18 Chapter 18

Night fell and wrapped me in its embrace. I stopped crying, and the pain across my shoulder blades eased to a dull ache. Thankfully, my coarse clothing saved my skin from the switch and I couldn't feel any blood. But my nerves still protested and my joints hurt as the shackles held my arms up, and I couldn't relieve the pressure. At least the soft breathing of the horses kept me company and reassured me I wasn't alone. They munched hay with a steady grind, occasionally whickering to each other.

Then my ears pricked at something not equine in origin?a tread more foot than hoof. Fear gripped my heart and gave a squeeze. "Who is it?" I called out.

No reply.

The feet shuffled closer. Oh God, a vermin was in the stalls. Had she laid a trail of vermin breadcrumbs, so one would find me helpless in the barn? Had she planned to use an undead creature to do her work and dispose of me? I renewed my effort to pull the ring from its home embedded in the wall. I leaned my weight against the chain, as a moan came from the aisle.

I jumped and pulled, but still the metal wouldn't budge. The shackle only rubbed against my wrists, abrading my skin. A sob rose in my throat. I didn't want to die like this, chained in a stall while a vermin chewed my face off.

"Hen?" it hissed, "?ry."

The fear squeezing my heart loosened its grip a little. I took a breath. "Henry? Is that you?"

"Es."

The sobs of terror turned to ones of relief as light flared and his face appeared between the rails. I drew air into my lungs in ragged gulps. He slid the door open and set the lantern on the floor.

"You spoke." Now that I knew he wasn't a creature intent on chewing my limbs and tearing my flesh, I realised the miracle of hearing his voice for the first time since his return from war.

He nodded. Maybe it was a one-time only thing. He pointed to me and screwed his face up. "You, scared."

"Scared?" I wasn't even going to attempt a lie. "If you hadn't spoken I would have wet myself. I've never been so terrified. I thought you were a vermin come to eat my nose."

He huffed a soft laugh.

"It's not funny." I pulled on my chains. "Can you get me out?"

He nodded again, pulling a small hacksaw from his jacket. Over the next few minutes, with great care, he sawed through the bolts holding the shackles around my wrists until they fell away.

Alice ran down the aisle as he helped me to my feet. "Oh, thank God you're all right." She hurtled into the stall and wrapped her arms around me. I cried out as she pounded my back.

My friend's voice shook with unshed tears and outrage. "They wouldn't let us come out to you. Magda and I had to help them dress for the ball, and she sent Henry off on a fool's errand to town for hat pins."

Alice released me and slung my arm over her shoulders. Henry shook his head, his speaking role over, but he took my other arm. Our little group headed back across the yard to the house. My two friends lifted my every step so I did not bear my weight alone. My muscles had stiffened and I thought my limbs were frozen. I needed to warm up and return the blood flow to my extremities.

"We need to get you changed. Henry will drive you over to Serenity House," Alice said.

My feet rooted themselves to the spot, and we all came to a halt. I thought I was going to go mad chained to that wall, but it seemed Alice already had. "Get me changed? For what?"

"The ball, silly."

"Are you stark raving mad? Elizabeth knows I've been seeing the Duke of Leithfield. She whipped me for it. And now you want me to waltz on over there?"

Alice blinked. "Seth is waiting to dance with you, or will you let her and Louise win?"

That put the steel back in my spine. I knew things were over with Seth. I never thought it would end any other way, but I desperately wanted that last dance with him. I needed to say goodbye. Besides, there would be an enormous amount of satisfaction in giving a rude gesture to Louise from the duke's embrace. There was a second reason as well: Step-mother had sunk to a new low and I could not let her win. Wasn't this why our boys fought and died in Europe? For freedom and justice? I had to face my greatest enemy and overcome her.

I blew out a sigh. "All right."

Alice squealed and gave me another quick hug. "Wait until you see what we have."

While I languished in jail, they had been busy. The tin bath sat in front of the range, and a gentle curl of steam rose from the surface, infused with the scent of lavender.

