House of Masques by Fortune Kent

Author:Fortune Kent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical;retro;romance;gothic;post civil war;1800s
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2014-09-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

“Beautiful. You look beautiful,” Clarissa told her. Kathleen had found the sick woman sitting up in bed with her golden hair loose and flowing over the pillow. Although her pain was gone, she remained pale and weak. In reply to Kathleen’s question, Clarissa told her she had begun to drink the milk the night before but soon set the glass aside because of the bitter taste.

“I wish you were coming to the ball with me,” Kathleen said, feeling nervous and unsure.

“Don’t fret, you’re a lovely young lady. I’ll be able to go another time. I’ve lived this long without seeing a masquerade, I’ll get by awhile longer.” Her words were without bitterness, and when Kathleen left she was drowsily leafing through a worn Bible she had brought from Gleneden.

Kathleen heard the hall clock chime the hour as she returned to her room. Nine o’clock. She was ready, having dressed without seeking help from any of the maids, for she wanted no one except Clarissa and Edward to know her disguise.

She went to the mirror. Was she beautiful? No, she decided, but she knew she looked different tonight. She turned first to the right, then the left, making the hundreds of glass beads on her blue skirt sparkle in the light from the lamp. Was the neckline of the snug-fitting bodice too low? She found the bareness extending from her neck to the upper swell of her bosom startling.

Kathleen touched the hair which she had drawn away from her face and gathered with a clip at the back of her head. Tight curls dusted with gold powder cascaded over her shoulders. As she adjusted a silver tiara on the front of her hair an insistent tapping sent her to the door.

It was Edward Allen. His knee-breeches, waistcoat, cape, and mask were an unrelieved black, his ruffled shirt white. A sword hung at his side. Without the beard he looked like a younger Dr. Gunn, for now the dark hair was untouched with gray.

Edward scrutinized Kathleen, from the tiara on her head to the white ballroom slippers on her feet. “Ahhh,” he said, nodding with approval, “truly a fairy princess. All you need is a magic wand.”

“And you? Do you come from a book of fairy tales, too?”

“No,” he said, “but a prince all the same. This is my interpretation of Hamlet. A prince to escort a princess.” He removed his mask. A handsome man, Edward Allen, she thought. Again she was troubled by his resemblance to a picture glimpsed long ago.

“I know,” she said. “I’ve remembered who you remind me of.”

“Who?” he asked sharply. His face became pale and cold.

“In part it’s your name. You look like a daguerreotype of Poe I once saw in a book of poems. And your names are so familiar—Edward Allen, Edgar Allan.”

He relaxed. “I’m flattered,” he said with a smile. “I’ll admit a few others have remarked a resemblance. I’m taller than Poe, I think, and my hair doesn’t curl like his did.” Edward offered her his arm.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.