Page 75 of The Heiress in Disguise
Angelique was perplexed. “What on Earth do you mean?” she asked her cousin. “You must know that I can’t dothat.If your mother would be angry at my leaving my room to help serve, she would be utterly enraged if I tried to attend. I can’t do that, and you know it.”
“It’s a masquerade, Angelique,” Grace said breathlessly. She had obviously put a lot of thought into what she was saying, and it was clear that she was excited. She pulled a beautiful silver and white mask out from the folds of her skirt, where she had been concealing it.
“You’ll wear this, and no one will know who you are. No one will know it’s you. We’ll say you’re a stranger—we already know people can get away with not confessing their true identities at balls like this one. Just look at that masked stranger from the last ball. No one ever found out who he was, did they?”
Her lips quirked upward as she said it, almost as if she was concealing something. For a moment Angelique wondered—butno, she must just be excited about the evening’s event. Grace didn’t have any secrets.
“You’re saying I should just… put on that mask and attend the ball without confessing to anyone who I am?” She shook her head. “Even if I believed that was a good idea, Grace, I haven’t anything to wear. What would I do, wear that lovely mask and this old maid’s dress? Everyone would know right away what had happened. I’d look like a fool. And your family would probably think I had stolen the mask as well.”
“No, that’s not what I’m suggesting,” Grace said. “I think you should wear something much finer.”
“But I don’t have any fine gowns.”
“But you do,” Grace said. “Look in your wardrobe.”
Feeling as if her cousin must be playing an elaborate prank on her, Angelique went to the wardrobe and threw it open.
She stopped short.
She was looking at a beautiful blue gown, embroidered with silver thread that caught the light. The white satin shoes below it were embroidered with the same thread. It was the most beautiful gown Angelique thought she had ever seen in all her life.
And it definitely hadn’t been here yesterday. “I don’t understand,” she said. “Where did this come from?”
“From your fairy godmother,” Grace said.
“Grace—areyoumy fairy godmother?” She couldn’t be. It couldn’t have been Grace all this time.
“No,” Grace said. “But we have become acquainted.”
“How did this get in here? I’ve been in here all the time!”
Grace’s cheeks turned pink. “I brought it in while you were sleeping,” she admitted. “Your fairy godmother gave it to me, and I snuck it in and hung it up to surprise you. Do you like it?”
“Iloveit—but then—you know who my fairy godmother is! Tell me!”
Grace shook her head, smiling. “I promised not to tell,” she said. “But your presence is requested at the ball tonight.”
“Grace, why are you doing all this?”
“I haven’t been a very good cousin to you,” Grace said, the smile fading from her face. “I know I haven’t, and I’m awfully sorry about it. You’ve been much better to me than my own siblings. Kinder than my parents. You should have had that kindness returned.”
“You’ve always been kind to me,” Angelique said. “You’re the only one who calls me by my real name. Don’t imagine that doesn’t mean the world to me. Some days, I feel as though no one remembers who I really am. I know they try not to remember. But you’ve always remembered, Grace. You’re the only person in this family who actuallyfeelslike family to me. I’m so happy to have a cousin like you. You didn’t need to do all this to make that true.”
“But I want to help you as much as you’ve helped me,” Grace said. “I know that Gwyneth is my mother’s favorite. She’s the only one Mother really likes, and Mother puts all her hopes on her. To the two of them, I’m just the ugly one.”
“You’re not ugly at all,” Angelique protested. “You’re lovely, Grace. They hide your beauty by putting you in the wrong clothes. But if you were given gowns that fit you, and in the proper colors, you would shine as brightly as your sister. Never doubt that. They have to conceal anything that might pose a threat to her. That’s why they treat you as they do. It’s not because you’re anything to be ashamed of.”
“I think you’re the only person in the world who could tell me such a thing and make me believe it,” Grace said, smiling. “If Gwyneth said it, I would be sure it was a cruel trick of some kind. But I do believe you. I think you mean the things you say to me.”
“I have always meant everything I’ve said to you,” Angelique said. “I wouldn’t lie to my favorite cousin.”
“Then you must see why I’m so determined to do something for you in return,” Grace said earnestly. “You must see why you matter so much to me, and why, if I can help your fairy godmother get you to this ball, I’m going to do it. Will you come?”
“I have always wished to attend a ball,” Angelique said slowly. “And as a proper guest, not just as a servant who stays in the kitchen and samples the food occasionally as it comes past. I’d like to really be a part of things.”
“Then it would make you happy, this plan?” Grace asked.
“Yes,” Angelique admitted. “It would make me very happy. But it still doesn’t seem possible, Grace. It seems like a fantasy. Don’t you think I’ll get caught? For one thing, how am I to get out of my room at all? None of the servants will help me, and if they know I’ve left the room, they’ll report me.”
