Captain and a Corset Read Online Free

practical matters. More positive ones.
    She had rights among the Illuminists, rights her sisters would never enjoy in high society, with its ideas of what place a woman should stand in.
    Like being able to kiss Bion Donkova if you like…
    She most certainly did not like that idea.
    How would you know? You’ve never been kissed.
    Well, at least not by a man, she hadn’t. There had been Jonathon Saddler, who had kissed her in the Brimmers garden during a ball last spring. Somehow, she doubted Bion would hesitate when he leaned toward her or that his kiss would be anything like the soft salutation Jonathon had bestowed on her before stiffening and hurrying her back to the safety of the matrons’ watchful eyes.
    There were no matrons inside the Illuminist society. In fact, among her rights was the one to take a lover without repercussions. Sophia laughed, certain her mother’s ghost was going to appear any second to reprimand her for even thinking such a thing.
    But you’ve taken it a step further with thinking about how Bion might kiss you.
    Sophia ground her teeth, not sure if she was exasperated or frustrated. She honestly wasn’t sure anymore. The first few months she had been a Novice had not seemed so difficult. She’d had classes to attend, like at a university, the difference being that among the Illuminists, females might study any subject from anatomy to the zodiac. Heat teased her cheeks when she recalled the one anatomy class she’d attended. She had expected a lecture and arrived to find the classroom full of scale models as well as two live ones.
    She unbuttoned her maroon coat and caught a glimpse of herself in the small mirror set above the sink. There was also a full-length one near the bathtub, but she’d draped a sheet over it, not wanting to see her entire body unclothed. Such was wicked, depraved, wanton…
    Or at least that was what the matrons had whispered.
    She drew in a deep breath and forced herself to look at her reflection in the mirror as she shrugged out of her coat. Her shoulders were smooth and sprinkled with tiny freckles. As far back as she could recall, her mother had insisted she wear a wide-brimmed hat to keep her face free of freckles to avoid being thought lowbred. In fact, everything she did was in an effort to avoid gossip and rumors. Her behavior had been constantly critiqued so that she might mend her ways before society labeled her something that might bring shame to the family.
    Yet now, all of it was useless. The Illuminists were looked down upon by society, like the unfortunates who worked in the brothels or the Jews who kept to their own sections of town. Once a person began wearing the gold pin of the Illuminist Order, they were not received by the most respected members of society. There were exceptions—those who benefited from the Illuminist technology too much to look down their noses at them.
    She turned the knob to fill the tub with water—it was nice, with a high back like a little slipper shoe. It was coated in white enamel and the water coming from the tap was the clearest she had ever seen. She cupped her hand beneath it, marveling at the pristine clearness. Only country homes—and the Illuminists—had such good water. According to one of her professors, they used a filtration system, but she’d not yet studied it. She did know how to use the twin levers attached to either side of the water pipe. She lifted them, and as she did so, the crystals in each lever began to react to one another. They formed a current and steam began to gently rise from the water coming from the tap. Once more she cupped the water, smiling at the temperature. A hot bath. So easily. There were advantages to being an Illuminist, no doubt about it.
    She fussed with the busk closure on the front of her corset. The undergarment bothered her because she was used to making her own, which fit her perfectly. But every possession she had was lost to her now.
    Another little dictate she’d