Narcotic Mask

Chapter VI

The next morning, Georgiana woke to the sound of her curtains being wrenched open.

"Sarah..." She whined, slowly sitting up, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight that streamed through the glass.

"I am not your servant, Georgiana Elizabeth Ashford, I am your mother."

Gina's eyes snapped fully open, and she looked across her room to see her very angry looking mother.

"Mama..."

Once again, she was cut off before she could say anything more.

"Georgiana, what were you thinking?" Lady Ashford asked, sitting down on the edge of her daughter's bed, brandishing Gina's dance card in front of her face.

So that was what this was all about. Before Gina could answer, her mother continued. "First of all you arrive looking like a wild urchin – "

"A very well dressed urchin."

Her mother ignored that. " – with your hair flying everywhere. Not to mention the fact that you were terribly late. And then, you have the audacity to leave halfway through the evening after promising dances to at least seven men. Can you imagine how humiliated they must be feeling now?"

Georgiana swung her legs over the side of the bed, rolling her eyes, "Mother, I am sure that they found other women to dance with." She muttered, stretching. "And if it's any comfort, I didn't purposely make the carriage lose a wheel."

Georgiana's maid, Sarah, scuttled into the room, muttering an apology for her lateness, her arms full of her mistress's clothes for the day.

"Besides, mama, if I just hadn't turned up at all, it would have been extremely rude. Lord Worthington – a marquess – invited me personally, so frankly, I don't see the problem."

Lady Ashford still didn't seem particularly happy, but Georgiana was relieved that word of her very blatant flirting hadn't reached her mother's ears. Not to mention a certain bunch of gossip.

Sarah scurried about the room, trying to seem as though she wasn't listening, but Gina knew full well that the servants would hear about this before the end of the morning.

"Why did you leave though?" Lady Ashford persisted.

Georgiana had no answer for that question that wouldn't get her into trouble. She could hardly even imagine the beginning of what would be in store for her if her dear mother found out even half of what she did in her spare time. Being shipped off to some nunnery on a remote island isolated from men would probably be first.

"I had a headache, mama." She lied, rubbing her temples as Sarah began to lace her corset. "You know how grumpy I get when that happens. It was for the best." She held her cinched in waist, making a face of discomfort.

Though Lady Ashford didn't seem entirely satisfied with such an answer, she said no more, only shaking her head and leaving the room.

●●●

Georgiana knew that she hadn't even started to pay for what she'd done, but it all happened soon enough.

The week dragged by without a single new invitation. Not for parties, high teas or balls. Gina hadn't actually even realised how much she relied on socialising to entertain herself.

Maria hadn't bothered to come around to visit, nor even to send a short note. Maybe it was because she still didn't quite believe the headache story, but Lady Ashford was rather reluctant to let her daughter out to go and visit her friend.

"It's not as if Maria lives at a brothel, mama." Gina had protested. That had only earned her a proper grounding and ban of leaving the house.

Each time she passed Dobbs in the hallway, she'd try to catch his eye to ask about what had happened after she'd left him and Maria on the night of the ball, but he always seemed to quite suddenly remember something in the opposite direction.

Georgiana decided to try and write a diary to document her boredom. She had read many books (even if only to make herself seem more intelligent) and she recalled that many of the heroines in the stories had written daily accounts of their lives. And how hard could it really be?

Sitting down at the desk in her room, she spread a sheet of creamy paper out and dipped her pen into a pot of ink. "Dearest diary..." She began. That was a good way to begin.

She knew that she had plenty to write about, but the words just wouldn't flow. Everything she wanted to say sounded childish. Groaning, she crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it onto the floor, resisting the urge to hit her head against the desk.

She found herself thinking about Lord Worthington. "He's probably seeking solace in the arms of that debutante bitch," she thought bitterly to herself. But since when did she care? And since when did she even give men a second thought after they were gone?

●●●

It was a bright but cold morning, a week and a day after the ball, and Georgiana was sitting at breakfast with her mother and father. Lord Ashford was preoccupied reading a pile of letters from his tenants, while Lady Ashford was complaining to the poor old butler about how her breakfast eggs were a little 'too glacial'.

Georgiana had nothing to say. Usually she'd be gossiping left right and centre about Miss So-and-so's gown at Lady So-and-so's ball, or how some wealthy duke had just become engaged to someone unknown, but today there was nothing.

She was almost too busy feeling sorry for herself to notice the small, folded letter dropped onto the table beside her plate. Just her name was written on it, just 'Georgiana' in an unfamiliar, elegant hand. She quickly broke the seal and read over the contents, a secretive smile spreading across her lips.

Georgiana glanced up to check that her parents hadn't seen, before she slipped out of the dining room, letter still in hand. She closed the door of her bedroom behind her, before sitting down against it and opening the note again:

Georgiana,

Meet me at the gates of Swanbrooke. Nine o'clock this evening.

Henry

It was short and concise, but after so long without any news at all, Georgiana had never been more thankful.

She had no clue as to why he wanted to meet her. Maybe he was still thinking about her actions at the ball? She tended to have that effect on people.

And Swanbrooke? Swanbrooke was the Duke of Kent's summer home, the home of the king's own brother. Was this some secret meeting of sorts? If he'd wanted to meet her on her own, he would have suggested somewhere more private.

But what did that all matter? She'd been bored all week and now she finally had something to do. It wouldn't be hard to sneak out later. Her parents had invited some friends over, and they certainly wouldn't want her there to embarrass them.

Hardly able to contain her glee, Gina hurried about to find what she'd wear. She decided to pick something simple but still beautiful. She wanted to look her usual elegant self, but didn't want to seem as though she had tried too hard. In the end, she settled on a gown of emerald satin. As a whole, the dress was a plain cut, but the bodice was decorated with the most beautiful embroidery and the neckline was square cut and teasingly low.

She was determined to make this evening just as memorable as the ball.

Hi to any readers I might have!

I'm going to be away on holiday for the next six weeks, so I'm not sure if I'll get anything written during that time. I'll try my best, but I can't make any promises.

After that, I return for a few days before going away on an exchange trip, so again there might not actually be any updates until mid September. I really hope that isn't the case, but just be warned!

Love you all,

Ella

*update: sorry, I honestly thought this published on the 6th of July oops