Free Fallen by Celeste Bradley Page B

And Julian.
    For the first time she wondered if perhaps she should marry him. He had asked her in all sincerity, and she rather thought she would not be receiving any other offers. She sighed.
    Marriage was not possible. Although he seemed to like her, she knew he did not truly want her. Not to tie his future to. Not to journey with through a life of passion and laughter, as her parents had.
    No, if she could not have that, she would take nothing less. It would be better to make her own way than to accept a dry loveless bond such as Melvin and Hildegard shared.
    Finished with her work, she restored her tools to the shed and returned to the house. If she could coax the cook into a few pails of hot water, a bath would soothe her nerves. With effort, she might make the process of dressing stretch into the afternoon.
    Entering her room, she was astonished to find a strange maid in it. A tall girl with an impressive bosom and laughing brown eyes was laying out one of the new gowns and its underthings. The fine garments shone in the shabby environs. The room had never seen such a display of finery. Izzy blushed to realize that even the maid's dress was much better than the one she herself wore.
    "Hello, miss. I'm Ellie. Milady sent me to help you get ready for tonight, miss. A near thing it is, too."
    Bemused, Izzy allowed the strapping brunette to remove her shabby gown and sit her down at her dressing table.
    "Milady said you 'ad some fine points to you, and you see, she's right. Look at all this hair, miss. Oy, it'll be a pleasure to dress it. And you're so dainty, why you'll look like a fairy princess in that blue gown, see if you won't. Milady ordered all new underthings for your gowns, so we'll be startin' from the skin out, now. Best we get you in the bath. We've scarce enough time as it is."
    Izzy hated to interrupt her bright chatter, but when she informed Ellie that her bath must wait, the girl laughed. "No, miss. I have your tub all prepared behind yon screen. Milady, told me not to let the help get in me way, you see. Now, in you go."
    Izzy let Ellie ease her into the soothing bath and begin to wash her hair.
    "Law, miss. Such a head o' hair you got. Clear down to your waist it is. Can't bob it, no, miss, though 'tis the fashion. You got a best feature, you don't go loppin' it off. I can do it Grecian, maybe, or tie it all up and let it fall."
    "Ellie?" Izzy asked, although she already knew. "Who is milady?"
    "Why, Milady Bottomly, miss. She sent me because she knew you'd be all atwist about lookin' fair for the ball. So I packed up me trunk full of secrets and here I am."
    "Secrets?"
    "Law, miss, you don't think milady has a few secrets? It takes a bit o' work, it does, bein' that beautiful every day. Not that milady isn't just stunnin' even fresh from the bath," the maid claimed staunchly. "But milady knows how to stay that pretty all the time."
    Having never given much thought to beauty or its upkeep, Izzy now wondered what Celia had got her into.
    After six hours of bathing, oiling, buffing, massaging, tweezing, snipping, and hair-pulling, Izzy had decided that being plain had definite advantages. But Ellie's cheer and unending chatter about milady made the time pass quickly and before she realized, it was time to don her gown and meet Julian downstairs.
    " 'Tis lucky that milady decided on two sets of gloves to match each gown. You must never go without 'em, miss. Not with those hands. I haven't seen the like since my granny used to beat the wash by the river. Me mum's used 'er hands all her life, but they're soft as butter compared to yours.
    "You keep this cream here, miss, and use it every night and mornin'. And gloves for all work. Never heard of a lady workin' her hands like you."
    Izzy was not listening. She was gazing dumbfounded at the girl in the mirror.
    It could not be her. This girl was nearly pretty. Yes, a nearly pretty girl with beautiful hair in a gorgeous gown of blue-shot silk. Closing her eyes a