Alice pointed to Henry. "You, out. Get that horrid motorcycle ready." Then she turned to me. "Let's get you out of these. You need a quick scrub so Seth doesn't smell manure all night."

I looked down. For me, I wasn't that dirty at all, and the stalls were regularly mucked out. Yet a determined Alice was a force of nature. Everything came off. I held in the cry when my rough shirt grazed over my back. Alice stared at my naked form, but remained silent.

"How bad is it?" I asked as I climbed into the bath. It was short, so I hugged my knees close to my chest as the heat soaked through my bones and my muscles unlocked.

"Welts mostly, nothing has broken the skin, but some are layered over each other. I'm so sorry, Ella."

"It doesn't matter." I rested my head on my knees. I would do it all over again for the same stolen moments in Seth's arms. They could never take that away from me.

"How can you say that? She's a horrid, evil witch." Alice picked up a sponge and dribbled water over my injured back.

"Louise will marry Seth and they will move to Serenity House?that will leave us here. We can look after father and run the estate without her meddling."

A lump settled in my gut as I said the words. I was truly sorry for Seth, but aristocratic marriages were rarely happy, and often more about a meeting of vested interests than hearts. Louise would be the perfect ornament at his table, I just hoped he found something for himself before she ate his heart and left him a hollow shell.

Another name drifted through my memory?Hubert Jeffrey. Over the last six months, he had penned many letters to Charlotte. Hubert would one day inherit the farm from father. It was no co-incidence, but the machinations of Elizabeth.

The kitchen door swung open and Magda entered with a waterfall in her arms, or so it appeared. Strands of blue and silver poured from her hands. As the light caught the sheath, they spun and sparkled like captured stars.

I arched an eyebrow. "What do you have there?"

"Your dress. Now get moving. I just need to find the shoes we hid amongst the potatoes." She disappeared into the pantry, and I could hear her muttering to herself.

Alice held out a towel. "Ready for you, miss." Her eyes glinted with mischief.

Whatever would I do without these two? And how much quieter would my life be without these two? "Oh, Alice, what are you two cooking? Apart from my hide."

She towelled the moisture from my limbs. "Magda and I have been working on a dress for you. As soon as we heard about the ball, we wanted you to have something extra special."

A cry of triumph came from the pantry and Magda emerged, a pair of heels dangling from her fingers. They were the most magical shoes I had ever seen. Covered in tiny glass beads, they captured the light like the dress.

"We must have magic potatoes, if that is what they grow in the dark," I said.

Magda picked up the dress and scooped it over my head. It tumbled over my form, clinging to my slender curves. It stopped above my knees at the front and flared out at the back to mid-calf length. It was the cut at the very edge of fashion, as though they had plucked it straight from the last edition of Vogue.

"It's beautiful," I whispered as I fingered the strands. "How on earth did you manage it?"

Magda smiled. "The under chemise was simple. Then we did all the strands of beads separately; it was easy to grab the odd quiet moment to string the little things. Then I would stitch them on at night, in my room."

Magda brushed my hair and added a feather and beaded headband to my blonde waves. "There."

The dress moved and swayed with me, like the current of an ocean. I slipped my feet into the shoes. "I feel like a princess, and you two are like fairy godmothers."

"And you shall go to the ball," Alice said, slipping her arm through mine. "Your carriage awaits."

"Wait." I stopped by the door. "There's something I have to do first."

"He's still up," Magda said. "Stewart and I thought you would want to show him the dress before you go."

I raced back through the kitchen, the movement energising my body, and up the stairs to father's room. I pushed the door open to find him sitting in his usual spot by the window.

There! I didn't imagine it this time. His head turned and a smile pulled one corner of his lips.

"Isn't it beautiful?" I twirled in front of him.

The smile crept further across his face, and for the first time in a year, I glimpsed my father hiding in the depths of his eyes. The doctors said his brain injury was most likely irrecoverable, but they simply didn't know. We never believed them, and stubbornly kept faith that one day he might return to us, just as we believed Henry would find his voice. Tonight seemed to be the night for miracles.

