“How?”
“Dress as a servant?”
“You’re too tall.”
“You’re tall,” Ariana pointed out, but she took the point. “It’s a shame this house doesn’t have a back entrance.”
“You could dress as a man,” Ethel said.
Ariana stared, but then thought about it. “I’d never get away with it.”
“It’d only be for a moment if a carriage stood ready. You could wear some of your brother’s clothes.”
“What of you?”
“I doubt Lord Langton would want me wearing his clothing.”
“He won’t want me to, either, and I need your company. Bring his valet to me.”
The passing minutes gave Ariana ample time to see all the risks and dangers of the plan. If she was detected in men’s clothing, the mob would attack her with even more vigor. But put simply, she had to dosomething, or she’d go mad. She went to the mirror and gathered her hair, imagining it under a hat. How could that work? Wasn’t her face too feminine?
Robert, Norris’s valet, came in, looking alarmed. Clearly Ethel had told him of the plan. He was not the sort to refuse an order, but he could make objections.
“You don’t have his lordship’s shoulders, my lady, if you’ll excuse me saying so. Or his sturdiness elsewhere. His clothes will hang off you.”
“They won’t hang off me so much,” Ethel said, “and couldn’t Lady Ariana wear a greatcoat?”
The valet didn’t like that suggestion, but he couldn’t deny it. “Perhaps,” he said, and tried again. “But his boots...”
“Are you saying my feet are too small?” Ariana asked, rather amused. “If I wear pantaloons, I could wear my own half boots and it might not be noticed. People see what they expect to see. I hope. I must at least try the effect, Robert. Take us to my brother’s wardrobe.”
With drooping shoulders, the valet led the way.
Ariana first tried on Norris’s traveling greatcoat, with its layers of capes. It was oppressively heavy, but it certainly concealed her lack of sturdiness. She next tried one of his tall beaver hats, but her hair gave her away.
“We’ll pin it up tightly,” Ethel said, “and with the high collar you could pass.” She quickly gathered all they needed and carried it back to Ariana’s room.
Ariana took off her gown and put on the pantaloons. Her bunched-up shift helped fill them, but even the draw-laces at the back couldn’t tighten them at her waist. Ethel produced pins.
“Even so,” Ariana said, “I look ridiculous.”
“The greatcoat will cover all. But you need a shirt and jacket on top.”
Ariana put on a shirt, but refused the large jacket. She put on the greatcoat again, and truly, from the neck down she could pass. For once in her life her height was to her advantage.
“There’s still the problem of my hair.”
“We could cut it short.”
“I’d rather face the mob!”
“Then we’ll pin it up.”
Ethel brushed Ariana’s hair up to the crown of her head, pinning and pinning it until it stayed put. As a hairstyle it was horrendous, but when the hat went on top, it merely looked a little odd. Wisps of curl were escaping all around. Ethel applied skin cream to the wisps, darkening them and making them look lank.
Ariana considered herself again in the mirror. She still looked much like herself, but none of the mob knew her. They’d be waiting for a scandalous woman, not a poorly presented gentleman.
“Here, put on the gloves.” The leather gloves were also too large, but they did give the impression of large hands.
