servants to hear before she set her spectacles back onto her nose.
Instantly, her sight blurred.
Sarah took the bag and, together, they departed.
Seven years had passed since Caroline and Sarah had first met that day at the market. Seven long years, which had turned two strangers into close friends. Seven years, in which both their lives had changed.
After her promise to Sarah, Caroline had worked day and night on a plan to do what she deemed right without alerting her parents to her intentions. In the end, she’d reasoned that if she acted the obedient daughter at all times, her parents would grant her greater freedom, never once expecting her to use it in ways of which they would not approve.
Sunday after Sunday, Caroline had brought Sarah food and clothes, staying longer and longer to talk and listen. Before long, she’d begun to teach Sarah all she knew, starting with the basics of speech as well as the written word to more elaborate items such as etiquette and formal address. In return, Sarah had shared her own life, the loss of her parents, the daily fight of providing for herself, the rules of the street.
When Sarah had been old enough, Caroline had groomed her to become her lady’s maid. She’d forged recommendations and whispered in her parents’ ears of all the wonderful things she’d heard about Sarah. In the end, her father had been rather disinterested with the topic in general and her mother had trusted her beyond the shadow of a doubt to hire whomever she saw fit.
Walking down the pavement side by side, Caroline sighed and pushed the spectacles down to the tip of her nose. “Ah, better.”
Sarah chuckled. “Do you truly believe it is imperative you wear these?” Her green eyes swept over Caroline’s colorless dress. “I should think these drab clothes as well as that awful powder you have me put on your hair each day already do the trick.”
Caroline gleaned over her spectacles as they made to cross the street. “Since I cannot be certain of that, I’d rather be too careful than too careless.”
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll ruin your eyes?”
Whenever the throbbing in her head began, Caroline did on occasion wonder if she was risking too much. However, if her father actually managed to find her a suitor, she would no longer be able to lead her life the way she herself saw fit. Caroline would never risk that. Too much was at stake. Too many lives depended on her.
“I’ll be fine,” was all she said, ignoring the way Sarah rolled her eyes at her.
“All I’m saying,” her rather opinionated lady’s maid continued, “is that you cannot even remember the last time anyone’s asked you to dance, is that not so?”
“True,” Caroline admitted with a bit of triumph.
“Clearly, your plan is working well. You have them all fooled, including your parents.” Sarah snickered. “Every once in a while, your mother sighs in regret, but other than that she does nothing, does she? And your father is too busy trying to find a suitor for Rebecca.”
Indeed, Caroline’s cousin, Rebecca, who had come to live with them after losing her own parents six years ago, was a stunning beauty. She possessed dark auburn hair and eyes of the deepest green Caroline had ever seen. Heads turned and conversations stopped whenever she walked past. Indeed, her father would have no trouble finding Rebecca a husband. As a matter of fact, it seemed he had already decided on one, namely Viscount Coleridge. The man was as dull and boring as Rebecca was passionate and spirited. They were like fire and water, the worst match imaginable.
At least as far as their characters were concerned. However, Caroline’s father did not care for such nonsense. What he cared about was that the man was titled. It was as simple as that.
All her life, Caroline had fought to be spared such a fate, to be pawned off to the highest bidder. And her plan had worked. It was working. Unfortunately, her dear cousin was not as fortunate.
“Still, if Rebecca marries a titled man,” Caroline replied as they turned the corner and then headed down the street leading them away from the nobler neighborhoods of London, “I’m afraid it will elevate my status as well. Some men might be tempted to see past my appearance and only consider my dowry as well as my family’s connections. I cannot risk that.”
Sarah nodded, the smile on her face dimming.
“I know you mean well,” Caroline told her