Emilia had never been idle outside of sleep and, according to most who'd witnessed her at rest, she wasn't idle even then. So, rather than standing about panicking, she began unpacking her mistress' trunk - a task which would be much easier if her mistress would be still or, better yet, go and fix this awful mess.

"Oh, no, Miss Prudence," Miss Prudence herself said, tossing the dress she was holding aside carelessly, pulling out another, "not that one. You must wear your blue dimity or the yellow-"

"Your dimity dress is green," Emilia said, snatching the blue dress away from her before she tossed it about as well. "And your yellow muslin is not at all the thing for supper. Now will ye stop foolin' and step out of that brown, wrinkled thing so I can-"

"Such a shame I couldn't persuade you to curl your hair last night," Prudence said lightly, plucking out the curling tongs. "Now I shall burn your ears with this terrible contraption. It's all your own fault for not mindin' me."

"That sounds nothin' like me," Emilia protested.

"Oh, yes, it does!" Prudence muttered, digging in the trunk again. "Now, I just have to choose a ribbon for your hair. I will take as long as possible, of course, since this is obviously the most important choice since Wellington enlisted."

Emilia took the ribbons away, too. "Very amusing. You've had your fun now. Will you please change your dress?"

She turned to her, still fooling with the curling tongs. "But why?"

"So you can go down to supper and correct this."

Prudence smiled blandly. "But why?" she asked again. "Are you commanding me? As your ladies maid, I suppose--"

"You're sillier than your sister."

"Charity would be very insulted to hear that."

"Miss Prudence, please..."

"Call me Emilia," her charge said, laughing madly. "I might even forgive Carter for betraying me because this is so much better than I could have imagined!"

It was obvious Prudence was going to draw this out as long as possible. She'd kept it up so far. Prudence sat by while Mrs. Baddeley insisted on Emilia drinking a noxious headache remedy right in front of her. Emilia had little choice but to go along, and her headache had not been remedied at all.

"No one here knows me," Prudence said, still smiling. "Not even Pembroke, my apparent lovesick swain. Did you hear him? He said I was just as lovely as he remembered... while staring at you!"

"Well, I-"

"Look, I'm not saying you aren't lovely. You are."

"That's not what I have a problem with. I-"

"Claiming to be so besotted by me and he sees you and doesn't know the difference." Prudence threw up her hands. "Come now, you must see it, too! It's too funny!"

"I see nothin' funny about it," Emilia huffed. "If ye'd let me change your gown in the first place, ye'd have arrived lookin' more like yourself and less like... like..."

"Like your maid!" Miss Prudence gasped. "Won't this be a lark? Do you suppose I'll be shown to my chamber soon? I suppose I shall have to wear your clothes, but we're of a similar size, so I think--"

"No. There's no need to take this so far." Emilia's eyes widened. "I'm sure Lord Pembroke has learned his lesson."

"Sir Anthony Pembroke," Prudence corrected. "We must not forget him. The man who adores me so!" She let out a giggle, then sobered slightly. "You're to address him as Sir Anthony."

"Yes, him." Emilia didn't join in her laughter. She had barely seen their host. She'd hardly taken her eyes off the other gentleman, Mr. Byrne. Wasn't he the one who threw all the wild parties Prudence disapproved of so? If it weren't for that, his callous attitude toward dogs was another mark against him. "And why would I have to address him at all? I'll hardly see Lord Anth-"

"Sir Anthony," the girl corrected again. "You'll have to get it right if we're to make it to the end."

"To what end?"

"Can you imagine," Prudence said excitedly, "if he wooed you, never suspecting? He might decide he's no longer so fascinated with me once we reveal-"

"No," Emilia said firmly.

"But think of how much he would be humbled if-"

"Perhaps we could reveal it to him right now and he'll be so embarrassed he'll no longer want to propose," Emilia offered.

"No, that won't work. If anything, he'll probably declare it the cleverest trick and say he wants to marry me even more." Prudence snorted. "He's after my dowry, I'd wager. He won't be easily dissuaded. And we are trapped here with him for two weeks, at least."

"Then let's correct this now so-"

"What we need is for you to keep putting him off till the very end and then--"

"Please stop making me a part of this!"

"And then, when he proposes," Prudence went on, perhaps willfully ignoring her, "I can swoop in and declare that he spent two weeks wooing the wrong maiden and I've seen his fickle heart. I can't possibly marry him now. It will be positively Shakespearean!"

Emilia winced. "Covered in blood at the end?"

"No, no. A hilarious comedy of errors that reveals the flaws of human nature," Prudence sighed, tossing herself on the bed. "Why does no one ever think of the comedies? They are his cleverest wordplay, you know."

"This is not a play. This is... it's madness!"

"It is, isn't it? Four couples at a house party. The Bard himself might be intrigued."

"Perhaps Sir Anthony might find love elsewhere. All the better for you to clear things up now and--"

Prudence sat up. "But that's even better! I mean, if be proposes to some other girl, I'll miss making the grand speech. Perhaps we can make an announcement in front of everyone, a big to-do about how Miss Crewe was a maid all along and they didn't know. Won't that make a lovely jab at the nobility and their foibles? Their false ideas of superiority?"

"I don't want to make a jab at anyone," Emilia finally burst out. "I don't want to be part of this... scenario, this comedy, this humblin' or whatever ye want to call it! I know very well that I work for you, but ye can't force me to-"

"Oh, Emilia! I'm not forcing you into anything!" Prudence rushed to her then. "I know very well I can't. You don't work for me, after all."

