Masquerade Read Online Free

think?”
    “Years.”
    Months.

    Lottie went to the window a third time. Or was it her fourth? Dora had lost count.
    “Where are they?”
    Dora repeated the answer she’d given before. “I’m certain they’ll be here soon.” She diverted to the buffet and rechecked the serving utensils that were ready for the dishes Mrs. Movery had prepared for the birthday celebration.
    “Where’s Mother?” Lottie asked.
    “I don’t know.” Again, it was a repeated answer. Even Dora found it odd Mrs. Gleason was elsewhere. As the mistress of Dornby Manor, shouldn’t she be fluttering about, making sure everything was in perfect order? Dora had been happy to don a black maid’s uniform in order to assist—for it would give her firsthand knowledge of who said what and what gift was received—but as the hour passed into the quarter, then the half, then the three-quarter …
    Lottie needed her mother’s reassurance. And so, Dora took matters into her own hands. “I’ll go find her for you.”
    “Thank you. I—” Lottie ran from the window toward the door. “A carriage!”
    Dora raced into the foyer after her, hoping Lottie didn’t wrench open the door before the guests even had a chance to knock.
    Davies, the butler, intercepted Lottie before she did just that. And with a stolid look he implied she would not interfere with his duty of greeting all comers.
    Dora gently tugged Lottie back into the drawing room. “Be here to greet them. Don’t look too eager. Remember you’re a grown lady now.”
    Lottie’s blink told her she had forgotten her goal. She moved a few feet inside the room, her hands assaulting the bottom button of her bodice.
    As Dora feared for the button’s safety there was a knock on the door. Lottie bounced upon her toes. Dora pressed the air with her hands. Calm now. Calm. Then she moved to the fireplace wall, making herself inconspicuous.
    There was a voice in the hall and then Miss Suzanna Weaver entered. Lottie smiled, but her eyes moved past her friend into the foyer, clearly expecting to see others.
    “Dearest Lottie.” Miss Weaver set a small package on a table, then took Lottie’s hands in her own and kissed her cheeks. “The happiest of birthdays.”
    “Thank you,” Lottie said. “Please have a seat. I’m sure the others will be here presently, but until then I’d love to hear all the latest—”
    Miss Weaver looked to the floor, her one hand finding comfort in its mate. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t stay.”
    “Can’t stay? What—?”
    “My parents don’t even know I’m here, and they’d be ever so upset if they … But I had to come to wish you the best, and …” She backed toward the door.
    Lottie rushed toward her, taking her arm. “Suzanna, do tell me what’s going on.”
    Suzanna did a double take when she spotted Dora, but Dora merely dropped her gaze to the floor. She was not about to leave until Lottie told her to do so.
    Suzanna moved toward Lottie in confidence. “I can’t be the one to tell you, Lottie. It’s not my place.”
    “But it is. We’re friends. Friends tell each other everything.”
    Suzanna’s head shook no, making it appear she was denying both her position to tell the truth as well as her friendship with Lottie. She was not one of Dora’s favorites—nor Lottie’s either. Suzanna Weaver was far too full of herself and put on airs beyond her due. Lottie had told Dora an anecdote about a party when Suzanna had directed where everyone would sit and stand, to the extent that the entire affair had seemed like an audience before a queen.
    “Fine. Don’t tell me,” Lottie said. “I’ll just wait until Ralph arrives. He’ll tell me whatever I want to know.”
    “Ralph isn’t coming either. And …” Suzanna’s face changed from one full of regret and sorrow to one steeped with smug self-satisfaction. “No one is coming to your party, Lottie. Not a one.”
    Lottie stood mute, and Dora saw her jaw tighten.
    “Did you hear