Women’s laughter could be heard on the second floor of the Carlyle residence in London Mayfair. It came from Amelia’s room that had high ceilings in imitation of the reception rooms downstairs. A fire burned in the hearth because it still got rather chilly at night despite it being June.

“He should be dashing, handsome and brave and strong,” said Amelia with dreamy eyes.

“Not too handsome ma’am. The ones that look too good always have roving eyes, ye sees,” said Anna.

Anna Titbits was Amelia’s lady’s maid. She was in charge of her hair, clothing, and any other personal tasks her mistress required of her. In other words, she was the female version of a gentleman’s gentleman or valet as the Americans liked to call them.

She was a petite sort with the sweetest of complexions: warm brown doe-like eyes, constantly smiling and a round face. Her entirety was like a mirror to her heart and soul. If any measurement could be applied to such things, then she was all gold and gems.

“Alright, let’s beg to differ on that one, Anna.” Amelia pressed her lips together in thought. “I…”

Anna tittered. “You do like ‘em gorgeous, don’t you ma’am.” She smiled as she ran a comb through her mistress’s hair.

“I don’t see why not. But what you said has me worrying. Maybe you are right and a gentleman who is not too good-looking might be better suited.”

“You are so beautiful, ma’am. No man would ever leave you.” She paused until her face lit up even more. “I would give anything to have hair like yours,” said Anna, looking at her mistress in the mirror attached to the dressing table.

Amelia took a moment to study her reflection. She knew that she was not unattractive, but she had never considered herself beautiful. She had moss-green eyes and high cheekbones. However, what she was most grateful for was her pixie nose. Fortunately, her mother’s side of the family had won out on that one. Her ash-black hair tumbled down from her head in a series of silky tresses.

She lifted her hand to touch the porcelain colored skin on her face. It felt smooth and was without blemish. As she let her mind wander back to the topic of a dashing man, her lips relaxed, displaying their fullness. Her head was perched on her neck like a rose blossom on a stem.

“The man that marries you, ma’am, will be the luckiest alive,” said Anna.

“Thank you, Anna. You are always so kind to me.”

“You are kind to me.” Anna thought for a moment. “The both of us will find love one day…I know because I dreamt it.”

“You dreamt it?”

“Aye,” said Anna in her typical Scottish lilt.

“What was the dream about?” asked Amelia, her curiosity piqued.

She always found Anna such a pleasure to be with. In a way, she thought her far more pleasant company than all of the inflated windbags that attended her mother’s invitations. She was so free-spirited and real. What you saw was what you got. Secretly, Amelia wished she could be the same - to break free and get away from the constraints of society. The prince regent does what he wants, she thought, remembering her chat with him earlier that day. Why can’t I?

“The dream was about us travelling on a long journey. It was by sea, it was.”

Amelia giggled.

“Aye. But somehow, we never got to where we were supposed to be going,” said Anna with a deep frown on her forehead.

“Where did we end up then?”

“With two dashing men. Yours was more handsome than mine…”

This made Amelia laugh again.

“But they were good men. I saw it. I felt it. They made us truly understand what love is, ye ken. Sorry, ma’am, I slip into my native Scottish when I get excited. I meant you know.”

“It must’ve been quite some dream for you to get so excited,” said Amelia, grinning mischievously.

After they had laughed for quite some time, Amelia was the first to get serious. “What is love…I mean I know I love my parents (she frowned), I love horses and dogs. But what is it when you feel it for a man?”

“Ooooh, that’s easy, ma’am.”

Amelia arched an eyebrow, somehow disbelieving the certainty in her lady’s maid’s assertion.

“Ye…sorry, you see when you love a man without inhibitions, he is everything and all. You want nothing else but to be around him and smother him with kisses when you get the chance.” Anna shrugged. “You would do anything for this man, no matter what – that’s it, I think.”

Amelia wasn’t sure. “Sounds a bit like servitude to me. Here, let me try…I think the love felt for a man is when you cannot sleep at night when he is not beside you; your heart aches when he is with you because you cannot control the joy you feel when you see that love you harbor for him returned to you in full just by looking in his eyes. Love is when two people become as one in the realms of the physical and fuse on a higher plane in the kingdom of the spirit and soul.”

