My eyes flew open the next morning, the night before rushing back amidst Rosanna's gentle snoring. Emily rolled over in the bed next to mine and I blearily wondered whether it was still too early to wake up. I had barely managed to close my eyes without feeling Andrew's lips on mine, the memory springing me awake over and over again.

Emily and Rosanna had been asleep when I crept back into the room, quietly changing into my nightclothes while shoving the necklace into the deepest corner of my trunk. I slipped into bed, tossing and turning until Ella returned and retired to her own room. Given that she hadn't marched in and hauled me out of bed, I assumed that Andrew had somehow ensured James' silence.

Breakfast was quiet, with Ella clearly still exhausted from the night before. Thankfully, there were no events on the social calendar that day besides the second part of the masquerade that night. All of the ladies-in-waiting were invited, so while Ella napped, Emily and Rosanna fretted over their costumes. A pair of seamstress apprentices had appeared after lunch with a selection of masks and accessories we could borrow for the night.

Emily had all but elbowed me out of the way as she perused the heavy chest of costumes, debating between a snake mask and a fish mask to pair with her glittering green masquerade dress. I bit my tongue as she asked for Rosanna's opinion, my own being that the snake would suit her best.

Rosanna picked out a rather plain silver mask to go with the grey silk dress she'd brought for the masquerade. It was a matronly thing, especially compared with Emily's, but it was a fine dress nonetheless.

I was forced to make-do with what I had, re-using the ball gown I'd brought with me from Hargrove. When I brought it out to find a matching mask, I couldn't help but think of the royal blue dress I'd been lucky enough to wear the night before. Compared to the gown Andrew had ordered for me, my own was a pauper's dress. I selected a blue and gold mask that slanted across half of my face, tying behind my head in a bow.

"At least half your face will be attractive," Emily said archly when Rosanna had disappeared to wake Ella and commence her preparation for the ball that night.

"It seems you really are embracing your costume, you snake," I replied. The apprentices tittered uncomfortably at our words as they packed up the trunk of costumes and moved to the next debutante suite.

"How was your evening with the princess?" Emily asked, a smug grin on her face as she sat down at our shared vanity table.

"Extremely enjoyable," I replied, laying my dress and mask out on my bed. A memory of laying the royal blue gown out on Audra's table flashed back to me and once again I was reminded of Andrew's lips on mine. I hoped Emily didn't notice as I flushed scarlet from the thought.

"I'm so happy you enjoyed yourself," Emily said, "I suspect it might be your la-"

"Oh Emily, it's a disaster!" Rosanna wailed from the doorway, cutting Emily off mid-sentence.

"What's the matter?" she asked, standing from the vanity.

"They've brought the wrong shawl!" Rosanna said. Emily hurried from the room behind her and I fought from rolling my eyes. A ruined shawl, oh the horror.

Remembering Andrew's words to behave, I followed them across the suite to where Ella was pacing before her costume - tonight, a gold and bronze dress with a mask that glittered with jewels.

"It was supposed to be the clouds while she's the sun," Rosanna wailed, holding out a shawl that was not at all cloud-like. Instead, it was inky black and fringed.

"Oh dear," Emily said, inspecting it with distaste.

"I refuse to go without a shawl, I was shivering all night," Ella sniffed, crossing her arms, "Go and find me one. Libby can stay and start on my hair,"

Ella's command sent Emily and Rosanna into a tizzy, arguing with one another over what exactly would make the best cloud-imitating shawl. They disappeared from the room in search of the costume chest, their bickering still audible in the suite even once they'd closed the door.

"I'm thinking a pile of curls tonight," Ella said, twisting her hair atop her head so that it cascaded down around her face.

"That would be lovely," I said. She glanced at me.

"Yes, but I'd prefer Rosanna to be the one to set it," she said. I frowned as she dug through her cosmetics. Hadn't she just asked me to stay to attend to her hair?

"The most peculiar thing happened last night," Ella said, powdering her nose as I hesitated behind her, "The prince spent the entire night with some foreign girl, only for them both to disappear at the same time after they were cornered together, alone, on the terrace,"

"How scandalous," I offered, hoping my face didn't betray the turmoil within. I felt something ominous looming over me.

"Indeed," Ella said, setting down her powder brush and opening one of her vanity drawers, "But the most scandalous part of the entire evening was that somehow, the necklace belonging to said foreigner turned up in my suite,"

A pit of dread opened in my stomach as she pulled the black velvet bag out of her vanity. She dumped the necklace into the palm of her hand, turning towards me.

