Page 17 of Dare to be Wicked

“Oh, but you know Vivien, she was with us at dinner,” Cat said with a saucy grin.

Vivien laughed and clipped her around the ear. “Horrid girl. We want to know what is in the box.”

“A surprise,” Cat said, looking utterly gleeful. “But you must all sit down in a circle and then I shall reveal it.”

Not wanting to spoil the girl’s fun, and far too intrigued to quibble, they did as they were asked. Cat got Torie to push the draughts board over to one side and solemnly placed the hat box down as though it contained something precious and fragile.

“Well….” Cat said, pausing for dramatic effect. Honestly, the girl was so theatrical she ought to be on the stage. “We all know the story of the Peculiar Ladies, don’t we?”

Everyone rolled their eyes.

The story of the Peculiar Ladies was legend among their families. A group of mismatched women, the shy, the unmarriageable, and the odd girls who found themselves among the wallflowers at every ball, season after season. They had come together to join a book club of sorts, though they never seemed to spend a great deal of time discussing books. To seal their friendships they had all gone through a rite of passage, to take a dare from a hat, hoping in some small way to take control of their own lives. Those dares had brought love and adventure, not to mention a fair bit of scandal, and had cemented friendships that had endured through thick and thin.

They all stared at Cat as she grinned at them, and then took the lid off the box with a flourish.

“Ta-da!”

“Oh!” Eliza exclaimed, getting to her feet. “Is… Is that…?”

“Yes!” Cat was jumping up and down now. “It’s the hat. The exact same hat, and you’ll never guess what!”

“What?” Lottie asked with a peculiar sensation stirring in her belly.

“It’s still full of dares!”

Everyone stared at each other, wide-eyed.

“Well?” Cat demanded. “What are you waiting for?”

“I’ll take one!” Torie said, scrambling to her feet.

“No, you will not!” Lottie and Eliza said in unison and then burst out laughing.

“You can’t take a dare before you’ve come out, silly,” Cat said, though there was sympathy in her eyes.

Lottie didn’t doubt Cat was itching to take one herself.

Eliza was staring at the hat with concern, as if it contained something that might bite.

“Do you think we ought?” she said doubtfully.

“Whyever not?” Lottie demanded. “Goodness! Mama did it. We’d not be here if she hadn’t.”

Eliza chewed at her lip, clearly unconvinced.

Lottie sighed and turned to Vivien. “You’ll do it, won’t you?”

A slow smile curved over the young woman’s mouth and Lottie felt her breath catch. Good heavens, but she was lovely.

“I believe I will.”

Cat gave a little yip of excitement and hurried forward.

“Oh, no. Me first!” Lottie said, waving her hand in the air. If anyone needed this, she did.

Anything to distract herself from the wretched situation in which she had found herself. Perhaps, if she took a dare, she would find someone else to fall in love with, or get herself tied up in such a scandal she’d not have time to pine over Cassius. Anything was preferable to pining, surely?

“Oh, Lottie, really?” Eliza said.