The ball. Yes. Only a week away. It startled her at how fast the time had flown. And yet, it felt like ages ago since she had been in her own home.
Had it only been a month since she had been so blissfully unaware of how her father’s sins would ruin them all? Had it been so short a time since she had last been idle? Had she not seen her sisters in such a time?
Soon it would all come to a head. There were only the next few days to focus on card playing. Then, the last details must be hammered out for attending the ball: how best to approach the game, how to avoid anyone recognizing her, and so on.
Then it would be the day of the ball itself. And there would be the game.
Regina’s stomach twisted with worry and anticipation. On that day, she had to be her best. There was simply no other option. Her feelings for Lord Harrison, any esteem she had for him, her fears, her misgivings, their silly bet about her social skills. All of it must fall away.
There could only be the game.
Chapter 28
The next few days were an absolute flurry.
Regina arranged for Aunt Jane and Cora to meet. The two women took to one another immediately. They cited various mutual acquaintances. Aunt Jane made a remark about Cora’s mother that was not permitted in most polite society, which sent Cora off into peals of delighted laughter.
“The fastest way to form friends, my dear,” Aunt Jane said off of Regina’s aghast expression, “Is to find things that you mutually and vehemently dislike.”
That seemed rather backwards to Regina. But since Aunt Jane and Cora were getting along so well, who was she to question it?
Aunt Jane and Cora worked together and went with Regina to select what she would wear to the masquerade ball.
The plan was that Regina would have two outfits.
The first would be an outfit done in such a fashion that anyone looking at it should instantly know that it was her. It was rather simple in style and done up in a dark, muted blue. It went well with her eyes, or so she was told by a cooing Aunt Jane and a beaming Cora.
While the fabric was lovely, the style of the dress was just far enough behind in fashion that it fit with the rest of Regina’s style. She wasn’t much into shopping and was the youngest, so she was forever a step behind in the latest fashions.
The muted color, the modest cut, and the slight laziness in style would tell anyone who cared to look that it was Regina Hartfield wearing that dress.
Furthermore, her chosen mask was a simple one and did not cover much of her face. It was her eyes that were mostly obscured. If the dress was not enough for someone then the almost entire reveal of her face would soon set things to rights.
Regina would arrive at the ball in this first outfit. She would meet up with her sisters there, with Aunt Jane serving as her escort. After catching up she would do a few dances and chat around so that people would know that she was there.
This way, someone could say, “Why yes, Regina Hartfield? She was just right here. I wonder where she went. Perhaps try the dining room?”
Everyone would know that she was about somewhere. The masquerade ball was a large one. In fact it was the largest one that Lord and Lady Morrison hosted all year. It wasn’t unusual for someone to get swallowed up by the crowd.
Once she had established herself as present, Regina would slip away. Cora would find her, and then help her to get undressed and put on the second dress.
The second dress was much more daring than the first. It was the latest fashion, from Paris. It was entirely white, which would stand out at the masquerade ball. Perhaps it was the nature of the ball or what those in attendance tended to do during it, but most people wore darker clothing.
Putting on a white dress, with such expensive fabric, in such a fashion forward style, would all help Regina to stand out. Cora would have a trusted handmaid upon attendance who would take Regina’s hair and put it in a different style.
Finally, there would be her mask. The second mask was a lovely piece of white lace, but it covered almost her entire face. It even had feathers sticking out of it that folded back and covered some of her hair.
“You look almost like a bride,” Cora noted.
“You look absolutely ravishing, my dear,” Aunt Jane added.
Regina did not care what she looked like so long as she was not recognizable. She wanted to appear before the card players as a mysterious and worldly woman. She needed them to be in awe of her. Her joining them at their table should be something that they enjoyed and wanted despite the taboo.
If this second outfit helped to accomplish that, then so be it.
When she was not handling the issues of dress, she was working with Harrison on cards. Or she was taking lessons on accents from Lord Quentin. He had been fetched by Harrison so that he might teach her the accent of his mother’s people.
“Nobody will realize that is what you sound like,” he said. “They will only know that you speak with an accent not from here. It will make you seem exotic. They will be more curious about you.”
When Aunt Jane asked why Regina needed a second dress, or why Lord Quentin was teaching her an accent, Regina only told her that she wanted to enjoy the ball without the pressure of her sisters breathing down her neck.
“I also have a little friendly wager going, between Lady Cora and I,” Regina added. “Lady Cora feels that I underappreciate myself. She says that if I go through the masquerade ball and interact with others through dancing and conversation I should find that I am not such a bother as I fear.”
“And what do you think?” Aunt Jane asked.
“I think that whether they know me or not they should find me a bore at best and an impudent girl at worst,” Regina admitted. “But mostly I fear they shall find me a small nuisance.”
She did not think she was so bad as all that to mortally offend anyone. No matter what might come flying out of her mouth at a moment’s notice.
Aunt Jane let out a little sigh. “I am afraid I must be with Lady Cora on this one, Regina. You undervalue yourself.”
“So everyone seems determined to keep telling me.”
“And when will you begin to believe it then, hmm?”
When Lord Harrison sees that— Regina cut herself off before the thought could continue.
She had been having the most disturbing thoughts lately in regards to her mentor. She knew, of course, that she would form an attachment to him. He had helped her so much in this time of trials and need.
He had agreed to help her, although it must put himself at risk. He had been kind, a friend to her, someone who bolstered her spirits and comforted her without letting her give into the power of her fears. Of course she should feel something for him.
But this… this was deeper, and it scared her.
It was jealousy, and frustration, and sadness. Such an aching sadness, one that she had never known before.