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Hero pulled off her pelisse, her head throbbing, tossed the garle chair in her room, then sat on the bed, unbuttoned her shoes, and lay back with her eyes closed, hoping a short sleep would stop the ache; she could not face an evening of eating and dancing with her skull feeling as if it had been caught in a vise; her eyes felt as if they had been blackened and her tongue seee for her mouth Ever since breakfast with Hyacinthie and the ladies, she had been feeling a bit unwell, as if so she had eaten was not quite wholesome She knew she had to rid herself of the pain and the irritating dazzle in her eyes She ondering if she should rub her teoczy to ask hi from his case of medicaments, when there was a knock at the door "Yes?" she called "Who&039;s there?"
"Rogier, Madaier," she said, feeling her hair to be sure the knot was properly in place, and thinking it ard not to have herthethe door ajar to prevent any semblance of the clandestine "My master asked me to see how you are"
"I have a headache," she adht cause Ragoczy to worry when he learned of it "A rest should o away in an hour or so"
"Would soier ventured; he saw she was pale and her face showed signs of strain "I have that and tincture of pansy as well, or soer, if you wish"
She shook her head "I think I willevening," Rogier persisted "You ht do better to treat your discomfort now, so that you will not have to leave the festivities early" He saw her hesitate "I could bring theestion appealed to her "That would beelse you require?"
"No; the two tinctures should be h I know the Comte doesn&039;t provide laudanum for the headache-or much else other than open wounds to be stitched closed" She pinched the bridge of her nose,a face as she did "If you will see I&039;ier, and withdrew to the Rose Roolass bottles of tincture and a ewer of cold water froht these in to Hero, setting theht-stand next to the bed "Here you are, Madame I noticed that your roo this to you as well"
Hero looked at the bottles and the ewer "This should be sufficient If I need anything more, I shall call you At three I should send for Serilde to help arreen, vinepattern jacquard forht train and prihter, but not so forbidding as black or dull-purple would be; it was preferable to her other forown in dark-amber silk, suitable for private feasts at Scharffensee but too festive for this occasion The green was preferable in every way To acconificent necklace of diaifts frorandeur in this select coarment ready by the time she rose from her nap With this in mind, she lass and added water The taste was not too unpleasant; she reain she leaned back, adjusted the pillows to ease her head, then made up her mind to fall asleep: twenty ht slumber, and thirty minutes later was solidly asleep
Shortly after three, Serilde knocked on Hero&039;s door, then went in, walking as softly as she could She found Hero still sleeping, looking a bit pale but otherell Deciding to give Hero a little own Hero would wear and hung it on the dressing-rack next to the ars before hanging up the pelisse Hero had taken off two hours before A glance at the clock on the night-stand reminded her that it was tiently said, "Madame von Scharffensee? Madame von Scharffensee?"
Hero opened her eyes sloinced, then looked around "Serilde What time is it?"
"Fifteen minutes past three, Madame You asked to be wakened" Serilde smiled a little "You will be expected downstairs at five"
"Five Yes I remember Hyacinthie and Constanz" She stretched as she sat up "Then I suppose I had better dress"
"Yes, Madaly "I see you have anticipatedyesterday" Serilde kept her eyes on the gown, not Hero
"I thank you for being so thorough" She thought of thewith her father, when she rarely had the help of a well-trained servant "I do appreciate your efforts"
"How are you feeling, Madaier had delivered an hour ago
"A little dull, but generally better," she said
"Rogier said you had the headache" She said it matter-of-factly, in case the inforone now" This was almost accurate: a little reh to colass of water with tinctures before she went down to the ball and she was sure she would be ready to face the evening
"Should I ask the Comte to-"
"No, that won&039;t be necessary; I&039; perplexed by the headache, for she rarely got theencies of travel had tired her own out" She did her best to shtest silk underwear, and the most flexible body-band I own"
"Will you want a shawl?" Serilde asked
"It would probably be best I think the lovely black one, the one ht"
"That it is," said Serilde, reet it directly After I have laid out your other things I take it you want the long silk under-tunic?"
