Page 123 of Winterset
Hannah gave me a knowing smile. “She’s upstairs getting ready for the masquerade ball.”
“As I said.” Damon huffed.
“But Damonisright. Before you see Kate, you need to bathe. She will be happy to see you,” Hannah said, then her brow furrowed. “Well, notentirelyhappy. You should have warned me in your letter that you didn’t tell her our history. She was bothered when I told her you proposed marriage to me.”
“How didthatcome up?” I said.
“Yes, dear. Howdidthat come up?” Damon raised an eyebrow at Hannah, and Mother chuckled softly.
“Never mind that.” Hannah brushed off the question. “We must get you ready so that when Kate sees you tonight, she will think you so handsome that she will forget all about it.”
“You mean when she sees menow,” I corrected.
“No, I mean tonight, after you’ve taken a bath. Besides, she isn’t ready to see you yet either. I still need to fix her hair.”
I stilled. “Kate lets you touch her hair?”
Hannah gave me a sad smile, as if she understood the significance. “She does, Ollie.”
More than anything else they’d said to placate me, this brought peace. Kate felt safe enough here to have someone else style her hair.
A weight lifted from my shoulders. I had no idea where Markham was, but Kate was safe, and I planned to keep it that way.
“So ...” Hannah said. “You will have a bath and get ready for the ball, which I’m vexed that you never responded to the invitation, but I will forgive you because we are short of men, and I need you to partner young ladies. I don’t suppose you’ve brought proper attire? A mask?”
I raised my arms to show her everything I’d brought.
“I thought not,” she said. “Well, I suppose you will have to wear something of Damon’s, then.”
“My shoulders are broader than his,” I said.
Damon rolled his eyes. “And I am an inch taller.”
Mother sighed. “Really, the pair of you.”
Hannah groaned. “Well, you can’t wear what you have on, and seeing how you have nothing else, you will have to make it work, won’t you? Now, go and get ready. I must finish Kate’s hair. The ball starts soon, and I want you to be waiting right here when she descends these stairs.”
Kate
“Oh, Kate.” Hannah beamed atme in the mirror. “You look so beautiful.”
I turned my head to look at my hair in the mirror. Hannah had styled my curls into a coiffure, and I loved the pearls she’d pinned in. “Is it vain to say Ifeelbeautiful?”
“No, not at all. In fact, I am glad you do because I have a surprise for you.”
“I am already so deeply in your debt; I could not possibly accept anything more.”
“Yes, you can.” Hannah smiled. “Trust me, you want to.” She held out her hand to me. “Come on, he is waiting.”
I did not think Lord Jennings had seemed especially impatient, but Hannah pulled me from my seat with such determination that I thought he might not like to be kept waiting.
We moved down the corridor, closer and closer to the grand staircase, and my stomach fluttered with fear, and my hands shook. It had been two years since I’d attended any social event, and although I wanted to be here tonight, my anticipation bordered on anxiety.
Voices drifted up the stairs from the entrance hall below. Sometimes, Lord Jennings sounded so much like Oliver—his tone, cadence, and pronunciation—that it hurt to hear his voice.
Hannah stopped at the end of the corridor and took my hand. “You are shaking like a leaf caught in the wind.”
“I am a bit nervous to be attending a ball,” I admitted.
