Vanessa pushed meekly up to her feet, unwilling to further protest. Dora considered the last part of the treatise upstairs—but the look on the countess’ face was dark, and after her earlier carriage ride with Auntie Frances, Dora suspected there was little chance of victory in the matter. She rose quietly after Vanessa and followed her cousin up the stairs.
Only one of the maids had been sent to help Dora with her dress; now that Vanessa had caught Edward’s attention, it was clear that Dora had become an afterthought once again. Since she had so few dresses with her, Dora put on the mint green dress that Lady Carroway had given her, discreetly pinning it up along the sides once more. It was still quite clear that she was wearing a hand-me-down—however expensive—but the dress made Dora feel warm and comforted, rather like one of Vanessa’s hugs. Part of her hoped that Lady Carroway would be at the ball with her son, and that she would be pleased to see Dora making use of her gift.
The maid styled Dora’s hair as best she could in the time they had left. Dora had no jewelry to wear this time, but since she was unlikely to get much attention other than pitying looks, any further adornment was probably unnecessary.
Vanessa was in a new brown and gold dress, with her blond hair done up in rubies. It was quite clear to Dora that the hens had pulled out all the stops to ensure that her cousin would be particularly eye-catching tonight. Vanessa looked calm and composed, but Dora could tell that she was still quietly upset over the day’s events, beneath all of the finery.
The countess was already waiting in the carriage by the time that Dora, Vanessa, and Auntie Frances joined her. She was wearing a rich burgundy gown, along with an embarrassment of jewels—looking at her in that moment, Dora thought that she must surely be the epitome of everything that Elias so hated.
“There you are,” Lady Hayworth cooed, as Vanessa settled into her seat. “Oh, just look at you! I cannot wait for you to walk into that ball. All of the other women will be just green with envy, won’t they?” She shared a smug smile with Auntie Frances, who chuckled as though she’d heard a very fine joke.
“Thank you, Lady Hayworth,” Vanessa said quietly. It was a polite, rote response, however; she was already staring out the window of the carriage, and Dora suspected that her cousin’s mind was very far away from anything like dresses and balls.
“You will keep Albert busy as much as possible, of course,” Auntie Frances told Dora in a cool tone. “If he does still harbour an interest in Vanessa, he must not be allowed to show it too much, or else Edward might overthink his own attentions.”
“I will do my best,” Dora promised. But she was thinking about the ball nearly as little as Vanessa was doing; all of her thoughts were on the last quarter of the treatise, still sitting in her room.
Chapter 13
Lady Cushing’s ball was an even grander affair than the one they’d attended at Carroway House; the crowd seemed smaller and more choice, and the outfits correspondingly more expensive. There was a great chandelier on the ceiling with bits of dangling crystal that threw reflections all across the walls, and the entirety of the wooden floor had been chalked up with fanciful geometric designs.
To this affair, they had arrived fashionably late, after the dancing was in full swing. Predictably, Dora had ended up sitting with her aunt in the corner while Vanessa was politely swarmed with dance requests. Much later in the ball, however, Albert made his appearance, only slightly ruffled from whatever diversion had occupied him between the afternoon’s events and the party. To the great satisfaction of Auntie Frances and the countess, he soon came over to ask Dora for her first dance.
“God willing, Master Ricks will not remain in his position for very much longer,” Albert said, as soon as they had reached the dance floor. “My father has taken up the matter himself.”
Dora frowned. “But Master Ricks is still in charge for the moment?” she asked.
“He is,” Albert muttered distastefully. “I did what I could to dissuade him from further abuses this afternoon, but it is not so simple to remove him at a moment’s notice. There is no exact law forbidding him from what he did, and there are not so many people willing to take his place. But it has occurred to me that Master Ricks looks much richer than his station should suggest. If I am right, and he has been embezzling from the workhouse, a short investigation into his thievery should accomplish what moral outrage would not.”
Dora sighed. “I begin to wonder if moral outrage has ever accomplished anything,” she murmured. “We do not seem to ever feel such outrage when it regards matters outside of these ballrooms.” Then, with a blink, she said: “Oh. I am sorry. That was a bit bleak.”
Albert smiled wryly at her. “Just for tonight, I share the sentiment,” he said. “With good luck and plenty of wine, I hope to recover my optimism again by tomorrow.” His eyes focussed over her shoulder, and Dora caught sight of Vanessa and his brother Edward dancing together, not far off from them. “You seem quite close with your cousin, Miss Ettings,” Albert said distantly. “Would you do me the great favour of your honest opinion, and tell me the sort of wife you think she might make?”
Dora gave Albert an openly curious look, and he flushed. “Oh, not for me!” he assured her. “You must have noticed that Edward has shown an interest in her. He asked much earlier my opinion of your cousin, and I did not have an answer for him. After
