((Scene posted with permission.))

"You cannot be serious!" Luciana looked at herself in the mirror, aghast at what she was wearing. A shift, stockings, and stays, nothing so restrictive as a corset, but still more than she had ever worn before. "And this is only what these women wear under their clothes?" She twisted back and forth, examining herself in the polished glass. The dress itself lay on the bed, untouched as yet. "How do they get anything productive done, caught up in such cumbersome garments?"

Sharenne watched as Luciana grumbled, twisted and turned. "Not so bad, is it' Something to get used to. But you'll see, in no time at all, you'll feel right at home in them." Her smile was radiant as she went to gather the dress. "Mister will be so pleased to see you all dressed up proper and lady like."

Obediently, Luci lifted her arms to help Sharenne drop the dress over her head before setting to lacing it snug about her torso, holding the long mane of her flaxen-hair out of the way. "If Mister likes it so much, Mister can wear the gods-be-damned thing," she muttered resentfully.

She tugged the strings to tighten the dress properly. "Oh, but aren't you a vision." Sharenne stepped back when the strings were tied and she guided Luci to the mirror. "Just look." Her smile was warm and radiant as she took the long tresses gently from Luci and draped them over her shoulders. "Mister is a very lucky man, he is."

"I look like a corpse about to be inhumed," Luci complained, stroking her fingers down the soft cloth of the full skirt. It was in a soft shade of green, sleeves that were fitted to her elbows, and the bodice gathered at her bosom to fall in an empire line. Flattering, certainly, but she felt ridiculous. "Are you sure this is what I'm to wear for him?" she asked again, glaring at the shoes with active dislike. Sandals were civilised, she thought, not those painful contraptions that enclosed the entire foot.

"Oh now, don't you fret." she pat Luci's arm softly. "You'll be the talk of the circle and every chit will be pea green with envy. And for more than one reason, I'm sure." She giggled at that and stepped back. "Really, you are a vision and Mister will be very pleased. Are they really that uncomfortable, Miss?"

"They feel wrong." Luci rolled her eyes and forced a smile for Sharenne. The girl had endured a lifetime of complaints in one sitting, and was still smiling; the least she could do was curb her own temper. "I am so unused to all this, Sharenne. All my life I have worn a stola and sandals, and nothing else, and now I find almost every inch of my body covered in cloth that itches and warms my skin unbearably. And you tell me it is fashion." She shrugged, scratching absently at the small of her back.

"You'll get accustomed to it." She was encouraging and put her hands together. "And from what Mister says, you won't have to tolerate it for very long. Once the wedding is over, he is not going to keep you at his parent's estate. You may even come back here. And that would make me very happy."

"He dare not keep me at his parents' estate for fear of what might happen if I open my mouth without permission," Luci snorted with laughter, and paused, laying a hand on her side where the expansion of her lungs was constricted by the stays plumping up her cleaveage. She turned to Sharenne, reaching out to embrace the girl warmly. "I hope we do come back here. You are my first friend; I should be very sad to lose you."

Cesare appeared in the doorway just as the girls embraced. He smiled warmly and leaned his arm up high on the doorframe, and simply watched.

"I dread when you have to leave, Miss Luci." Sharenne hugged her but not as tightly, knowing full well how uncomfortable stays can be. Being a servant, she didn't have to wear the fancy undergarments that seemed to be the rage. "You are my friend, too." She smiled shyly as they embraced.

Luci's hand stroked against Sharenne's hair affectionately. "Perhaps you can come with me," she suggested as they leaned back from one another. "From everything I have read and been told, women do not travel without a maid to help them. And the gods know, I need all the help I can get." She laughed, and again laid her hand to her side, grimacing slightly.

"I think that's an excellent idea." Cesare chuckled from the doorway. He'd been travelling for a week, just to find a way back to his homeland. And now that he knew how to get there, time to depart was growing close.

"Why?" Again, not a question she had intended, but now it was out there, she may as well go with it. Luci turned back towards him, ice blue eyes curious and a little guarded, afraid to let him see the jealousy flaring there at even the thought that this Marie considered herself worthy to be his lover. "When we met, you seemed intent on bedding every woman in the room. Why, then, would you not take advantage of what this Marie offered you so willingly?"

"I am not going to share all of my secrets with you, not just yet, Luciana. Soon enough, you'll know the where's, why's, how's. But for now, suffice to say, I've never bedded Marie." He pushed off of the dresser then and strode over to her. "Is my ancient flower jealous?"

