Chapter Thirteen

The Clockwork’s fair was growing ever closer but Percy, Stretch and Millie were struggling to find the time to get together and even contemplate assembling their design. It made the young Clancy sick to the stomach to think that their big opportunity could be lost all because her father was determined to keep her trapped within her metaphorical ivory tower.

The young woman eyed her preferred choice of attire that was hung over the back of her armchair beside the window. Her gaze remained there for several seconds before she allowed her eyes to traverse the distance to the floor length mirror had gifted her with only the day before in reparations for another family meal he missed.

Millie eyed the her form, turning side to side, taking particular care to note the way that this dress showed more of her form that she would ever deem appropriate for society. But she could not refuse to wear it for the dress had been bought especially for tonight. It was the singles ball unofficially. Only those who had not been betrothed already could attend. Millie hated the very idea of attending. She felt like a pig going to market to be bartered over and sold.

Pinning the ends of her hair back, she thought that she looked rather appealing even to her own eye. The only problem she had was the large streak of blue now running through her white blonde strands. She had been handling a chemical earlier on in the day which combined with some of the various powder and metals she used had created a formula. Its potency when applied to hair was to change the colour and leave the hair permanently altered. She would have to find the technique socialites used to whiten their hair. She would not survive her father’s wrath if it were permanent.

Her dress was fortunately a pale blue that made her skin and hair appear radiant and ensured that she did not look completely ridiculous with a streak of blue woven into her locks. Fingering the lace cuff around her wrists, she snorted at her father’s task.

She looked too girly and too much of a show for the men, her rather adequate breast were almost spilling out of the top and though her father would not have to endure seeing his daughter dressed thus, she would have the eye of every male on her tonight for as surely as she was blonde, was as surely that the men would not be able to look her in the eyes with such distractions at their vantage point. Her cleavage would be at perfect viewing height for the peanut gallery.

Sometimes, she thought bitterly, height really was a disadvantage.

Deciding nothing more could be done to protect her modesty, Millie picked up a cardigan that had been laid out thoughtfully by Emma and swung it over her shoulders.

Downstairs, Percy waited by the door. His hand which had been holding onto the door handle clenched tight as his eyes fell upon her. His mouth opened and closed several times while his gaze was drawn involuntarily to the place she was most conscious of.

Millie cleared her throat causing him to startle and blush as his free hand came to rub sheepishly at the back of his head.

“Sorry Mimi,” He choked out before startling into standing position.

Millie closed her eyes and winced before daring to look over her shoulder. The expression on her father’s face was enough to bring goosebumps up the length of her covered arms. She was relieved that his attention was not on her and yet she felt guilty because her father was glaring holes in Percy like he was the cause of all evil .

“It’s okay Cogs,” She whispered under her breath before turning to face her father.

Her arms crossed over her chest in a poor attempt to hide what Percy had found so alluring but failed miserably. She hoped in the back of her mind that her father would balk at how much of her was on show. Surely he would attempt to protect her modesty, she tried to comfort herself. But after ten mere seconds of examining her attire, the man just nodded his head stiffly and grunted incoherently at her. Then before she could question him, he exited as swiftly and silently as he had arrived.

“That was strange,” Millie murmured, patting down her dress before looking up at Percy. “I feel as if I am missing something.”

Rolling his eyes, the man nodded his head over her shoulder. Huffing, she turned and followed his gaze to see an even worse of Emma wright. Despite her age, Richard had had thought to purchase the governess a dress of similar design to his daughter. In pink rather than blue, Emma looked beautiful, alluring and yet wholly uncomfortable.

Clearing her throat, the older woman folded her arms across her chest and would not meet Millie’s gaze – no matter how many times she ducked her head to try and claim it.

“Don’t worry Ms Wright, you and I will stick together tonight and offer men just reparations if they ogle our god given prizes when they should not.”

The haughty sniff Millie gave as she shook her fist at invisible oglers was enough to send Emma into a fit of laughter. The tight lines that had formed around her mouth dropped away and the poor woman visibly relaxed.

“Actually, I might have an idea.” Turning back around Millie looked towards Percy, a grin lighting her face which only got wider when her friend gulped and backed up. Only he had nowhere to go as her was already pressed up against the door.

Skipping over as fast as the heels and dress would allow, she stepped a little close to her friend. She felt king of proud and smug when his wide eyed gaze flickered down to take glances before flashing guiltily back up to her face. Playing with him, she walked her hands up her chest before pausing with it resting over where his heart laid. Those layers of flesh and bone separating them did nothing to hide the fact that his heart was pounding within his chest.

