Deceiving the Duke of Kerrington

Chapter Three

Hope had hardly slept a wink all night, thoroughly dreading the plan her and Lady Noelle were putting into action the following day. She went through every possible worst-case scenario in her head—of her being discovered posing as her mistress and the consequences that would entail. She thought of the possibility of Noelle being abducted by the American she was so enthralled with, thinking that he may very well turn out to be a completely unsavory character. Thought after horrible thought ran through her head all night long, each one more ghastly than the last.

She had never been so relieved to pull herself out of bed and begin preparing for Noelle's morning toilette. She hoped with everything in her, that after a good night's sleep, her mistress would have come to her senses and realize how foolish her plan was. She walked into Noelle's room, richly decorated in purple and gold, the decorations as dramatic as the lady who inhabited the room. She carried a tray, containing warm chocolate, over to where Noelle was propped up against multiple plush pillows in her bed.

"Good morning, Milady, how did you sleep?"

"Oh, I hardly slept at all. I simply cannot wait to put our plan into motion."

Inwardly Hope groaned, disappointed to see that Noelle was just as eager today to carry out her foolish plan as she had been yesterday. Hope worked to get Noelle's clothes ready for the morning. She retrieved a fresh shift and stays, along with an ivory muslin morning dress. The whole time she was dressing Noelle and coiffing her hair she couldn't help but think that she would be preparing herself in the same manner in only a matter of hours. The thought was very unsettling. Noelle, however, didn't appear unsettled in the least. She chattered excitedly all morning about anything and everything. Truth be told, Hope hardly paid attention to a word she was saying, so worrisome were her own loud thoughts.

When the time finally came for both girls to begin their transformations into one another, Hope thought she would be physically ill. Noelle, on the other hand, couldn't have been more excited. To her, it was all a big adventure, and she failed to see the risk in the precarious plan. Noelle insisted that she be made up first and Hope helped slip her into one of her own gray high-necked gowns. It was plain and drab compared to what Noelle was accustomed to, and Hope cringed at her appearance. She hadn't realized how frumpy her serviceable gowns made her appear until she saw Noelle in one of them, and it bothered her immensely to see her mistress appearing so common. Next, she pinned Noelle's hair up into a braided knot at the back of her head and finished the look off by handing her the pair of spectacles, which Noelle slid naturally onto her face completing the ensemble.

Hope could only stare at her in horror. What had she done to her mistress? Noelle, however, was having too much fun, as if she was simply playing a childish game of dress up. She went to her closet and grabbed a cerulean day dress and corset. She then instructed Hope to strip down to her chemise, which she did slowly. Although she was used to seeing Noelle in various forms of undress, she herself never undressed before another living being, and she found herself overwhelmingly modest.

Sensing her discomfort, Noelle stood with her hands akimbo, one foot tapping beneath her skirt impatiently. "Hope Hillburn, if you don't hurry it up, we'll never pull this charade off." She didn't realize that what she had meant as a threat was actually the very thing Hope could only wish for.

Growing impatient, Noelle huffed over and began assisting her in removing her clothing. Once she was standing in only her chemise, Noelle began fastening the corset around her slender frame. Hope's figure was slightly more slender than Noelle's, probably due to the lack of rich foods in her diet, but with the aid of the corset, they were able to shape her form to appear even more slender in places and voluptuous in others. It was the first time in Hope's life that she had ever worn a corset, and she wasn't sure she liked its restrictive feel. Next Noelle helped her slip into silk stockings, fastening them to the garters she wore before slipping a petticoat over her head. By the time the empire-waist day dress was in place, Hope felt like a completely different person. She had never been dressed in such finery and was amazed at how much better properly fitted clothing felt on her body.