Free Ella, The Slayer by A W. Exley Page B

for a few handpicked local aristocrats. Naturally, we top his list. Go wake the girls, we have preparations to make before tomorrow. And naturally, I must accept his invitation, although not right now. It wouldn't do to appear too keen. Let him stew, waiting for our response."
    That made Alice roll her eyes. I wasn't sure if it was the impossible task of waking Louise before noon, or the idea that Seth would pace his study with bated breath, waiting to hear if they would attend his dinner or not.
    "Yes ma'am." I dropped another curtsey, and we crossed the hall to the bedrooms that occupied the back half of the second floor. Alice had the easier task of it as Charlotte was sitting up, reading in bed.
    "A dinner party!" Charlotte squealed on hearing the news. "Do you know how long it has been since anyone threw a party?"
    In the adjoining room, I flung open the curtains and started the arduous task of waking the slumbering princess, or it could be a troll given the volume of the snoring. The streaming sunlight did nothing except make her flinch and roll over. Bother. I shook her shoulder and called her name.
    Louise grumbled and promised dire punishments for being woken so unspeakably early. Definitely a troll and no princess. Then Elizabeth breezed in and whispered soiree with the duke in her ear. I had never seen anyone move so expeditiously. You would have thought he was waiting in the front parlour on bended knee clutching a ring box, the way she leapt from bed.
    "What on earth are we going to wear?" she cried, staring at the open wardrobe. "Everything is so last season, and we have no time for a shopping trip to London."
    Nor any money, but I kept that to myself. With father incapacitated, I did what I could to keep the estate running. If it had just been the two of us and the staff, we would have managed fine, but throw in three fashion plates and expenses blew out. What they spent on parasols and gloves alone was equal to the feed bill for the horses for a year. At least fashions were becoming shorter, less fabric might make their dresses cheaper.
    "We could alter something?" I suggested. "We have quite a few issues of the Delineator."
    "I quite like the Delineator," Charlotte said, holding up a pale green dress that complimented her rich chocolate hair.
    Louise scoffed. "That old magazine, full of patterns but no class. Where is the latest issue of Vogue?" Louise cast around for her fashion magazine.
    Alice shuffled books and magazines stacked on the bedside table, and found the glossy expensive one. The one whose annual subscription would make quite a dent in the grocer's bill.
    Louise began flicking through the pages.
    Charlotte held up her Delineator. "Some daring ladies are donning harem pants. Do you think we could make some? I would love to be that brave."
    Alice looked over her shoulder. "If we could find some chiffon in the village, we could make a pair to match an existing top?"
    Elizabeth scoffed. "No one will care what you are wearing, Charlotte. The duke will only have eyes for Louise, and her outfit must outshine everyone."
    The smile disappeared from her cherubic face in an instant, and the magazine dropped from her hands. I could understand step-mother being cruel to me, but how could she turn on her own child? I stared into Charlotte's wardrobe and pulled out a dark green tunic.
    "This would be fabulous with harem pants, it would have an Egyptian air, like Cleopatra," I said.
    The smile returned, somewhat dimmer, but a thank you lurked deep in her eyes.
    "We have only today and tomorrow to pull something together, Louise," Elizabeth said, ignoring our attempts to outfit Charlotte. "We shall have to plead the deprivations of war and shorten an existing gown to the new length, and perhaps change the neckline?"
    The royal we in use, since Alice and I would be the ones wielding the needles and scissors, trying to refresh an older gown. Elizabeth regarded the overflowing contents of Louise's wardrobe and