“Well?”
“You look a vision, sister,” Marion said. She would no doubt catch the attention of those gathered between her pretty blonde hair and outgoing personality.
“I do look a vision, don’t I?” she said as she twirled again.
“Where is Mother?”
“She is fussing over the boys and sent me here to help you get ready. Though I think she did not want me underfoot.”
Marion could believe it. The two younger boys were a menace when they did not want to get ready for church. She could only imagine the havoc they would wreak when having to dress in even more formal clothes. She nearly giggled at the thought of them wearing hose. Her brother’s leg had healed enough so he could walk now with a crutch, and he was not happy about having to be careful.
“You look beautiful, Marion,” Alice said in an uncharacteristic somber tone. “I will miss you when you leave us.”
Marion turned to her and reached for her hands. “Here,” she said as she pulled up a chair and drew Alice toward it. “You may come and visit me whenever you like, though I think you will not miss me so much as you will be planning your own coming out next year. I heard Mother and Father agree they would not make you wait.”
“Aye,” she said with a mischievous grin. “I kept on them until I wore them down. I used all their arguments for you against them and they vowed to never speak about such matters with more than one of their children present at any given time.”
“You are too clever for your own good, sister. Someday someone will use that against you and then you will learn your own lessons the hard way.”
“But the difference between you and me, my lady soon to be countess, is that I know I am cleverer than most men. And that is how I know I will not end up with the wrong one.”
“Well, I sincerely hope you keep your wits about you. I have met some very unworthy people in this sphere who sidle up to you as a friend, only to toss you aside for their own benefit.”
“Excellent. Maybe I will find some who are worthy of the battle.”
“The battle?”
“Aye, sister. You do not get it at all, do you?”
“I admit, I do not know what you mean at all.”
Alice drew a deep breath. “I envision the king’s court like a battlefield. There are those who are pawns who are sent in first to get thingsstarted, and then there are those who will be most affected by how the battle plays. And then there are those who orchestrate the final outcome. And I, for one, cannot wait to partake.”
“Exactly how is it you know so much about the king’s court that you have devised this elaborate analogy?”
Alice was clever, but this was even far beyond her imaginings.
“I have listened to our parents and particularly our mother plot her schemes in order to find suitable matches for us. But it wasn’t until Father Connor spoke of good and evil in the form of a battle that I really pieced it all together. It is but a game, sister. You were fortunate enough to find a match with someone who, like you, despised that game.”
Marion shook her head and laughed. “You are too wise for your own good, Alice.”
“I know it,” she said as she stood to go look out the window.
The lass didn’t have a modest bone in her body and Marion was certain she would not only acquire the upper hand in her future relationships, but she felt almost sorry for those who would enter into her arena.
After a time, the maids returned and checked her hair which was not fully dry. They untied all the fabric which released each perfectly formed tress. They pulled and tugged at it until it hung in long curls flowing down her back. She was to wear a thin silver tiara offered to her by the queen which matched her brooch in style and shape.
The door opened again and in came the pieces of her dress. She disrobed and raised her arms for first her shift and then a thicker skirt that would be tied around her waist. They pulled her arms through the bodice and tied that tight at her back which resulted in her breasts rising and showing deep cleavage.
Next was the outer piece that would need to be laced into the inner garments. She was relieved that they had found a solution to sewing her into the garment, for she anticipated Alexander’simpatience once they were to retire later that evening. She bit the inside of her cheek to not laugh at the vision of a frustrated and aroused Earl of Argyll. Never mind that she was certain she would be just as anxious.
Once the skirt was laced into her inner garments, they drew her arms into the top bodice which was then laced to the bottom and up the back with a flap to hide the connection. The sleeves were fitted down her arms to the elbow and then flowed to the floor. Her neckline was just above her inner bodice and left little to the imagination, so they tucked a sheer scarf into the front on one side, around her neck, and then into the other side on the front. This would help for modesty for anyone not standing beside her, but Alexander would have quite the view once they stood at the altar.
And there she stood, before the mirror with her slack-jawed sister standing beside her, wondering if she’d ever felt so pleased with her appearance.
The only thing left to do now was to marry an earl.
*
