into a multitude of colors. If it were not for the fire of light within them they, like the silver of the pin, would have become lost in her hair.

Despite the cold aloof way she held herself, in that moment when she thought herself alone, her large blue eyes held a deep melancholy that softened her expression as she gazed at her own reflection in the shallow pool before her. Her soft pink lips parted slightly with a sigh but her chest showed no sign that her breathing had changed.

Her cool hued skin was met with silver and white finery. Softly contrasting embroidery decorated the bodice and the edges of the skirt in long twisting vines from which stretched soft-edged swirling leaves and sharp-petalled flowers. Silk gloves stretched from her elbows to her wrist where it continued over the back of her hand to the base of her fingers. The fingers and palm of the glove were made of fine netted lace to allow her hands to breathe in the warming weather.

He leant against a tree struggling to bloom as he watched her reflect on some burden unknown to him but that he had seen many times in the eyes of noble women. Briefly, he wondered what would become of the silk slippers she wore while she'd trekked through the garden. Surely, they were ruined.

To his surprise she removed said slippers, which were suspiciously clean, and lifted her skirts before dipping her feet into the water. He was startled but he did not allow it to give him away and moments later he was glad that he had for he had never seen such a smile stretch across his sisters face nor such joy fill her eyes.