"Ella, it's not-" I started. But it seemed she was already convinced of my guilt, pursing her lips as she turned away. That she was unable to look at me set my eyes to prickling with tears.

"I'd always wondered how I grew to be so favoured by the prince," she said, setting the necklace down on her dressing table to stare at it, "I'd thought it was because of James, when really it was because of you,"

"Ella please! I promise you, nothing untoward happened!" I pleaded, falling to my knees beside her. She was already assuming that I'd earned her the prince's favour in a most unsavoury way, she didn't need to know that he had indeed hunted me down in the workshop and kissed me.

"It's abundantly clear to me now that I was only one of the princes' favourites because of you," she said, leaning forward to continue applying her cosmetics, "And while I do appreciate your maneuvering to earn me a place of favour, I absolutely cannot condone how you've gone about it. Do you have any idea what you've done to your reputation and family name?"

"It's not like that!" I said, the tears flowing in earnest now. She looked at me in the mirror.

"It isn't?" she demanded coldly. I inhaled shakily, my silence enough of an answer for her.

"Ah yes, now I see," she nodded, her eyes narrowing, "Now that I'm attached to James, you think that by winning the prince's attention with your vile tricks that the family will name you as my successor when I get engaged,"

She rose then, nearly knocking over the vanity chair as she towered over me.

"Well that is not the way this works!" she snapped, pausing for a moment to collect herself, "Because they have already confirmed that my sister Annabelle will be our next debutante,"

I knelt there, crying silent sobs as she watched the effect her words had on me.

"Serves you right, you rotten social climber. It's unseemly and preposterous," she said, sitting back down without an ounce of pity in her gaze, "You'll be lucky if anyone will marry you at all now,"

"Oh Ella please!" I whispered, the world turning hazy as it blurred with tears.

"I'll strike a deal with you," she said finally, "I haven't told anyone out of regard for my uncle's reputation and family name, but if you aren't gone when I return from the ball, I will tell the whole sordid tale to all of the debutantes,"

"You wouldn't," I gasped. She didn't even look at me.

"I would. I suggest you pack your things and leave while we're out tonight," she said, slipping the necklace back into its velvet bag and dropping it back into her vanity drawer. I watched the drawer close with a thud as my world shattered around me.

Andrew had only asked two things of me today: don't get sent home and don't miss the masquerade. Ella sending me home now would mean that I'd failed him. When word got out that she suspected me of dallying with the prince, my parents would disown me and my chances of making a good marriage would be ruined, just as she'd said.

I swallowed and stood, crossing the suite to my bedroom wordlessly. Ella's eyes had left me, focusing instead on perfecting her face, likely lost in the fantasies of Lord Amberly and the second masquerade tonight. I sat on my bed, looking down at my trunk. How had I not noticed that it had been riffled through? It must have been Emily, especially since she'd been so keen to get me ejected after discovering me with Andrew in the library. She must have suspected something when Anne snuck me off.

It didn't matter now.

I'd dashed my tears away before Emily and Rosanna returned with an appropriate cloudlike shawl for Ella's costume. I feigned illness while they fussed around her, attempting several different drapings while I looked on. No matter how hard I tried to force a smile and act excited, I couldn't, so I retired to the sitting room to lie on the loveseat. Neither Rosanna nor Emily even bothered to ask about me when I didn't get changed into my ball gown with them.

I'd known it was too good to be true. It had been too much to hope that Andrew and I could have been together. The pit in my stomach deepened when I realized that I would never again feel his arms around me, never again feel the butterflies from his kiss. I hated myself for allowing him to corner me and give me a glimpse of something I'd never known I'd wanted so badly, only for it to be taken away the very next day.

"I do hope you enjoy your evening, Libby," Ella said eventually, suddenly standing before me as I snapped out of my nightmarish thoughts. The time had flown and Emily and Rosanna were flanking her, attired in their costumes. My cousin cocked an expertly plucked eyebrow as if to remind me of our bargain. I replied with as much of a smile as I could muster.

"I'm certain it won't be nearly as enjoyable as yours," I replied, earning a single nod from my cousin before she swept from the room with Emily and Rosanna in tow.

When the door closed behind them, I collapsed into a heap of tears.