Titling her head to the side, Millie met Percy’s gaze. Almost instantly there was a flush upon his cheeks and he turned his attention to some point past her so she could not see what he was feeling. But she had seen enough.

Clearing her throat, the blonde backed away, but not before dipping her fingers into his pocket and snagging the white cloth within Stepping backwards, she waved it around like a trophy, a small but slightly confused smile upon her lips as held her gaze upon her best friend for a moment longer before turning back to Ms Wright.

“Here, tuck this in at the top to cover you up.” Millie handed the handkerchief over and watched as her friend delicately tucked it into place before nodding her approval. “I can go without as it will be an experiment. I will finally be able to prove which of the men actually have interest in ladies.”

She waggled her brows causing the rather proper woman before her to stutter and choke as she realised what the young woman was implying.

“Millicent Clancy!”

“What?” She asked, innocence coating her words as she blinked up at her mousy friend. “I may be blonde and a woman but I am far from naïve – in most cases.”

Emma was left spluttering as her eyes followed the woman’s defiant retreat that was pronounced loudly by each stomping step. She almost felt pity for the girl but then she remembered that she too would have to endure all of these hours of useless entertainment and not one person would be looking to court her. It was never advantageous when looking for a wife for her to be penniless and the hired help for their peers. It also didn’t help that she was disfigured. What good was a wife if she was not even pretty enough to look at?

Their arrival at the single’s ball was much unnoticed. Millie had assisted upon using their spare coach. It was one that had only been used once or twice and thus was not easily recognised by the who’s who of the town.

Quietly stepping from the carriage, the two women utilised the decorative fans that Mr Clancy had thoughtfully left upon their seats. Hidden behind the paper thin the two used them to progress through the other attending and to reach the threshold to the party.

Inside was more than they could ever have dreamed up. With the recent expedition to the Egyptian shores, the owners of the establishment had created a theme thus sand coloured columns and hand drawn hieroglyphics lined the outer edges of the room.

Many of the guests stood drinking from their crystal glasses, tittering under their breaths and marvelling at how they would love to go to the Egyptian shores but their doctor advised them against it. They were much too frail for such fancies. Instead they had donated some of their monies to the next group of explorers to head out to the exotic lands, hoping that they would find them their next tomb full of treasure.

Millie and Emma exchanged glances and shrugged though their lips were struggling not to let the laugh pass their lips. Everything about these functions was ridiculous and the sooner it was over the sooner she and her friend could get back to living their life.

Hiding out in the corner, both women thanked a waiter as he offered them both drinks and then waited until her had left again before talking. Emma was eyeing all of the different people in the room, varying degrees of disbelief as she caught sight of the attire.

“No modesty,” she muttered under her breath while her hand flew to the handkerchief that was still, much to Emma’s appreciation, covering her lady parts from the view of the other guests. “In my day, women were taught that the only way to get the man was to tantalise but not reveal. It is utterly scandalous.”

Millie shook her head and tried not to laugh at the words of her friend.

“If I ever catch you acting as shameful as those girls... And don’t think I missed that stunt with Percy.”

The blonde rubbed her arm as she tried to soothe the spot that had been prodded a little too hard by her overzealous friend.

“Let’s just say, you won’t be sitting down for a week if you ever do what she I doing.”

Emma’s dainty hands pointed across the room where one of the other society girls had taken the low collared dress idea to the extreme. Despite her lack of swellings in the area, her breasts were all but spilling out and she was making a consummate effort to thrust them into a blustering man’s face. It would have been funny if the older man didn’t look like he was going to fall over any second now with the way his face was getting so red.

“Don’t worry Ms Wright,” the blonde murmured, hiding her wide grin behind her fan. “If I ever do that, I give you permission to shoot me first. We all know I don’t want to marry – especially not one of the society men. I would rather marry someone who had a mind than someone with too many coins but no sense at all between their ears.”

“Ouch, I should say you wound me but then I would have to admit to listening to ladies talk.” The good natured voice chirped causing both women to snap their heads to the side and meet the twinkling gaze of Sir Henry.

He bowed and took both of their hands, placing chaste kisses on the back of each in turn. Then, he straightened and smiled, his hand coming over to scratch at his sideburns.

