"I hope you realize how difficult it was for me to persuade Ella to let you stay after you disappeared for a good part of the evening," Rosanna said as she pinned my hair in place the next morning. The seamstress had come through with a rather homely day dress in an unflattering shade of peach, but it was far more acceptable than the uniform dresses I had brought with me.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, my stomach growling audibly once again. By the time I'd made it back to the suite, the girls had already dressed and departed for dinner. I'd put myself to bed before they returned, but I didn't miss Emily's arch, whispered comment about what I must have been doing while they were all at dinner.

"You should make an extra effort to be helpful today, especially with the opening ball tonight," Rosanna said, resting her hands on my shoulders as she looked at me in the mirror, "I sense a great amount of potential in you, Libby. I think you would be an asset to Ella if only because you're familiar to her,"

At a lack for a proper response, I said nothing until Rosanna released me, gesturing for me to stand so she could sit and pin her own hair. Emily was dressing Ella with her ladies' maid in the next room and it was all I could do not to sprint over when another maid appeared carrying a breakfast tray. The delicious smell of toast and bacon wafted through the suite as she settled it on a small dining table tucked into the corner of the main area.

"I do hope you weren't planning on helping yourself first?" Emily demanded, swishing her skirts as she emerged in front of a splendidly turned out Ella. My cousin's day dress was a muted rose, bunched and tailored to add womanly appeal to her slender physique.

"Of course not," I said, improvising and pulling out a chair for Ella. Emily's smug grin turned into a sneer as Ella gracefully settled herself into the proferred chair.

"I'm sorry about last night," I mumbled in her ear. She gave me a small smile as she reached over to help herself to a slice of toast. Rosanna emerged just then, taking the seat between myself and Emily.

"Now ladies, I'm quite certain you're all aware of the importance of tonight," Rosanna started, her tone full of self-importance. I groaned inwardly as I sensed an impending lecture.

"Our roles are to be one of support for Ella," she continued, daintily spreading jam onto her piece of toast as Emily helped herself to a soft boiled egg. I loaded my plate high with toast, bacon, and eggs, my stomach rumbling a hungry song beneath my corset.

"We will always ensure that she is either dancing with a suitor or engaged in conversation with a suitable courtier. We are not to draw attention to ourselves and we must make every effort to ensure that Ella is the focus of any who look upon her," Rosanna continued, waving her toast around in emphasis. Ella looked on, drinking in her words as visions of her dancing with the prince no doubt sailed across her mind's eye.

"But if we are asked to dance, what are we to do?" Emily asked sourly, "Surely it would be rude to deny someone a dance on the first night,"

"You shall endeavour to avoid any situation in which you could be asked," Rosanna fired back, unamused, "You have one role and that is to attend to Ella. If you are off dancing with someone, that is one less partner for Ella,"

I rolled my eyes as Emily and Rosanna got to bickering about the acceptable rank and title of gentlemen with whom we could dance. Ella's eyes had fallen to her plate where she'd left the rest of her breakfast untouched.

"You should eat," I said gently, as Emily's protests rose in volume.

"I'm too nervous," she admitted, shooting me a worried look, "What if no one asks me to dance?"

I nearly laughed aloud, but managed to tame it into a smile.

"Your aching feet will be pleading for them to stop asking you for dances by the stroke of midnight tonight," I said, attempting to reassure her.

"...we ought to leave it up to Ella!" Emily snapped, and both her eyes and Rosanna's fixated on my cousin.

"I cannot prohibit you from dancing, but I can order you not to attend any more balls if you fail in your duties," Ella replied, without missing a beat. I grinned even wider as a flash of her feisty sister Annabelle surfaced in her tone.

"Now if I may, I would very much prefer to eat my breakfast without you two quarrelling," Ella said, tucking in with more gusto. I only realized I'd been grinning like an amused fool when I caught Emily's eye, a sour sneer on her face as she watched me. I dropped my eyes to my plate, digging my fork into my breakfast if only to hide my smile.

###

I felt sluggish with boredom as my first full day at court dragged on. Other ladies came calling as we spent the day indoors, readying ourselves for the big ball tonight. Most of them were in varying states of deshabille under heavy robes. One named Emmeline Townsend even opened hers as she forced one of her ladies in waiting to tug her laces tighter every half hour. She swore it was how the French courtiers attained such tiny waists.

"Or they just have wider skirts in comparison," a freckled brunette lady in waiting of hers muttered to me, showing me the red welts on her hands from the corset laces. I thanked my lucky stars that Ella was not nearly as fanatical.

By the time tea was served, I'd been watching the glorious sunny day turn to dreary clouds. One of the maids followed my gaze.

"They're saying rain's coming," she said as she poured me a cup of tea.

"All the better for our complexions!" Rosanna sang as she stirred several cubes of sugar into hers. I sighed, gritting my teeth in frustration. If this was what court life entailed, I would happily slip into my uniform dress and run away through the service door.

