The Season (Season Series #1)

Chapter 23: Moonlit Declarations

I pushed the secret door to Audra's workshop open wearily. It had been an exercise in patience maneuvering my ball gown through the narrow service corridors without ripping it. I now understood why Anne had insisted she sneak me through the regular halls on my way to the masquerade.

That seemed like years ago now. I'd failed, miserably. The one task I'd set for myself that night hadn't been accomplished because I'd allowed myself to get carried away by the glamour and opulence of the masquerade. I'd been swept up by the tantalizing notion that nights like tonight were possible for someone like me. But the truth was that they were not, they were as false as Lavinia Fortescue and her made-up American backstory.

The workshop was thankfully empty, the moonlight spilling in through the window. I located my day dress where Audra had laid it out on the table, already mourning the magnificent gown I would be leaving there in its place. The plan had been for me to return sometime near the end of the ball so Audra and Miss Claridge could get me back into my day dress and old hairstyle before the governess would walk me back to Ella's suite. But the ball was far from over, so Audra and Miss Claridge were likely still going about their own business.

Taking my dress behind the screen to change, I thanked my lucky stars that they hadn't been waiting up in the workshop. My early departure from the ball coupled with my tears would surely have required some sort of explanation and at the moment, the only thing I felt like doing was crawling into bed.

I lay the bluebird ball gown lovingly on Audra's worktable, running my hand over it one last time as the tears started anew. It really had been a wonderful night, a night that I'd remember for all the rest of my life. A night I'd danced with the crown prince, laughing and smiling and filled with more happiness than I'd experienced in a long time.

I untied the mask and laid it out next to the dress. My cheeks were damp to the touch, so I tilted the small mirror they'd left set up on Audra's table to get a look at my face. With a groan, I noticed that the black paint Anne had used on my lashes had run twin rivulets down either side of my face. Miss Claridge had left out a cloth and a pot of cream Anne had instructed me to use to remove the cosmetics from my face, so I scrubbed it away using the moonlight to see. With my face washed clean, I was starting to look more like myself.

I tucked the wig away, as instructed, in one of the cabinets below the table, hiding it with the lace cap so Audra could smuggle it away in the morning. Unbinding my braided hair, however, proved to be quite the struggle without Miss Claridge's help. I was twisting my arms around to unpin a section at the back when there was a rumble and a thump behind the service door. I whirled around, frantically looking for someplace to hide. If I was discovered here, then all the sneaking around would have been for nothing.

I was halfway around the table, making for the door to the main workshop when the service door opened. I grabbed the table for support as Andrew appeared in the doorway, relief flooding his features as he laid eyes on me.

"Why did you run?" Andrew demanded, his mask long gone as he strode across the room towards me. I backed away from him, circling the table.

"Because I had to," I replied. He followed me around the table until we were back in front of the ballgown, where I realized it was utterly ridiculous that he was chasing me. Turning to face him, he halted in his tracks in front of me.

"You need to get back to the ball," I said, "Do you realize what people will say when they figure out that you and the foreigner are both missing?"

"I don't care what they'll say," Andrew persisted, "Why did you run?"

I closed my eyes in frustration.

"Because you need to choose a wife!" I said, hating myself for crying again. Andrew reached up to brush one of my tears away with his thumb.