“I am sorry for intruding but the other ladies are a little too persistent for my tastes. I still wonder where modesty has gone.” He sighed wistfully, snorting when he caught sight of the girl they had been staring at only moments before.

Millie however was beaming on the inside. She knew that he would be good for her friend and this just about settled it. He wasn’t a caveman who would chain his wife to the house – even if Emma would probably enjoy it – but he wasn’t after some young floozy to be his trophy wife like most of the men seemed to be searching for.

“It’s not a problem Sir Henry.” The women both answered before looking at the other in surprise. A second later the three were chuckling.

The music, which was far from Egyptian as one could get, started the first notes of a waltz drawing the attention of the eccentric Lord.

He looked between both women for a second and then did what made Millie’s heart soar.

“Ms Emma, will you please give me this dance.”

He bowed and then before she could utter a single word of protest, Millie was left standing on the edge of the room watching her friend get truly flustered as she was swept into the arms of the man just made for her.

Deciding that as much fun as it was to watch her friend blush and stumble within the arms of Sir Henry, Millie could be doing other things – like causing trouble.

Having been brought up with most of these people, she knew their weaknesses like the back of their hands. And she knew their personalities too which is why she didn’t have the slightest qualm about stirring up trouble. Sidling up to the nearest woman, the one she had raised her brow at earlier on. The red haired woman was exotic in a room full of blondes and brunettes. And yet the heiress who had a fortune to rival that of the Clancy’s did not think that this earned herself enough attention. As with most socialites, they did not have enough common sense to appreciate what they have.

And this red head was the same. She was full of greed and would forever be discontent. Thus it filled Millie no guilt to send her on a false trail for the treasure she so surely sought.

Standing next to her and fanning herself with her father’s gift, she kept her eyes trained fully upon a man who was leant casually against one of the Egyptian columns directly opposite them. Millie knew, from having seen the man swap saliva before that his interest was definitely not in women.

Still catching the man’s gaze, he gave her a nod and a smile. Noting the attention the red head was paying to her exchange, Millie ducked her head and fanned her face even more, pretending to be flustered by his attentions.

“Are you interested in him?” A voice sniffed from beside the blonde.

She smiled but quickly dropped it and pretended to be a little breathless as she raised her head to catch the man’s eyes once more. They had spoken once or twice and Rylan, for that was his name, knew there was certainly mischief afoot. He raised his brows at her and when he caught sight of that devilish smile before it disappeared behind the fan, he raised his glass in acceptance.

At the very least, the blonde haired man thought, the night would not be boring with Clancy around.

“Of course I am,” Millie whispered breathlessly from behind her fan to hide her grin from the red haired girl who was now paying attention to the blonde across the room with newfound interest. “Haven’t you heard? He’s been made heir to a fortune that would make my father’s look tiny. And he had a house in France.  Besides, he would make some adorable babies.”

The Clancy heir tried not to gag as she uttered the words to the woman in a breathy voice she had heard other girls using before.

But the other girl, who had only asked in mild interest to begin with, now held a glint to her eyes that would have set Millie on edge if she truly had designs on Rylan. As it was, she smirked behind the cover of her face and watched the huntress eyed up her new prey. There was nothing that a girl, like the irritating red head beside her, liked more than stealing treasure from other people.

“Oh look, he’s gotten me all out of sorts.” Mille closed her fan with a snap and held it to her chest. “I’m afraid I need to freshen up, it is most unseemly to be caught this out of sorts.”

With a muttered goodbye that the red head barely heard, Millie hurried away to a free space a few columns down that would give her full viewing of the drama as it unfolded.

The red head had waited for Millie to get less than five feet away before she had fluffed her hair, pushed out her cleavage and then crossed through the ballroom with so much purpose that the crowds parted like the red sea. If the entire situation wasn’t so ludicrous, the Clancy heir would have been impressed at the attention one woman could command.

Still the woman strode up to Rylan who now had his full attention upon her, and definitely not the appreciative kind. She stopped only when her cloth covered breasts were touching his arms, drawing his attention down to his cleavage. The only difference was, this man’s nose wrinkled and he forced his attention back up to her face while a few of the man nearby were openly ogling everything that she had on display like it was a free show.

Millie snorted and looked away. And my father wonders why I don’t want to marry any of these imbeciles, she thought as her eyes strayed to a man nearby who was paying a little too much attention to her own exposed breasts.