"Yes, if you would The silk is preferable to the cotton" She turned as Serilde approached her so that she could unfasten the sixteen covered buttons down the back of her walking-dress "You may rest in this room after you have your dinner and your free hour I don&039;t expect you to wait up forevening," said Serilde, who knew the Schloss servants were predicting the festivities would go on past two in theas late as city parties can run, but well past ht" She was not enthused at the prospect "I&039;ll need your help, but I don&039;t expect you to stay awake"
"That is kind of you, Madalad to obey"
"Thank you," said Hero, striving to su toward the mirror on theto do withsiown, a braided coronet will set off the rest and still fra to your circuht-brown hair "Since you say you will not dance-"
"I&039; would be disrespectful," said Hero
"And the Comte does not dance," said Serilde cannily "Still, you&039;re right It is bad enough that the Graf has ignored hisward for this occasion-you need not follow his exaht hi as she sed that her head was still a bit sore and her muscles were strained because of it
"No one would think you would, but you can&039;t help but dehed "These matters are never easy, are they, Madame?"
"Not inthat we shall be leaving the day after toe in the weather, but there was much more hidden in her remark than was readily apparent-Serilde was ho
"As you say," Hero agreed
Serilda returned to her present concerns "Shall I set out the violet scent, or would you prefer the tuberose?"
Hero thought, and said, "Violet, I think"
Serilde opened one of the drawers in the chest and extracted a glass bottle with an elaborate stopper "Here you are"
"Put it on the dresser, if you would, and then helpthe cuffs; she bent at the hips to allow Serilde to re in a chemise and petticoat over her body-band She untied the petticoat and stepped out of it, then tugged off her chearters, and under-drawers She motioned to the laces up the back of the body-band and said, "I should probably wear a bosom-lifter as well"
"I packed the body-band that has a bosohtweight"
"That&039;s just what I need," said Hero,
Serilde finished loosening the lacings; with a practiced sweep she rearment and put it on the end of the bed "I&039;ll fetch the new body-band"
"Thank you," said Hero, feeling the chill of the roooczy "Are all the rooms in this place drafty?"
"Every roo Hero the body-band with bosom-lifter She held this over Hero&039;s head so Hero could slip her arh it, and settle it in place on her torso, then set to tightening the lacings "How ht, and a supper at ht I don&039;t want to burst er at the mention of food, and was mildly puzzled, since she had not dined at mid-day
"As you wish, Madame," said Serilde as she did her best to adjust the body-band as Hero wanted
The long silken under-tunic was selected froerie; Hero applied a little of the violet perfume between her breasts and then readied herself for the jacquard ball-dress Serilda slipped the gown over her head and carefully pulled it down into place, taking tihten the under-arm sea the twenty-two buttons down the back of the gown When she was finished, she brought out the necklace and ear-drops, handing them to Hero
"If you will make sure the latch is secure?" Hero asked when she had put on the necklace
"Certainly," said Serilde, inspecting the coht"
"Thank you I&039;ll put on my ear-drops after you have dressed my hair"
"Do you ool-fat for your hair, Madaiven it sufficient It is shiny" She pulled the pins out of her hair, loosening the easy knot that was now seriously askew "I have four pins with diamonds in them I think I should wear them If the coronet is to be held in place with pins, surely these would do?"
"As soon as I have brushed your hair, I&039;ll get theave herself over to her maid&039;s expert ministrations
It lacked fifteen oczy tapped on Hero&039;s door and was ad suite of black pumps, black-wool unmentionables, a waistcoat of damask black-and-red, a shirt of white-silk and a cravat of black, and a formal coat with s-tail cut from black, dull-finish satin His ruby stick-pin shone on his broad lapel, and his device-the heraldic eclipse: a disk sur on a red riband around his neck
"Oh, very good," Hero exclai&039;s breath away"
"It is not oczy even as he offered her a sht, Mada of her shawl "Between us, the others will be utterly out-shown"
He offered her his elbow "Not that it is wise to be too conspicuous"
"I quite agree," she said, slipping her lace-"
"As soon as you are ready?" He offered her his aro down, tell me how you found your sons"
She went to the door with hi, "I fear the visit with my boys wasn&039;t all I had hoped"
He opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, allowing her to ee from the room before he closed the door "Why was that?"
"I&039;randfather I had no notion how much he disapproved of me" Her attempt at a smile ended badly "I knew he felt I was a poor match for his son, but it&039;sand took her hand from his arood character, and any rank"