The breakfast table was alive with gossip the next morning. Ella had seated us with Sarah Thornbury yet again, the two of them apparently growing friendlier despite the competition for the prince's time. One of Sarah's more talkative ladies-in-waiting was filling Emily in about Mary Marquette's teary faced reappearance last night.

"She was nearly blubbering apparently!" Amelia whispered gleefully, "Or so Maybelle told me,"

"And this was after she left with the prince?" Emily asked, her fork paused on its way to her mouth. I studied my breakfast, determined not to let my guise of having been shut up in my room all night slip.

"Yes! Apparently Mary reappeared without him, in tears, and her ladies had to hide her in the ladies resting room because she wasn't allowed to retire before the royals did!" Amelia continued.

"Well it serves her right for throwing herself at the prince like that," Emily sniffed, daintily chewing her breakfast.

"Indeed! Poor Sarah was beside herself that she didn't even manage to get one dance with him! She was stuck dancing with William Weatherington and his dreadful dentition all night," Amelia shuddered.

"What about Dorian Fletcher? He seemed interested enough in her," Emily prodded. At that Amelia stiffened.

"Sarah hasn't the least interest in men like Dorian Fletcher," she said. I couldn't resist casting a curious glance at Amelia, who had flushed scarlet while she hastily changed the subject.

"Did you hear what happened to Ashley?" she whispered to Emily, dropping her voice even lower. I forced myself to continue cutting my piece of ham, hoping I wasn't blushing myself.

"No, what happened?" Emily said.

"Apparently someone ruined her ball gowns!" Amelia whispered, "Three of them, completely destroyed! It's why she missed breakfast, she threw such a fit she was sobbing with rage this morning!"

"The same thing happened to one of Ella's!" Emily exclaimed, nearly dropping her fork. Rosanna tutted her, a sour look on her face that Emily had just inserted Ella into some of the gossip.

"You don't say!" Amelia said, "I'll have to keep a close eye on Sarah's dresses, or at least make sure the seamstresses don't wreck them too!"

"I don't think it was the seamstresses," I blurted out, unable to bear the thought of someone like Audra having to pay for my sabotage.

"Oh really? Who then?" Emily sneered, "Perhaps the ladies' maids?"

"I'm certain the palace staff will ensure it doesn't happen again," Rosanna said over the rest of us, cutting off the gossip session. Silence fell over our side of the table, Ella and Sarah still eagerly chatting with Sarah's other two ladies in waiting. Not a few seconds later, the king stood and we all followed suit, the breakfast hour over.

"I'll see you in the queen's solar," Amelia said to Emily, "I'll tell you if I hear anything else!"

"You'd do well to stop spreading gossip to her," Rosanna hissed across me to Emily as Amelia hurried around the table to follow Sarah out. Emily scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"At least we know it wasn't an isolated incident. Perhaps someone is targeting all of the prince's favorites," Emily said, following a few steps behind Amelia. Rosanna gnashed her teeth as she made her way towards the door as well. Still standing, I cast a look around before I reached down and popped a few more slices of ham into my mouth, annoyed that the king had hurried off and ended breakfast before I'd eaten my fill.

Still chewing, I was the last to straggle out of the dining hall, grabbing a napkin off the table nearest the door to wipe my hands and mouth before I exited. I closed the door behind me, reaching down to gather my skirts when a cold hand snagged me by the arm, whipping me around. I nearly lost my balance in the tangle of my skirts as Ashley Mayfair seized me around the neck and shoved me into the wall so hard it made the frame next to me rattle.

"I know it was you!" she said through gritted teeth, her nails digging in to my flesh. I seized her wrist, twisting it painfully until she cried out and backed away. Behind her, her three ladies in waiting were scowling at me.

"What was me?" I demanded, massaging my neck as Ashley bared her straight, white teeth at me.

"The dresses! You were the only one who wasn't at the ball last night!" Ashley continued, "Do you have any idea how much those dresses cost?"

"I'm sure I don't," I said, forcing myself to remain calm lest I give myself away, "But I didn't do it, I was in my room,"

"I'm supposed to believe that a conniving little wench like you stayed in her room during a ball?" Ashley sneered.

"She had no choice."

The commanding voice made all five of us turn towards where Rosanna was marching down the hall towards us. Ashley sneered at her in turn.

"We locked the door when we left for the ball," Rosanna said, glaring at Ashley.

"You're lying," Ashley hissed. Rosanna drew herself up to her full height.

"I beg your pardon, Lady Mayfair, but I take great offence to such an accusation. Ask Ella if you must, for one of her dresses was also ruined, but we discovered it upon receipt from the seamstresses,"

Ashley's flush betrayed her guilt as she tilted her chin up.

