At that point, a new
visitor was announced and Sir Francis strolled in. She was surprised
but pleased to see him – she enjoyed his company but he rarely
visited her house during the daytime. A single man was not able to
visit a single woman frequently without being suspected of the kind
of relationship they had, in fact, established. Frank was always a
gentleman towards her and she felt sure he would not betray her to
her neighbours, but she was equally sure that he was taking care to
ensure she could never misinterpret the nature of the relationship he
was willing to offer her.
As she welcomed him,
she became aware that Phillip had withdrawn slightly. After a brief
exchange between the two gentlemen, Phillip hauled himself to his
feet, made his bow towards Melissa, assuring her as he did so that he
would hold himself in readiness for her, if she could pledge herself
to sending a note when she was ready for her first outing and exited
leaning heavily on his cane with his new, slightly halting gait.
Frank raised his
eyebrows at their conversation but made no comment until Phillip had
departed. “It seems to me, my dear, that you might find yourself a
stronger or more reliable escort for any outing you propose.”
Melissa felt her
hackles rising slightly on Phillip's behalf and turned Frank's
attention by saying lightly: “It is to be expected that his
recovery will be slow, but the outing I have in mind will not take
place for some time. It requires a little preparation, so I have full
confidence that Phillip will be a suitable companion.”
As she spoke he seemed
casually disinterested, but at one word his head tilted towards her
and his eyebrows rose. “Phillip?”
“Would you have me be
a hypocrite? You of all people know I do not adhere entirely to the
social conventions of this stifling society. Phillip was in my home
as he recovered; I have heard you refer to him by his given name as I
have come to use it and I see no disrespect in doing so without the
gentleman himself present.”
Sir Francis did not
seem overly pleased. His eyes hardened and the blue gaze felt
incredibly cold for the first time: “I trust, madam,” he spoke in
a soft, yet distant tone, “that you are not so loose with social
convention that you have a stream of men warming your bed. If you
cannot keep your legs closed out of my presence, I will have nothing
more to do with you.”
Melissa looked him full
in the eye and felt absolute fury build up inside her. Sir Francis,
seeing the expression on her face, expected a screaming match to
begin and felt that she was perhaps more effort than she was worth.
However, what she said astonished him. Her words were as quietly
spoken as his own, and she expressed no shame or defensiveness,
merely contempt for him. Her tongue lashing was incredibly well
targeted, accurate and clearly deeply felt, but she lost no shred of
control in the process.
The gist of her
commentary was that the nature of their relationship was never
defined and if he expected any kind of fidelity from her, he had to
offer more than the basic rutting service he provided. He should take
into account, she suggested, that she had never requested fidelity
from him and had she made a statement similar to his, he would have
been as outraged and offended as she was and that he could not claim
that behaviour unreasonable in another individual is perfectly
natural or appropriate when he used it. She also pointed out that if
he did withdraw his services, she was more than capable of arranging
similar service elsewhere – and unlike him, she would never be
required to offer financial recompense to any individual serving her
desires.
“Now if,” she
concluded, “you came here with express intention of sneering at a
man I respect without having the decency to do so to his face, and
insulting me to the greatest of your abilities, might I suggest that
having done so, you may now leave. And, should you intend to return
or have any form of communication with me in future, be aware that
you should preface your contact with a sincere apology for presuming
that you have any right to judge my behaviour, values and friendships
let alone take it upon yourself to comment upon them.”
In the face of her
attitude and with his own emotions riding far too high to be able to
approach the situation with rationality, he stormed out.
Melissa had time to
reflect that a large number of single men left her house in some
dudgeon before Mary swept in and caught her chuckling quietly to
herself. By now Mary had become accustomed to her new role and merely
waited for her mistress to become aware of her presence before
suggesting that it might be time to consider preparing for her
evening events. Melissa briefly considered spending a quiet night in,
but then realised she would have nothing to do and no-one to talk to.
She sighed and requested the list of invitations for that evening.
It had become her habit
at breakfast to sort through the invitations she had received. To
date it was the only mail she had ever been sent – commonly ladies
her age had connections all over the country with whom they regularly
communicated, but she had not formed a relationship with anyone who
was not available to speak to on a daily basis and so there was
no-one to write to or receive mail from. It would be different soon –
many people were taking time away from the city for country life or
seaside holidays and at that time, regardless of where Melissa went,
she would begin to receive regular mail from her new found friends.
For now, her invitations were the most exciting communications she
received and she flicked through them then read and sorted them very
carefully before placing them in a set of drawers that reflected her
calendar.
As a net result, each
evening Mary was able to bring her a handful of cards, pre sorted,
from which she could choose the one or two events she wanted to
attend that night. Tonight was one of the rare occasions where she
had been invited to an event she'd had to confirm her attendance in
advance. There was a swathe of engagement balls beginning and for
this one she had been invited to a meal beforehand. She calculated
she should stay after the meal for the ball for approximately three
hours and then either move on or return home.
Planning for a long
night out she selected two other additional invitations and sought
through her wardrobe for something appropriate for dinner and a full
ball. After flicking back and forth for some time she eventually
settled on the peach gown – without the suggestive scarves overlaid
– and a richly embroidered scarf to drape over it. Alongside the
gown and scarf, she wore an over abundance of jewellery including her
first ever tiara and jewelled slippers which had felt extremely
extravagant and indulgent when she had bought them, but now seemed
the ideal compliment to all the other sparkle she wore.
