Young Women

After turning fourteen the girls were all sent to a boarding school. They cried about leaving Cora behind but Cora wasn't worried. One of her many brothers was home again and she'd vowed to make him teach her how to use a sword.

Delaney, Selina, Olive, and Constance spent the next three years in school growing from girls into women.

Olive grew from a round young girl into a pear shaped woman with a lovely face, who loved to flirt with men and men loved to flirt with her right back.

Selina grew from an innocent looking girl into a still fairly innocent looking woman. She remained the shy and nervous one, always worried about breaking the rules. With her long blonde hair and big blue eyes, men loved her too but she wouldn't give them any attention. She would remind the other girls of their marriage contracts and Olive would tease, "Well we're not married yet!"

Constance grew from a somewhat cold and stick-like girl into a nicely curved woman who, by being away from her family and on her own at school, had gained confidence and no longer had to put others down to build herself up. Although she still came off quite blunt regularly.

Delaney grew into a beautiful young woman who looked just like her mother everyone told her. She had lovely, flowing hair, an hour glass figure, and long black lashes over her sea-glass colored eyes. Men loved her and begged her to run away with them. She would laugh and flirt back but in the end always reminded them she was spoken for.

She sometimes wished she wasn't though.

Going away to school, Delaney had grown even more head strong and independent. After two years in school, when Cora joined them, the first thing she and Delaney did was learn the best routes for sneaking out. At first the other girls had been horrified but it hadn't been long before they were joining them on their nighttime adventures..

It was Delaney who first talked her way into a somewhat disreputable Gentlemen's card club on the edge of town. The owner was a skilled poker player named Jay Winston but everyone just called him "Unlce Win" because normally that's what he did. Win.

Delaney had sweet talked him into letting her come in and teaching her to play cards. It wasn't long before she was almost better than Uncle Win himself. The round old man with unkempt white hair and a pipe always in one hand, would roar with laughter when she beat the men around her.

It wasn't all that hard since she was a beautiful young woman. She would smile and wink at a man and he would grin and lose focus and that would be the end of him. It wasn't long before she was known as a card sharp. Not shark. No one would have ever dared to accuse her of cheating in front of Uncle Win.

It wasn't long before most nights of the week you could be sure to find at least two or three of the young women at Uncle Win's Card Club drinking wines and ales and playing cards.

Delaney was making her own money and using it as she pleased. More and more often, the idea of having a husband, of being someone's wife to command about as they pleased, made her feel apprehensive about her future. She remembered being able to do nothing as her father lost all their money. Some of the moves he had made had been so foolish even Delaney had seen and begged him to stop. She hated the idea of being expected to just sit and be quiet again.

She feared, as her husband, Vincent might expect that of her as well.

Delaney hadn't seen Vincent in years but she remembered his handsome face and knew he was better looking than any man she compared him to. Not only was he handsome, he was very smart. Since taking over his father's title and estates he had increased their profits ten fold. The girls knew that when Vincent came home to marry Delaney she would be the richest woman they knew.

One crisp fall evening, right before the girls were to go home for a week for the mid semester break, they had all gathered, as they usually did, in room shared by Delaney and Selina. The door was locked and they had a blanket stuffed along the bottom to make sure the other girls in the school couldn't eavesdrop on them. It was common knowledge the five women got out at night but no one had quite figured out how. The doors were all guarded.

"Do you really think we should go out tonight?" Selina whispered nervously even as Constance sat behind her doing her hair, "We're going home tomorrow."

"Of course we're going out tonight," Cora rolled her eyes, always annoyed by Selina's timidness. Out of all the young women, they were the most like oil and water.

"You know Uncle Win planned a surprise for us before we leave," Delaney smiled, pinning up her chestnut hair, allowing a few pieces to hang down and frame her face.

"Besides Delaney just got this dress and she just has to wear it out," Olive smiled, leaning against their window sill, "It's dying to be shown off." Delaney wiggled her eyebrows at her friend and they both laughed.

"Shh," Cora hissed, "Do you want us to get caught? Hurry up!"

Delaney was wearing a daring dress of dark violet with a sweetheart neckline. Along the edges there were tiny red roses with black vines and thorns embroidered in. With her hair done and a little red on her lips she looked much older than seventeen.

"I'm ready," Delaney smiled at the group.

"Me too!," echoed Olive and Cora in unison.

"I'm ready and Selina's hair is done so now she's just pouting," Constance said standing and straightening her dress.

"I'm not pouting!"

"Come on Lina," Delaney linked arms with her best friend, "Uncle Win said he would make sure to have plenty of wine. We know how you love wine."

Selina rolled her eyes but smiled and headed for the door with Delaney. The candles were blown out and they all crept out into the halls... then down through the kitchen, bribing the cook with some coins... and out into the frosty night.