"I'm sure I know nothing about it," she said, regarding Rosanna warily.

"No, I'm sure you wouldn't have any inkling who was responsible," Rosanna replied, holding Ashley's gaze to tell her that she very much doubted her innocence. Ashley sniffed, turning on her heel and gesturing for her ladies to follow her.

"Thank you," I whispered to Rosanna, still massaging my neck where Ashley's nails had dug in. Rosanna shot me a look.

"I wasn't lying," she said, setting off behind Ashley and her ladies as we all headed up towards the queen's solar, "We really did lock you in last night, so I know it couldn't have been you,"

I nodded, too worried about giving myself away to care that my own cousin had locked me in my room after stealing my dress last night. If anything, I was relieved that Ella's paranoia had given me an alibi I hadn't even thought to come up with.

"I just remembered that I have a fitting for my museum dress," I said quickly, realizing that if I was no longer Ashley's prime suspect that her wrath would fall upon the seamstresses.

"Hurry up then, I'll give your excuses to the queen," Rosanna said, "But she may still bar you from the morning activities,"

I promised I'd hurry, intending no such thing. I had to speak to Audra before Ashley's complaint got to the head seamstress. I didn't particularly care if I missed another boring morning with the queen and her ladies if it meant I was able to warn a friend of imminent trouble.

***

"The entire bodice?" Audra exclaimed, dropping her work as I recounted the story about Ella's dress to her.

"The lace was torn and it was ripped clean through one of the front panels. Completely ruined," I said, sitting across from her at her worktable. Audra clapped a horrified hand over her mouth, paling

"I'll be sacked! Oh Libby, I promise you I had nothing to do with it!" she said.

"I know you didn't. Ella's ladies' maid, Louisa, said that an apprentice named Evelyn had given the dresses to her," I said, watching Audra's expression darken as her brows crashed together in a frown.

"That wench," she hissed through her teeth, "Stay here,"

She leaped out of her chair, disappearing into the main workshop. I did as I was instructed, in no great rush to endure a morning of Penelope's singing or more love poems read aloud by one of the queen's ladies. I took the chance to inspect the dresses Audra was working on, recognizing one as the formal dress she'd promised me for the museum that night. I heard mumbling on the other side of the door, followed by an exclamation and more mumbling. A few minutes later, Audra returned, resuming her seat and her work.

"I think I have you to thank you for saving my job," she said, too focused on her stitching to look at me, "I reported that some dresses were missing from my work-pile and that they'd been returned in unfinished condition to their owners. Since it's still so early in the day, the head seamstress bought the lie,"

"But the dresses were indeed finished, weren't they?" I asked. Audra looked up at me.

"Of course they were! Your cousin had requested that ball gown for last night's ball," she said, blowing a strand of hair from her face, "I don't miss deadlines, Libby,"

"Why did Evelyn have the dresses?" I persisted. Audra's face twisted into a frown as she shrugged.

"That girl is sneakier than a cutpurse," Audra remarked, "I wouldn't be surprised if Ashley did indeed pay her off to sabotage someone. Evelyn is, after all, the assistant seamstress assigned to her,"

"She's Ashley's seamstress?" I repeated, incredulous, "Then she was obviously the one to ruin the dress!"

"But it begs the question, why would she also destroy three of Ashley's dresses?" Audra asked, shooting me a glance up from her work. I snapped my mouth shut, realizing that I'd said "dress" and not "dresses". The silence stretched on as I racked my brain for some way to ask Audra not to say anything that wouldn't make me seem guilty.

"I won't tell anyone, Libby," Audra said quietly, looking up at me in earnest now, "I hate Evelyn. When a position as assistant seamstress opened, she stole the brocade dress I'd been working on for months. I'd intended to use it as a sample of my work for my application, but she called it her own and used it to secure the job for herself. I couldn't prove it was mine because the lady who had ordered it had left for the Americas before it was finished,"

"That's terrible," I said, shaking my head. Audra shrugged.

"I'm just happy Evelyn's finally getting some semblance of a comeuppance," she said, "And now that the position will open again, I'm more than prepared to fill it,"

"Does this mean you won't be my apprentice anymore?" I asked. She smiled in earnest this time.

"You saved my job and may have just earned me a promotion," she said, reaching across the table to give my hand a squeeze, "I'll be your seamstress for as long as you need me,"

I returned her smile as the clock-tower chimed eleven and Audra looked up with a cluck.

"You should really be getting to the queen's salon if you're hoping to enjoy a midday meal today," she said. I stood so quickly I knocked my stool over, so engrossed in conversation that I'd completely forgotten that I was expected elsewhere.

"Thank you again!" Audra called after me as I hurried from the room, my stomach already grumbling.