I touched the fall of silver running over my thighs. "Magda and Alice made it for me. Tonight I dance with the duke! I intend to thumb my nose at Louise, and battle a rather evil monster. Then I shall come home and tell you all about it."

I kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand. A faint pressure returned my touch and my heart soared. Nothing could ruin tonight, not now that my father's sleeping soul had awoken.

Downstairs, Magda and Alice waited for me. Stewart had to drive the motorcar to take the others to the ball, which limited my transportation options. Alice laughed and opened the door.

Henry sat with Trusty the Triumph, which now sported a sidecar.

"Where did that come from?" We never owned such a contraption.

"Frank," she said his name and sighed at the same time. "He thought it might be handy."

I shook my head, but laughter welled up in my chest. "My carriage for the ball is a sidecar on the motorcycle?"

"Yes, and you'll need these." Alice handed me the goggles and a cushion.

"And keep your mouth shut so you don't get bugs in your teeth." Was Magda's offered advice.

I might be wearing the most beautiful dress I had ever owned, but they would have to prise my sword from my hand. I tucked it into the sidecar, and Henry held my hand while I clambered in, taking my seat on the blue cushion. I tapped the front. "We could mount a machine gun on this, might be useful."

Henry grinned and gave me the thumbs up; he liked the idea too. Might have to ask Frank if he could procure one. The bike rumbled into life.

I grinned at Alice and Magda. "Are you going to tell me to be home by midnight?"

"Tosh, party will only be starting then. We don't expect to see you back until dawn," Magda said. She and Alice waved, and we set off down the road.

We rattled along the packed dirt, and I clutched my feathered headband, ensuring it didn't blow off and fly down the road. Serenity House was lit up. Every light in the place must have been on, with additional lanterns on tall poles lining the driveway. The entire estate exuded an enchanted air, as though the house existed in another realm and anything could happen ?like a serving girl taking the hand of a duke to dance at a grand ball.

There was something far more opulent than decorative lights lining the drive: a procession of gleaming motorcars. As Henry manoeuvred between them, my heart grew tighter in my chest. I couldn't do this. Gentry from the surrounding county poured into Serenity House, and I would be an imposter amongst them. I pulled my goggles off and threw them down by my feet. No, we had to go back. This was a foolish idea.

The little door in the sidecar cracked open. "Lord Leithfield is looking for you, miss." Warrens, the butler, held out his hand to me as though I were waiting to exit an expensive motor, not lever myself from a sidecar.

Seth was waiting for me, and I at least owed him a last dance. I placed my hand in Warrens and met his gaze. "What if I were just a nobody, and not a lady at all?"

"You are the defender of this parish miss, and have always acted noble, even if you were not born to it."

Deep thinkers, butlers. I wonder if it's all that time standing around in hallways waiting for something to happen? Warrens had been with the deMage family for decades, and no doubt had a network of ears throughout the county. He must have known the truth of my origins. Had he told Seth I was no noble?

"You'll find his grace in the ballroom, miss."

Apparently I was taking too long to decide on a course of action. He nodded toward the noise and light spilling from the house. Here goes nothing.

Up the steps, I ventured across the expansive entranceway to the source of the noise. The ballroom occupied its own wing running off to one side. It dropped below the level of the rest of the house. The steps downward enabled one to survey the dancers below and make an entrance.

I stepped over the threshold as though I would find it packed with vermin. Instead, it seethed with colour from the myriad of women in a range of fashions. Some still clung to the pre-war fashion of long gowns and trains. One or two modelled the scandalous harem pants, but most had modest hemlines. I was the only one on the cutting edge and baring my knees.

The men were mostly monochromatic in black evening wear and white (or ivory) shirts. Amongst them I spotted the khaki of soldiers. They hung near the open doorways, some with rifles slung over their shoulders. One man detached himself from a group of penguins by the side and walked to the bottom of the steps.

Seth.

The Duke of Leithfield raised one dark eyebrow and looked up at me. His hand extended, waiting. "Will you dance with me, Ella?"