The night passed
enjoyably but without remarkable incident. The next morning when she
awoke, she went through her usual routine of assessing her mail,
breakfasting lightly and calling for a horse to go for a ride around
the park. Afterwards she sat, ostensibly to embroider, but in reality
to conceive a plan whereby she could furnish herself with male
garments without raising questions. Soon, she had formed a solid plan
and put it into play immediately – she called Starke and described
her whim for a page boy. Could he present her with a group of
suitably aged young men as soon as possible?
Within an hour, four
young males stood before her and she observed them all. Presenting
them each with a guinea she dismissed them and undertook a variety of
activities. First she had Mary take her measurements, then sent a
note to her dressmaker requesting a recommended tailor to produce
garments for a page boy and another to Starke apologising that she
had not taken on one of his lads but she thought she had found
someone appropriate. She also sent Mary to the Pantheon Bazaar for
some specific items of clothing from the male section which she
immediately donned.
Within an hour she was
ready to be taken, by an exasperated Mary, to the recommended tailor
to be fitted for her uniform as page boy. The tailor was not
interested in taking the closest measurements and she was only
requested to strip to shirt and breeches before trying on the
garments required. Mary observed her mistress swapping clothing and
tried to not let her disapproval become too visible. After some time
she recognised the signal that indicated Melissa was happy with the
outfit she was wearing and she instructed the tailor to make up a
copy of that one, in five complete sets. The tailor expressed
surprise at such an expenditure and wanted confirmation that Mary was
acting in the interests of her employer. Melissa herself had never
encountered such an attitude (shop keepers tended to observe her
entrance as some form of manna from heaven and, thinking back to the
shoes she wore last night, she had to concede it was justified) and
was deeply offended. If it hadn't been for Mary's presence of mind in
snapping at her to put her shoes on and stop gawking boy, she would
have given her identity away immediately. Mary concluded the
conversation in undertones and then instructed the tailor to make up
the outfits from the finest fabrics and in very sober colours. The
boy, Mary declared, must fit in with the highest quality of garments,
but must remain visibly a servant. Only black and white, with a black
waistcoat were allowed. Everything must be plain.
The tailor concurred
and the two women left the shop. When they returned to her home,
Melissa repaired to her room immediately and riffled through her
wardrobe. Mary had followed her and watched in some confusion as she
began snatching garments and casting the occasional one onto her bed.
After the day Melissa had put her through she wasn't entirely
unprepared for her explanation of her activities, but it was still a
shocking statement.
Melissa was now
searching through her clothes to identify those that could be
converted into a split upper and lower part, so that she could remove
the skirts and don her male garb over the upper half of her gowns
within the space of a carriage ride. Mary, in an effort to restrain
the worst of the depravities she sensed her mistress might commit,
pointed out that most riding habits were split and that the upper
half was very closely based on male attire anyway.
Immediately Melissa was
leaping back up and calling for the carriage to be returned. She
arrived at her dressmaker and ordered a selection of riding habits,
explaining that she was looking for a new style and would need to
ride in each of the habits so she would order them all in the
knowledge that the majority of them may need to be immediately
disposed of. Because of this, she wanted very plain and simple styles
to begin with and she would add embellishments to future orders.
There was one that she
immediately loved the look of – from a purely aesthetic point of
view. It was incredibly severe around the upper body, with a tight
fitted jacket over the same baggy blouse that she had worn as a page
boy. The skirt was gathered by means of a strap which sat around the
narrowest point of her waist. As she stood gazing at herself in a
mirror, she asked them to make an additional outfit which, instead of
just a blouse and jacket buttoned up to the neck, incorporated a
waistcoat element with a jacket neckline that was wide enough to
display the waistcoat.
The dressmaker merely
nodded and added a few notes to her design details. Melissa gathered
her skirts and returned home. As she travelled she realised how
hungry she was, not having eaten since a brief breakfast, so when she
arrived she called for a tea tray immediately. As she entered her
sitting room she was surprised to see a bouquet and a note.
She sat down to read
and was delighted to discover it was a brief but sincere apology from
Francis for having presumed to judge her behaviour. She sat with the
note in her hand gazing at the flowers and wondering where on earth
to put them. When the tea tray arrived she directed the butler to
have them carried to her dressing room and she tucked into the spread
laid before her. That evening she dined at home and read a book
before taking an early night. The following day, the first riding
habit and page outfit were both delivered: their makers anticipating
that the lady would want something as soon as possible.
With Mary's aid,
Melissa dressed herself and then tested switching between the two
outfits. It was successfully done and left her with only one concern
– how to travel out of her own home wearing a riding outfit and not
calling for a horse, or riding a horse away from her house and losing
it before presenting herself as a young man at Phillip's property.
Her solution came
quickly and was typified by its simplicity.
She made her way, in
her riding garb, to a set of stables that she had heard of as a
result of her charitable plans. There she left the horse, under the
care of a stable man, explaining that she was visiting a nearby
establishment and she took the satchel containing her spare clothes
from the saddle attachment. Once alone, she entered a nearby hostelry
where she booked a room and sent a message to Mary informing her of
the time and her location. Then she slipped out of her skirts and
jacket and into the page boy uniform. Carrying the satchel she made
her way to Lord Penthvere's property.
She knocked on the door
and presented a letter from herself. The butler took it up while she
waited by the door. After a few moments she was welcomed into the
property. Phillip was sat before the fire and he smiled up at her as
she entered.