Anna brushed a wayward tear from her cheek. “That was beautiful, ma’am. You certainly have a way with words.” Her torrid emotions soon settled, and an impish grin slid across her mouth. “You wouldn’t mind getting into more detail on the physical side of things, would you?”

“What…oh…I see.” Amelia blushed. Usually, such intimacy between servant and employer was frowned upon and would result in the servant’s immediate punishment. However, Amelia and Anna were as close as they could get to being friends. They could never be seen in public or in the presence of her parents as equals, but when they were alone, Anna still did her duty, but the banter was always light between them.

Amelia never really enjoyed the company of her kind all that much. Anna was like a breath of fresh air. In their time together, Amelia had even taught Anna how to read and write. Anna was a formidable student and very clever. If times were different, Amelia always thought.

“You are as red as a tomato, ma’am,” said Anna, barely containing her mirth.

In moments, Amelia joined in. They laughed with such free abandon that the tears streamed down their faces.

“What’s all the ruckus about?” asked Amelia’s mother, swanning into the bedchamber dressed in her long silk nightdress and looking like a wraith.

“Oh, nothing, Mother. We were just laughing because I dropped one of my rings into my face cream pot and we had trouble fishing it out.”

“Oh, I see,” said the mother in the most matter-of-fact manner imaginable. “Titbits, out. I need to speak to my daughter alone.”

“Yes, milady.” Anna scurried out of the room and shut the door.

“What a filthy accent that girl has. Where is she from – the colonies?” She began to pace up and down the room, making Amelia even angrier because of the interruption.

“Come on, Mother, out with it. It must be some new bit of juicy gossip if you took the trouble in coming here at this hour.”

A sneer played on Lady Carlyle’s lips. “Oh, it’s not gossip. What I have is news.”

Amelia felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She despised it when her mother was in one of her scheming moods. The last time this happened, she had to spend an entire afternoon with the most tedious oaf – chaperoned at a distance of course. But their escort had been so meticulous in the execution of their duties that she had to listen to the bore of a man without interruption. Every time she had turned back, her mother had waved at her and nodded her encouragement.

“What fact, Mother?”

“Well, there’s no need to beat around the bush. So, I shall just come out and say it…you are to be presented to the Duke of Brandon at his London residence this Sunday to commence talks about a possible betrothal between you and his son – isn’t that grand?” She paused. “It’s just a shame that darling young man, Airey, cannot be there. He’s been tasked with something important in British America – Canada or something or other. Anyway…”

Amelia couldn’t believe her ears. So, this is it. I am to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. I knew the two of them had something up their sleeves. They had been scheming the entire carriage trip home. I should have known.

Her mother spun on her heels. “I just thought you’d like to know the good news,” she said on the way out of her room.

The tint on Amelia’s face went an even lighter shade. I am trapped. There is nowhere for me to go. Before she could stop them, the tears rolled down her cheeks. Amelia was not one to bare her emotions so brazenly, but this was too much. She asked herself why her parents couldn’t see the true nature of the man they were asking her to marry. It was plain for the world to see.

“Oh, ma’am…what happened?” asked Anna, entering Amelia’s room like a whirlwind.

“They, they…” Amelia couldn’t get the words out. Her crying became more intense as Anna took her into her arms and cradled her like a swaddling babe. They just remained still with Amelia on the stool with her nose nestled into Anna’s hair. Anna kneeled before her and pressed her mistress closer as if she was trying to squeeze out all of the melancholy from her body.

“Remember what I told you about my dream. You will never marry that man, Amelia,” said Anna at last. She had all of the details because she had been eavesdropping at the door the entire time.

Amelia looked down and into Anna’s eyes. She was not sure whether she was more surprised by her lady’s maid’s use of her Christian name or the ridiculousness of the notion of a dream coming true and the two of them finding love.

“It was just a silly dream.”

“No, ma’am,” said Anna, reverting back to the proper form of address. She helped her mistress to her feet and guided her to the bed. “Dreams are there to tell us the future. All we have to do is believe in them.”