Read Online Brilliant Devices by Shelley Adina - Free Book Online Page A

with some dismay. The aquamarine blue brought out the vividness of her eyes, and her hair had been curled within an inch of its life and braided into a coronet about her head. Between two panels of cream lace on her bodice, ruched organdy arrowed into a satin belt whose circumference could almost be spanned with two hands. The skirts spilled to the floor in a froth of silk and organdy, but the countess had wisely ordered no train. It took practice to manage one, and Alice had had none.
    Alice flicked at the blue feather curling around her ear and held in place with a diamond clip loaned by the countess. “This is gonna drive me batty.” She gazed at herself in dismay. “I have no idea who that person is.”
    “Then you must become acquainted with her.” Davina looked like a slender Roman goddess in draped crimson and cream silk. Upon her hair rested a diadem of tawny diamonds. “You must face the unhappy truth, Alice—you clean up very nicely.”
    “I can’t breathe, I’m swimming in all these skirts, and if I shake my head, this stupid feather will make me sneeze.”
    “ Chin up,” Claire said. “You’ll get used to it. Just remember to lift your hems going down stairs as well as up, and use the loop sewn into the skirt to lift it a little when you dance.”
    “Claire, nobody is going to dance with me.”
    “I’ll lay you a bet that you’re wrong.”
    “Name it.”
    “If you are a wallflower, I’ll give you my landau.”
    All the color drained from Alice’s face. “ Are you crazy? You can’t do that.”
    “Of course I can. I am not a simpleton—I know I cannot lose.”
    “I say you’re going to. But if you win, I’ll give you Nine.”
    Claire opened her mouth to refuse. The last thing she wanted about her was that eerie, eyeless Keri—I kno presence, its servomotors whining every time it moved to do its owner’s bidding. And then she caught herself. Besides the Lass , Nine was the creation Alice valued the most—the way Claire valued her own landau. It was a fair bet.
    Fair, but rather like taking candy from a baby.
    “Done.”
    “All right, you two,” the countess said. “Find your cloaks and fans and let’s be off.”
    When they entered the main salon, the gentlemen came to their feet. Claire could not tell which was more rewarding—Andrew’s gobsmacked face as he realized who the lady in seafoam was, or the warmth in the eyes of Captain Hollys as he bent over her own hand.
    “You will outshine every woman there,” he murmured. “If you do not save a waltz on your card for me, I shall sign on with a mining crew and never come back.”
    “I must save you from that fate, then.” Claire smiled at his nonsense. “The first waltz—and be forewarned that dancing is not my strong suit.”
    Andrew was still staring at Alice as if he had never seen her before.
    Well, no one had ever seen this Alice before, but that was no reason to be rude and to make the color rise in her face.
    “Captain Hollys, do rescue Alice. Andrew is making her uncomfortable.”
    The good captain did just that, and Andrew snapped out of it as Claire stepped into his line of sight. “Claire. You look very pretty. No rifle?”
    Pretty. Hmph. So it was the first time he had ever told her she was pretty. But need he sound so—distracted?
    “Not tonight. I trust that with Count von Zeppelin and the governor himself there, we will be troubled neither by thieves nor pirates. However, I do have an ivory hair pick if my assumptions prove incorrect.”
    “I knew I could depend on you.”
    She narrowed her gaze. “Andrew, do not stare. It is abominably rude.”
    “But can that really be Alice? I swear I thought her a complete stranger when she walked in.”
    “She will think you completely strange if you do not behave more naturally. I do hope you told her she was … pretty.”
    “I shall. The moment I secure the first dance.”
    Which rendered Claire speechless until they were well on their way. Government House