face was a hint, Casey. Amelia MacDougal had the seven-month-old twins to contend with and Jessie Langford had recently produced a daughter.
“There shouldn’t be much work,” continued Sophie. “Few travel this late in the year.”
“What can I do to help?” asked Beth. “I know you invited me here for a reason.”
“As an artist, you’ve got a good eye,” said Lily, finally entering the conversation.
“I don’t want anyone to recognize me,” explained Sophie. “I want you to show me how to change the way I look. I’ll be letting down my hair and lowering the bodice of my dress, but I’m sure you have other suggestions on how I can disguise myself.”
“Stand up so I can get a good look at you.” Beth tilted her head when Sophie followed her direction. “If you don’t mind, could you let your hair down and remove your dress?”
“Goodness, Sophie, what lovely hair you have!” said Victoria a few moments later. She ran her hands through the strands to remove Sophie’s tight braiding. “No one would recognize you with it down.”
“Especially with a touch of paint to enhance her cheekbones, eyes, and lips,” said Lily. She pointed to the waiting gowns. “I think the periwinkle is best. It will go well with your brown hair and eyes.” Her lip twitched. “It’s also cut rather low, to emphasize your bosom. Not that it needs any emphasis,” she added.
They made her keep her back to the cheval glass as they dressed her. She would keep her stout boots, necessary to protect her toes from half-drunk men trying to dance.
“Nothing goes below your waist but stockings and boots,” said Lily.
“It saves time,” said Beth. “Up go your skirts and in he goes. All you need is a wall, a table, a chair, or…”
Beth laughed when Sophie gasped at her words. She hoped they thought she was scandalized instead of eager for the experience.
“Sophie won’t be lifting her skirts,” said Lily, giving Beth a stern look to tell her to behave. “But a woman walks differently when her thighs rub together. Especially if they’re damp.” She raised a challenging eyebrow.
The married women chuckled at Sophie’s flaming face. She’d been the one to help Victoria and Beth, and most of the other wives, when they married. Now it was her turn to feel flustered. She put on the dress, noting that her nipples almost popped out, then removed her drawers. She crumpled them and set them aside. They were damp from excitement. She had to close her eyes while Lily applied face paint. Then she was guided to the long mirror. Her pussy warmed as she walked, just as Lily had said.
“What do you think?”
Sophie opened her eyes. A voluptuous woman dressed in a provocative blue dress looked back. She glanced down, then lifted a hand to cover her breast. So did the wicked woman in the mirror.
“Oh, my.” She straightened her back while leaning slightly forward, making her breasts strain against the fabric’s edge. She lowered her eyelids like a coquette. No one would ever think this scandalous woman could be Mrs. Amos McLeod.
“Watch yourself move,” said Lily.
At first she moved stiffly, uncertain if her breasts would fall out.
“Think of whatever it was Mr. Gibson did to you last night,” suggested Lily. “Watch what happens to the wanton woman in the mirror.”
Immediately Sophie saw a vision of Sam’s blond hair between her thighs as he licked and sucked her eager flesh. She watched a red flush rise from the hollow between her breasts. It travelled up her chest and throat before blooming on her face.
“Ooh,” said Beth eagerly, “you’ve got something to tell. It’s plain I’ve not been to town often enough. Isn’t Mr. Gibson the Pinkerton detective?”
“Sophie McLeod, have you been naughty?” asked Victoria with a smile.
“Now walk as if you’re enticing your man to do even more,” said Lily.
The hips of the woman in the mirror swayed as she walked. Her relaxed shoulders moved so
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