Changing Kitty

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Kitty spent the better part of the day getting ready for the military salute at Sir Walter Martin’s residence. She wanted to look her best regardless of what Captain Aubrey had insinuated. Looking beautiful was not a crime and it certainly did not mean she was condemned to the sky.

A maid helped her with her long brown hair, making what were unkempt curls into a lovely braided up – do with a few loose tendrils hanging by her face. Her gown was a beautiful ivory colour and the seam had been dropped to the waist as the fashions changed. She enjoyed the new waistline better as it showed off the ladies figures rather than them seeming ambiguous with the seams being under the bust. The only negative was the tighter corsets so that waistlines appeared smaller.

Once the maid had been dismissed Kitty took a good look at herself in the mirror. She’d never thought of herself as a vain person. She’d always been grateful that she’d been fortunate looking. She pinched her cheeks a few times to redden them a little before standing up. She thought the time to leave would be arriving soon.

As she stood there was a knock on the door. “Can I come in?” Sabine asked from the other side of the door.

“Yes,” Kitty called back.

Sabine entered the room looking very uncomfortable. She sat down immediately on Kitty’s bed and took some deep breaths. “Why must my waist be cinched so?” she complained and laid her head back on the bed.

“Do not ruin your hair, Sabine!” Kitty said warily. Sabine immediately sat back up rolling her eyes.

“At home I braid my hair myself in the morning and mama does not fret about it,” she moaned and rubbed her corseted waist.

Kitty smiled at her elder cousin. “If it makes you feel any better, you look stunning.” It was the truth. Sabine was oblivious to her beauty and often denied it. Her hair was effortlessly shiny and she didn’t need rags to keep it curly which Kitty envied. Every night she had rags digging into the back of her neck and it severely irritated her.

Sabine scoffed. “If you say so,” she said in disbelief. “I don’t know how you manage all these parties, I am so tired!”

It suddenly hit Kitty that Sabine was absent from breakfast that morning. “I suppose mama allowed you to sleep this morning?” she asked knowingly.

“I’m grateful to Aunt Em for allowing me to sleep, I needed it,” she smirked. “But I do wish I could be home. I know men find me boring here.”

Kitty knew that was true. Sabine was not boring as a person once you got to know her, she was kind and generous and knowledgeable ... it was just that the men during the London season appreciated the girls that liked to laugh and were forthcoming with their affections ... something that Sabine was definitely not.    

“Why don’t you like dancing, Sabine? If you relaxed a little you might find someone who catches your eye,” Kitty urged positively, joining her cousin on the bed.