Megan was waiting for me when I came out of the dining-room. ‘Your dresses have arrived, mistress,’ she told me and I walked up the staircase with her as anxious as she to see them. When we entered my room I could see they had been laid across my bed in a profusion of colour, walking across I looked at them hardly believing they now belonged to me. ‘We had best hang them in the wardrobe, Megan,’ I told her my voice aquiver. ‘Aren’t you going to try one on, mistress?’ Megan said with disappointment in her voice. ‘Of course I will,’ I agreed, picking up the beautiful turquoise silk ballgown. ‘Let us hang this first for it is special,’ I said, all the while wondering if I would ever have cause to wear it, which brought to mind the hearing this very day. Megan and I were laughing while I stood in a pale lemon gown with a high neck and long sleeves, the lace of which fell over the back of my hand.
