Mystic Mountains

then straightened her spine.
    "Oh Katie—I don't recognize myself," she wailed.
    "Lor ' sakes, neither should yer. The missus 'as been very careful to make yer into a different woman. An' this new woman is lovely, an' that's a fact." Katie fussed with the flounce around the hem of Isabella's gown. "A real lady."
    Isabella couldn 't argue with her. But this new woman she'd become was a fraud. The many petticoats beneath the silk gown rustled as she walked across the room she had shared with Katie for over two months now. "I can't say I like wearing a corset, Katie." Isabella put a hand to her middle, frowning as she took a couple of deep breaths.
    Katie gave her a long-suffering look as Isabella opened the door and went into the parlor. "Don't she look a sight for sore eyes, Missus?" Katie crowed, trailing after her.
    "Yes, Katie, she certainly does look grand." Selena was pulling on elbow-length gloves of a delightful pink that matched her dress. "Cheer up, Bella. This night will be perfect, have no fear. Just smile now and then, all right?" Her perfectly shaped brows arched at Isabella 's frown.
    "I don 't feel grand, Selena. I feel like one of those fancy birds with the long tail feathers that prance about showing off. This gown is too tight. I hate showing off my bosom. The corset stops my breath and makes my stomach hurt. Do I have to have the neckline so low?" Isabella scowled fiercely down at the curve of her breasts, practically bouncing out of the bodice.
    "Nonsense. You have a perfect pair of breasts, tantalizing enough to stir the blood of any male." Selena ran a finger over Isabella's crinkled forehead. "But for tonight all you have to do is stir Fergus's blood. And gain the interest of a host of bored soldiers. With a bit of luck you'll snare a major or a captain at your first outing and be set up for the next year. Now, show me the look from beneath lowered lids I taught you," she ordered. "And for sweet heaven's sake take that scowl off your face; you'll end up lined before you're thirty."
    Isabella complied, feeling silly, as she 'd done since Selena assured her the look was destined to bowl any man over. Inwardly she sighed as Selena fussed with her gown, ensuring her own bosom was displayed to advantage.
    "Here 's the gents, Missus," Katie announced, clapping her hands as she cocked an ear. Coming to give Isabella a hug, she whispered, "Good luck then, an' knock 'em sideways."
    "I 'm shaking in my shoes, Katie." How Isabella wished she were anywhere but here.
    Strangely, she 'd enjoyed the months of enforced privacy in Selena's house. As Katie said that first day, they ate well, enjoyed a bath every day, and lived life with a seeming indolence that left Isabella feeling as if she'd entered a fantasy land. The nights Selena entertained Gareth, Isabella played cards or silly games with Katie in their room. It had been easy to forget her past life; even to forget Tiger Carstairs for great stretches of time. The whole period seemed disconnected from all that had gone before.
    But there was nothing fanciful about it now. After all the weeks of lessons, preening, fussing, and primping, she was going out to begin a life that would become normal from now on. Goosebumps rose on her skin.
    "That's right, you look like a woman of class." Selena's smile was strange, almost feverish, as Isabella lifted her chin and linked her fingers over her stomach. "We've kept the gentlemen waiting long enough. Good evening, Gareth darling," she turned to coo as Moreton came in.
    Gareth kissed Selena 's outstretched hand. "Good evening, my dear, you look stunning as usual." Then he eyed Isabella as he straightened, and his red brows lifted. "And so do you, Isabella. My, I would never have recognized you." With an admiring glance, his eyes swept over her from her head to her toes.
    "Thank you," Isabella murmured as Selena adroitly hooked him by the arm to steer him out.
    "Let's hope Fergus will be suitably impressed," Selena mused, pressing her bosom against his arm.
    "I 'm certain of it." Gareth patted her hand and then helped her into the waiting carriage.
    Isabella was thinking it very strange that this Fergus hadn 't stepped down from the carriage. She soon found out why when Gareth handed her up the step with a soft smile of encouragement. A bulky man sat hunched into a corner, a hand shielding his face. Obviously he had no wish to be seen by curious onlookers.
    "Isabella, please make the acquaintance of Lieutenant Fergus