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so, why, you can stand up proudly with your sisters now. You have given me so much hope! I would not be surprised if you did not find a husband tonight!”
    They followed several other guests inside, all beautifully garbed in costumes of silk and velvet. Lizzie could not respond and she could not smile. She was breathless and almost in a daze, as she still did not quite know howthis had happened. The velvet dress was the most exquisite garment to ever touch her body—and the most sensual, as well. Her sisters had insisted that she stand before the mirror, once she had pulled the costume on. The dark green velvet enhanced her fair complexion, the color of her hair and her eyes, which had never been more striking. Rouge highlighted her lips, which seemed oddly full, but not her cheeks; her sisters had insisted she didn’t need more color, as she was rather flushed from excitement. Even her figure had somehow improved. The gown’s bodice was lower than Lizzie had expected, drawing the eye upward to her bare décolletage, her long neck and face. Anna had spent almost an hour curling her hair. Lizzie had expected to wear it up, but instead, she wore it hanging to her waist. Lush strawberry waves framed her face, etching into her cheekbones and accentuating them. Lizzie had been stunned to realize that she was, for the first time in her life, rather pretty. And more important, she even felt attractive, as if she had somehow become Robin Hood’s fair lady.
    Papa now squeezed her hand. “My little girl has become a beautiful woman,” he said proudly. But his eyes were red and teary.
    Lizzie decided not to refute him, not tonight, not when they were going up the steps of Adare.
    “Mama, I think the fact that Lizzie has embraced high fashion is a single step in the right direction,” Georgie said. “But she is only sixteen. You should not have too high hopes from her very first entrance into society.”
    Lizzie silently agreed.
    But excitedly, Mama continued, “Did I mention that all of the earl’s sons are in residence, including one of his stepsons, the younger one, Sean O’Neill, although I have no idea where his brother, Captain O’Neill, mightbe.” Mama grinned slyly. “Lizzie, he is young—not too much older than yourself.”
    “I believe you mentioned it several times,” Papa said. “Now, Mama, Georgie is right. Leave Lizzie alone before you give her an apoplexy.” Papa was firm, Mama’s hand tucked under his arm. Then he smiled at her as they entered the huge front hall with its stone floors and high ceilings. This part of the mansion, Lizzie knew, dated back centuries, and the floor remained the original one. “Have I told you how handsome you are tonight?” he asked in a quieter tone.
    Mama smiled at him. “And you, sir, are an enviable escort. I do like you in a wig, I confess.” Papa was also dressed from the early Georgian period in a frock coat, stockings and a long, curly wig.
    Lizzie realized she had halted near the door. Her family was now moving through the entry and toward a reception room that was quite the size of their entire house. She touched the white mask she wore, one that covered her eyes but revealed the lower half of her face. She was queasy with her excitement now.
    Lizzie saw that Anna had just stepped into the reception room, her grace such that she almost floated as she walked. Of course, two British soldiers instantly looked her way. They were officers and suddenly they were at her side, bowing; Lizzie knew that Anna would be blushing and demurely giving her name.
    Georgie looked back at her. She held her eye mask and now she moved it aside, both brows lifted as she strode back to her. “Come, Lizzie.” Then she smiled and added, “I promise you will be fine.”
    Lizzie hesitated, suddenly overcome. It felt as if she had waited her entire life for this night, but was she truly being a fool? Tyrell was always chased by many beautiful women, heir to the earldom that he was,