The red head had now taken to leaning closer to the blonde hair male and smiling up at him in a manner that would be seductive - at least Millicent guessed that was what the woman was attempting to do.

The man at the focus of the foolish woman’s attentions was getting more and more uncomfortable as the seconds passed. He stood there for many seconds, enduring the flattery and arm stroking before he directed his attention to the grinning woman on the other side of the room. She just chuckled in response before nodding her head and raising a drink which she snatched from a tray that passed before her.

When Rylan could take it no more, he excused himself, his head ringing from the simpering voice that had been assaulting his ears for many minutes. He had pulled out his pocket watched and muttered something about meeting one of the ladies he was courting and then firmly detached the woman’s steadfast grasp around his limb.

He winced at the nails dug in and he was forced to endure a repulsive purr and a sloppy kiss on the cheek before he was allowed to leave. Millie Clancy would be getting pay back for that stunt.

Instead he crossed the floor and acting at as the highest form of civility he swept into a bow before the teary eyed woman. He growled at her upon seeing her in such a merry state while he had been accosted by the wretch who was determined to marry him before first light. Such women never usually bothered with him. He was born to the right class but he had neither the wealth nor the influence to turn most heads in the room which was the way that he liked it.

“What did you say to her,” He muttered as he gripped Millie’s hand a little too tight. She might have winced if she wasn’t used to being around men and their egos for most of her life.

“I may have told the irritating woman that you were one of the most eligible bachelors because you had just been named heir to a fortune that was larger than even my own.”

She smiled sweetly at him, ignoring the way he scowled and squished her callused hands a bit more.

“Don’t worry, she’s already on to her next target.”

Nodding her head over his shoulder, he spun her round in the practised movements that can only come with years of dance practise and looked towards his groper. She was now sprawled inelegantly over the lap of a skinny and rather affluent young man. He didn’t seem to mind all much, the young man’s attention ensnared by her bust though his mother who had obviously chaperoned him was looking more than a little scandalised at the entire affair.

“You never let these parties get boring Clancy.” He muttered before directing his gaze down at her own cleavage and raising a brow. “Now if you didn’t know my preferences I might be staring a little bit more. Although you are nowhere near as bad as read, I must ask –.” Millie raised her brows and the blonde choked. “Really? He is that desperate to marry you off he is dressing you up like this?”

“What do you think?”

That was her sardonic reply and the pair soon fell into silence. There was neither tension nor pretence between the two. It was why she didn’t care that was his hand, which was on her hip, rested a little lower than propriety allowed. It didn’t mean anything and she knew that he had no designs on her maidenhood.

“I was going to talk to you tonight anyway. I don’t know what your preferences are…” Rylan paused and looked the other way. It was only when her hand squeezed his that she dragged her gaze to rest on his once more. “If you truly do not wish to be the traditional wife – I could get your father off of your back. Marry me. We could be happy together – there would be no wifely duties of course. You will just be my cover for my parents and me for yours. That is if you don’t mind me having dalliances with men.”

Millie hadn’t realised she had stopped dancing until Rylan pulled her hand and urged her to continue with the movements. A frown had formed between her brows and the blonde stared at the lapels of his jacket which she realised were a darker shade of the blue that she was wearing. She might have thought it sweet that they unintentionally matching but her mind was too busy mulling over his proposition.

“I don’t know if I can put myself in a loveless marriage Rylan.” The blonde sighed as she looked at the rather well groomed ban in her embrace. “Can I think it over? I will let you know at the next ball. I’m working on something right now and if it works out I won’t have to marry anyone unless my heart orders me to do so.”

The man before her nodded his head in acceptance just as the song drew to a close. They pulled apart and he bowed before placing a kiss on the back of her hand.

“I will call around this week after putting through the calling card with my intent for courtship. After all, if you do decide to accept, it needs to look like we are genuinely entering into a marriage.” He stood upright once more and offered her a smile that managed to dazzle even Millie. “Good night Miss Clancy.”

With that he left her standing there in the middle of the dance floor feeling like she was thirteen again with her first crush. She had blushed and turned red every time Percy had looked at her until she had finally grown up enough to realise that they would never be together. Her father would never have allowed it.

Shaking away her thoughts, Millie hated that she now had one more thing to worry about. Glancing out over the crowds once more, she sighed a final time before plastering a fake smile upon her lips. There was no time for moping, she had to socialise before her father decided to do something more drastic to secure her in matrimony. That wouldn’t bode well for any concerned.