"No, I don't," Emilia said in relief, finally remembering that. While she might have worked with Miss Crewe and her sister, she was not bound to do everything they told her to. "Your parents would be very upset at this sort of thing. I might have been sacked after that business with Miss Charity and I won't risk-"

"But you weren't!" Prudence smiled. It wasn't reassuring. "No one blamed you for any of it. And really, who would blame you for this? It started with a misunderstanding and perhaps this can end with no one we know the wiser. A few rumors perhaps, but who would really pay attention? We barely know anyone here."

"I don't like-"

"I've seen you looking at my dresses. I've even seen you watching parties in the hallway, pretending you don't want to dance. I don't want this life and I freely admit it, but you..." Prudence gripped her arm as she moved toward the closet. "You'd surely enjoy it more than I do. At least for a little while!"

Emilia tore her arm away, then used it to hang a dress. "You can't make me do this and that's that," Emilia said firmly, caressing the skirts as she put it away. It was the green with the Swiss dots. Prudence had yet to wear it.

Yes, she'd often wished for a life where she might wear the dresses she cared for. But she'd never been such a fool as to believe that day would come. Even now, it seemed ridiculous to imagine she could put herself in these dresses, in this life, that anyone would be fooled.

"Very well. I won't force you," Prudence finally said.

Emilia let out a relieved sigh and turned back to her. "Thank you."

"I shall entice you." Prudence grinned.

"With what?" Emilia scoffed. "Will ye be offerin' me a room in your cottage by the sea?"

Prudence paled and drew away. "How do you know about that?"

Emilia blinked at her. "So it's... real?"

"Not precisely. But it's the plan." Prudence crossed her arms, sitting on the bed. "I rather wonder how you know the plan."

"Miss Charity might have said something about it," Emilia shared reluctantly, sitting beside her.

"Well! Now I know how well Charity keeps a secret. I'm not surprised, but-"

"I don't think she meant to give it away. She was upset. This was after that mess with Lord Sanderson. She seemed to have some mad idea that we could all retire from men together in a seaside cottage and do as we wished. It sounded like a silly fairytale."

Prudence chuckled. "I suppose it is a bit of a fairytale. I haven't found a village that measures up yet. It would have to be somewhere with like-minded individuals for literary salons, poetry readings, the kind of society that appreciates art and beauty." Her eyes grew distant. "But then there's the matter of Crewe House and seeing that things are going along well enough that I can..." She seemed to stop herself. "Look, this cottage by the sea... I know it sounds more like a castle in the clouds, so I won't insult you with it. I think you're far too sensible for that."

Emilia sighed in relief. Retiring with Miss Prudence wasn't her idea of a perfect life in the first place, but the very words "literary salon" had her tempted to sleep where she stood.

"I shall bribe you," Prudence exclaimed, her eyes lighting again. "What are your wages?"

Emilia stood. "I'm not goin' to discuss-"

"I could double them for our time here."

Emilia shook her head. "That's not worth risking my livelihood." She was in line to be housekeeper, after all. And no amount of money now would make up for the security she might have later, and for more than her.

"Triple then?" Prudence moved the the dresser, retrieving her reticule. "This isn't a castle in the clouds. I have the money. I promise I can give you half now."

Emilia stared as Prudence pulled out several notes. "How do you have-"

"Never mind that." Prudence held out her hand.

Emilia stared at the notes a moment before them away. "There's no possible way-"

"You've stood in for my fittings so we already know the gowns will work."

"I... I don't even know who's a lord and who's a mister."

"Oh, that's nothing. I've never been known to be socially adept. Just stick your head in a book and shush them if they bother you too much."

Emilia gasped. "I'm not goin' to-"

"Then never mind the books. You can dress as grandly as you like, dance, make a little merry..."

Emilia scoffed loudly. "No one will believe I'm you if I do any of that."

"Then you can hole yourself up somewhere with your sewing basket. Claim you're practicing embroidery. I've spent half my house parties skipping the games and finding somewhere to paint."

"And what of meals and all that?"

"You eat them. You've set tables. You know which utensil to--"

"That's not the--"

"I have spent the last five years unwillingly parading myself around at parties. It's a tedious waste of time and energy, but believe me when I say it's not difficult. This can be done."

"Stop talkin' as if I'm doing this. I'm not. And if you won't tell them, I will." Emilia started for the door, pulling it open.

"Fifty pounds now, fifty later," she heard Prudence say behind her.

Emilia stilled. She might have thought no amount of money was worth it, but... A hundred pounds was five times what she made in a year, and ten times more than her paltry savings, squirreled away over the past five years. It was enough to keep her father comfortable enough that he might stop his nonsense.

"I'm mad to even consider this," she said, turning around slowly.

Prudence smiled widely. "So you are considering it."

*****************

TBC

Thanks for your patience, guys. I have had more free time this week (who hasn't?), but my corona-induced depression and anxiety keeps getting in the way. This has canceled all my gigs and left me wondering what my life will be like when this ends, IF this ends. It's just a very hard reality to wrap your head around without panic.

Not sure how many of you are feeling this way, too, but stay safe out there, wash your hands, and try to keep up your spirits.

Escaping into another world helps a bit, so I should be posting the next on Tuesday and we will be meeting the rest of the house party guests, most of whom I have "cast" and I'm very excited about the actors I've chosen. However, feel free to imagine whoever you wish. :)