Ensuring that her spectacles were secured in her glove, Katherine took Pamela by the arm. The world was naught but a blur, though the differences in color and sizes of the shapes allowed Katherine to navigate around obstacles—but having Pamela’s guidance gave her the emotional fortitude to face the ballroom once more.
The pair snuck in through a side door and eased along the edge. Thankfully, she’d seen the room beforehand, so it was easy enough to identify the green fuzz along the walls as the floral arrangements Rosanna had slaved over. And the writhing mass in the center was the dance floor, though she couldn’t tell what they were dancing precisely. The music sounded like a country dance.
Pamela tightened her hold, and Katherine turned her gaze to her friend’s hazy form.
“Mr. Mowbry just walked by and didn’t even pause when he glanced past you,” she whispered. “Success!”
And Katherine couldn’t even tell that one moving shape had been him, but as long as her disguise worked, she wasn’t going to complain about a little blindness. This wasn’t about vanity, and Katherine would do much more to protect her sanity.
“You have my undying and lifelong adoration, Pamela Kitts.”
“Mine, as well.”
The new voice gave Katherine a start, though it was clear enough from the vague shape of the person who joined them that it wasn’t Mr. Mowbry; the new gentleman was taller and quite thinner than that stocky fellow. Katherine squinted as much as she could and thought he might be wearing a matching sultan costume, though it was difficult to tell, for it was just a smear of colors.
“Good evening, sir,” said Pamela in a coy tone that told Katherine the blur’s identity.
“You are by far the loveliest lady in attendance,” said Mr. Ralph Kitts with a sweeping bow.
“You are too kind,” replied his wife like a prim young maiden.
Katherine gave the pair a smirk, but she cursed her blindness at present, for it was impossible to see if a jest hit its mark if one could not see the target’s expression. And the flirtatious pair certainly deserved a good tease.
“You both are nauseating,” she murmured.
Fully ignoring her, Mr. Kitts swept into another bow. “My dear lady, might I be so bold as to beg a dance from the most fetching woman in attendance?”
Pamela turned her face to her, and though she couldn’t discern the expression there, Katherine knew her friend well enough to suspect that it was troubled. Which was ridiculous. As much as Katherine would love to keep Pamela by her side the entire evening, this was one of the few moments in which husband and wife could behave like a courting couple once more.
Why society had declared it uncouth to dance with one’s spouse was a mystery. Yes, it was better not to monopolize any individual’s time for an entire evening, but really, why should a courting couple be allowed to stand up together and a married one not? To say nothing of the fact that the pair rarely had time together, away from their children. But swept up in the masquerade, no one would think anything of it. Such rules did not apply when one was in fancy dress.
Katherine tried not to feel a pang of disappointment for that fact.
With their strictures, typical parties allowed her unfettered access to her dear friend. Before she’d become Mrs. Kitts, Pamela had spent many an afternoon with Katherine, but as her friend’s world expanded, her focus shifted—as it ought. She did not begrudge Pamela for it, but it left her heart aching the slightest bit; these evenings together were few and far between, and Katherine couldn’t help but be a miser about their time together.
Relationships changed, and Katherine knew better than to bemoan that fact. And she had plenty of practice spending an evening alone.
“Go, you silly woman,” said Katherine, nudging Pamela toward her husband. “Enjoy yourself.”
For all that she spoke those words with utter sincerity, her friend required a few more prods before finally relenting. Turning, Pamela embraced her, and as her face was mostly obscured by her disguise, Katherine felt free to smile.
Even if her parents were the sort to dole out affection in such an open manner, Katherine would never have been the recipient of such displays. Their favorites certainly earned embraces from time to time, and her siblings bestowed tendernesses freely between each other, but they had little place in Katherine’s world. So, she reveled in the feel of her friend’s arms around her.
A little thing that so many took for granted, but it helped to close those troublesome wounds once more.
“I shall be back, soon,” whispered Pamela, before leaning back and straightening Katherine’s covering once more. Then, taking her husband’s arm, she disappeared into the writhing mass of colors and shapes.
***
With a wild swing, David brandished his weapons once more and gave Miss Peck a wicked grin, his brows bobbing up. “Stand and deliver, my lovely lass.”
The massive plumage erupting from her coiffure bobbed as she giggled. “You are a tease, Mr. Archer.”
Holding up a staying hand, David frowned. “Alas, I fear you are mistaken. I am the rogue Dick Turpin, not this Mr. Archer. Though he does sound like a handsome and engaging fellow. The best of men, no doubt.”
“No doubt,” echoed the gentleman to his left, his tone matching his sardonic smile peeking from beneath the bottom of his mask. David thought he recognized the voice, but he couldn’t be certain whether it was Mr. Mandrell or Mr. Garrison disguised as the dashing naval captain.
If Miss Peck was so certain of his identity, perhaps he required a better mask, or to employ a different voice for the rest of the evening. Much of the fun came from trying to uncover the identity beneath the costume. But David supposed there was little to be done about it at this juncture.