Ella tried on every single dress in her closet, Rosanna and Emily tittering and ranking each of them, adjusting things here and there. My job was to fetch necklaces and earrings and baubles to pair with each of the dresses, a task that reminded me of how well-off Ella's side of the family truly was. I was fairly certain my own mother didn't possess the number of jewels Ella had tucked away in her trunks.

"I really think we should stay with the pink one," Emily was huffing, cradling a pink satin dress with lace and ribbons. Rosanna clucked her tongue and I rolled my eyes, stretched out in a most unladylike way on the loveseat. I mentally kicked myself for not escaping sooner.

"It should be sapphire to set off her eyes," Rosanna said, holding up the very same dress they'd tied onto my cousin at least three times that day. Ella was watching them through the mirror, delicately powdering her face. They'd served us dinner not too long ago and my mouth had been watering ever since, but the other girls hadn't wanted to eat until the decision was made. My eyes kept wandering to the cooling plates of venison and potatoes, wondering if they'd notice if I snuck a few bites when they weren't looking.

"Well perhaps we ought to find out what the others will be wearing," Emily said, "I won't have her be just another girl in a sea of blue,"

Rosanna shot Emily a dark look before her eyes landed on me. She snapped her fingers at me so I swung my legs around to sit properly.

"Libby, you'll do it. Go find out what the others are wearing," she said, leaving the room to drape the dress onto Ella's bed.

"Me? But...how?" I managed, standing. Emily chortled.

"I hope you're not planning on asking them," Emily sneered. I sneered right back, taking the opportunity to disappear out the door. I leaned back against it, holding a fist to my forehead as I ground my teeth. This was the most tedious day of my life, including that time I had to do remedial etiquette training at Miss Coolidge's on the first sunny Saturday of May last year.

Once I'd gnashed out my frustration, I glanced either way down the deserted hallway. Sounds of chatter and laughter echoed out from the rooms, but the doors were all firmly closed. A maid carried an empty dinner tray past, bobbing a tiny curtsey as she whisked by. Scrunching my face up, I stalked to the next set of doors, stooping down to attempt to peer through the keyhole. I couldn't see much besides a drawing room similar to Ella's, this one littered with dresses in all colors. I straightened as soon as I heard footsteps down the hall.

"May I help you miss?" a different maid asked, carrying a tray that smelled delectable to my empty stomach.

"I'm looking for Lady...Smith," I said, my most practiced innocent look on my face. The maid frowned.

"Lady Smith is in the first room," she said, nodding her head back towards the way she'd come.

"Oh thank you!" I exclaimed, taking off hurriedly towards where she'd nodded. I slowed my steps as I passed Ella's door again, the maid disappearing into one of the service corridors. I scrunched my face up anew as my belly protested, famished. Searching the hallway for some excuse, I finally noticed the vases on each of the side tables. The flowers were sparse, but flowers nonetheless. Glancing behind me to ensure the coast was clear, I snatched up the vase and knocked on the next door over.

A surprised lady in waiting dressed in little more than a corset opened the door, glancing with a frown at the flowers.

"Lady Smith?" I asked, casting my eyes around the sitting room. Ashley Mayfair appeared from her bedroom, a burgundy petticoat half tied on.

"Of course not," she snorted, sweeping back where she'd come. Her lady in waiting cocked an eyebrow before closing the door in my face.

Burgundy, I noted mentally, making my way to the next door.

I tried my luck with each of them, only being turned away once before I could catch a glimpse of what the lady was wearing. I returned the vase to its place and reentered Ella's drawing room, only to see that they had seated themselves to eat without me.

"And?" Ella asked, her fork paused on its way to her mouth.

"Certainly took you long enough," Emily muttered as I took my place next to her.

"No one is wearing blue, but Lady Townsend is wearing something pink," I said, hungrily grabbing for a roll to dunk into the congealing gravy on the venison.

"Sapphire it is," Rosanna declared, daintily slicing her chicken. Emily was sullenly silent as Rosanna prattled on about which accessories to pair with the gown. I ignored her, tucking into the food more ravenously than bespoke a lady, ignoring Emily's disgusted glares.

"Once we're through we shall dress ourselves while Ella's lady's maid sets her hair," Rosanna said, setting down her fork and knife with half her dinner barely touched, "We shall attempt to be ready for as near to seven as possible,"

"I would very much like to be one of the first ladies announced," Ella stated, similarly setting down her fork and knife. Emily followed suit as I shovelled a last chunk of potato into my mouth before the maid began clearing the dishes. The three other ladies rose, but I continued to gnaw on the bread even as the plate was swept out from in front of me.

"Come now piggy, time to get dressed," Emily called once Ella and Rosanna had disappeared from the room.

"Just give me one more moment to stuff my face, I'll need my energy to put up with you," I shot back. Emily rolled her eyes, disappearing into our room. I sighed, pushing myself back from the table and reluctantly followed, wondering what abysmal construct of a gown the seamstress had dug up for me on such short notice.

********