The Marquess Move (EBOOK)

London, Twelfth Night, 1814, The Earl of Hazelton’s Town House

Madeline Atwood had two choices. She could rush back up the stairs, ask Anna to help her remove the stolen ballgown, replace the pilfered slippers and carry on as before, no one the wiser. Or she could continue her descent to the ballroom, where there was music and dancing and her one chance to fulfill her lifelong dream. One magical night when she could pretend she was a debutante at a grand London ball.

Maddie peered over the servants’ staircase. No one was there. Thank goodness. Now was her chance. The other servants were down in the kitchens preparing copious amounts of food. Or they were scattered about the rooms of Lord Hazelton’s town house, catering to the two hundred guests who were enjoying themselves at the Hazeltons’ annual Twelfth Night Ball.

Maddie glanced down at herself. She was wearing a sapphire ballgown that (thankfully) fit her perfectly and white satin slippers with blue satin bows on the tips. The slippers were too large, but she would make do. Her friend, Anna, had helped her twist her blond hair into a chignon, though Maddie had not been brave enough to pilfer any jewelry from Lady Henrietta’s collection. She was already taking too much of a chance as it was.

Maddie took a deep, shaky breath. If she continued and was found out, she’d be risking everything she’d worked for these three past years. Molly was depending on her. Dear sweet Molly, seventeen years old. Out in the country living with Mrs. Halifax, who’d taken in the sisters after Papa’s untimely death and the subsequent nightmare they’d endured. Molly needed Maddie to provide for her. She was all her younger sister had. The day Papa had passed away, his throat so ravaged by consumption, he’d barely been able to speak.

“Take care of your sister, Madeline,” he’d croaked.

“I will, Papa. I promise.”

And then Maddie had gone and done something that had not only compromised Molly’s future, but her own. Which was why at the age of one and twenty, Maddie, the elder daughter of a baron, was working as a lady’s maid for one Lady Henrietta Hazelton in London, scrimping and saving every ha’penny to send back home to her sister.

Maddie peered down the staircase once more. A thrill of excitement shot through her. She shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be dressed this way. She shouldn’t be contemplating what she was contemplating. But after three years of following the rules every second, she was about to burst. Tonight, she intended to take a chance, to have a bit of fun. Just a small taste of the life she’d always thought would be hers until it all went wrong.

What she was about to do was stupid and selfish. But if she had to endure one more day in the drudgery of service without anything exciting, or even mildly out of the ordinary, she’d go mad. There was no choice, really. She already knew what she would do. She had known it since the moment she’d woken up this morning with her outlandish idea lodged in her brain and whispered it to Anna in the early, cold, dark moments before they slid from bed and began their chores. Maddie was going to sneak into her employer’s ball and pretend to be a guest.