When their new clothes were delivered, Lizzy and Jane remained calm and ladylike.
For perhaps thirty seconds.
Then, they tore into the packages and laid their new frocks out on their beds. They tried on the dresses with the help of Barnes and a chambermaid.
Lizzy smoothed her hand across the fabric of a blossom-pink ball gown. The silken creation was the finest thing she had ever owned. She would have to save it for New Year’s Eve, of course. No matter how tempted she was to wear it to dinner.
Instead she dressed in a lilac evening gown. She ought to wait for an occasion when they dined in company. But she couldn’t resist.
Jane chose a pale green gown, and they both took care with their coiffures. Lizzy’s amethyst pendant and Jane’s peridot earbobs completed their looks.
When the din
