Free Vice by Jane Feather Page B

accentuated the whiteness of her skin, the slenderness of her neck, and drew the eye down to the swell of her breasts.
    “’Ere’s yer fan, miss.” Bella proffered a chicken-skin fan.
    Juliana opened it and examined the delicate pattern of painted apple-green leaves. Someone had gone to a great deal of trouble to assemble this outfit.
    “I’ll show ye to the dining room, miss.” Bella ran to the door, opening it wide. “Dinner’s at four and it’s almost five past.”
    Juliana snapped the fan closed and essayed a step. She realized immediately that her usual swinging stride from the hip was impossible with the hoop and the shoes. She was required to take mincing little steps, the hoop swinginggracefully around her. She could handle the little steps, she decided, so long as she didn’t lose her balance and fall in a disorderly heap with her skirts thrown up around her head. Not that it would be the first time.
    “I’m ready,” she said grimly. “Lead on, Bella.”

Chapter 5

    B ella pranced ahead of Juliana, down the curving staircase to the front hall. Juliana proceeded much more slowly, one hand resting with apparent negligence on the banister, although in fact her fingers were curled over it as if it were a lifeline.
    Mr. Garston came forward with a stately tread as she reached the bottom of the stairs. To her astonishment he bowed. “’Ow nice to see you downstairs, miss. If ye’d care to follow me.”
    Her circumstances had definitely altered in the last hours. Juliana merely inclined her head and followed him to a pair of double doors at the rear of the hall. He flung them open and announced in ringing accents, “Miss Juliana.”
    “Ah, my dear, welcome.” Elizabeth Dennison was all affability, as if the altercation in Juliana’s bedchamber had never occurred. “Oh, yes, how very fetching that gown is. The color is perfect, isn’t it, ladies?” She came toward her, extending her hands in welcome. “Let me present you to our little family.”
    Taking Juliana’s hand warmly, she drew her forward to the oval table where ten young women stood at their chairs. She recognized Lilly and Emma from the encounterin the hall on her first day, Names and faces of the others blended with the speed of the introduction, but she managed to mark Deborah and take note of her hair. Bella was right that it didn’t have the sparking vitality of her own. For some reason the recognition was satisfying. Juliana began to wonder what was happening to her. She rarely gave a passing thought to her appearance, and yet here she was, examining the other girls as if they were some sort of rivals. Rivals for what?
    Lord of hell! She was beginning to think like a whore. It must be something to do with the atmosphere in the house.
    She curtsied politely to each woman, receiving a similar salute in return, and she was aware that she was being assessed as shrewdly as she was assessing them.
    “Sit down, my dears.” Elizabeth waved a hand around the table. “Now we’re all assembled, there’s no need to stand on ceremony. Juliana, take your place beside Mr. Dennison.”
    The seat of honor? Juliana took the chair to Richard’s right. He drew it out for her and bowed her into it as if she were indeed the guest of honor.
    A footman moved around the table filling wineglasses. “Will you taste the partridge, Juliana?” Lilly inquired, deftly carving the breast of a bird on a platter before her.
    Juliana noticed that most of the girls were occupied with one of the serving platters, filleting carp swimming in parsley butter, carving ducks, pigeons, and partridges.
    “Are you skilled at carving, Juliana?” inquired Richard. “We consider it a necessary domestic art for a well-educated young lady of fashion.”
    For a whore?
Juliana was tempted to ask, but she managed not to. It was not appropriate to insult her fellow diners even if she was engaged in a conflict with their keepers. “My guardian’s wife also considered it