Hands smoothing awkwardly down the pale cloth of her dress, Luci's eyes widened as he approached her, unsure if she should be insulted by the 'ancient', or flattered by the 'flower'. "Would it matter if I were?" she asked in a defiant tone of voice, looking him square in the eye. "You will do as you wish regardless of me, that is a husband's prerogative."

"Yes, it does matter." he nodded and started to circle her slowly. "Your ideas are antiquated, Luciana. A husband does not dishonor his bride, nor either family, by foolishly involving himself in pecadillos. At least, that's how I was raised to believe. One man, one woman. Together, forever. No man shall place asunder, to death do you part." He chuckled, hands moving behind his back. "Did you not read the Bible I gave to you? You must have seen the Ten Commandments, by now."

She watched him circle her, her head turning to follow him out of sight, and whipping around to bring him back into sight as quickly as she could. "Of course I have read it," she insisted. "It is a lovely collection of stories, but I fail to see how an universal religion grew from the cult that I know. This Jesu Christus could just as easily have been Mithras - his feast is on the same day as this Christmas you told me of."

"The stories are of Jesus' life and the people in it. They are his teachings, his words. They are the example each of us who believe in him try to follow." He kept walking in a slow circle around her. "Does this not please you?"

"Should it please me" Do you really believe the nonsense in those books you gave me about my own society?" She changed the subject abruptly, her eyes still following him as he circled her. She was beginning to feel more and more like prey, and some part of her liked it. "Do you truly believe me to be a degenerate whore as Roman women are described in them?"

"So, it does matter to you, what I do and do not believe?" He evaded her questions, just for the moment. His lips curled into a smile. "Answer wisely, Luciana. Our future may depend upon it."

Reluctantly, she looked away from him, down at her feet. "Of course it matters to me," she murmured uncomfortably. "Do you really think I would have allowed myself to be mummified like this if I cared nothing for what you think?" She gestured helplessly to the swathes of fabric on her body.

"Then it should please you that I do believe in those stories you read. And that I do not believe in the literature of my own people on the ancient society of Rome in it's golden days." He stopped in front of her. "And it does please me that you've put forth the effort to climatize yourself by wearing that dress."

Luci fidgeted awkwardly, pushing away her irritation at the way he spoke to her. It made her feel like a child, but another argument would hardly help with that. "But I ....I don't know how to be what you need me to be," she protested tersely. "Aside from your bible, I know nothing of the religion you want me to marry you in, or what I am supposed to be for your parents, or ..."

"Stop." he grasped her by her biceps and stared down into her eyes. "I had your letters of marque written up. A foreign dignitary, so you won't speak to them. Just act like you don't understand. I'm sure that'll be easy for you."

"Luciana!" he called out into the night. Wandering this way and that, he continued to shout out her name. He couldn't figure her out. She wanted to be treated as an equal, a partner, as an adult. Yet she pulled the antics of a willful child. He did love that about her, but knew it would not impress his family at all. And even if he had the upper hand in deciding who he married, he at least wanted his mother to be happy. Even if Luciana ended up making Cesare miserable, he knew he had no other choice. His heart was leading the way now and there was no stopping that. "Luciana!"

She started up at the sound of her voice. He was coming for her, and he sounded angry still. Did she want him to find her" Did she have a choice" She rose shakily to her feet, rubbing at her face in the hope that any evidence of the unhappiness he had brought her would be gone by the time he found her. The last thing she wanted was for him to believe her unhappy with him. Her heart was his; she would do almost anything for him. But she did need him to be clear. This was no small task ahead of her.

He wandered into the park and it didn't take long for his eyes to alight upon her. "There you are." he stood with his hands on his hips. "Do you realize how dangerous this place is after dark?" He shook his head and reached out for her hand. "Come with me." He was beginning to understand why her father used the lash. "Going to get you home and in bed where you belong."

A public place ....she could show him now what he obviously thought she was incapable of doing. "Of course," she said softly, a meekness in her tone that he had not heard before. "Forgive me, I did not notice the darkness until it was too late." Her hand slid lightly into his and she moved to walk beside him, small steps befitting a noblewoman, and her eyes modestly downcast. Let's see him try and work that one out.

When she spoke, Cesare stared down at her, incredulous. Blinking rapidly, he came to a complete stop. His jaw worked up and down, but no words emerged from his throat. He leaned in closer, peering at her. His hand went to her forehead to make sure she wasn't burning a fever.

Ice blue eyes blinked up at him innocently. "Is something wrong?" she asked in concern as his hand touched her forehead. "I know I should not have stayed out here so late, but I am unlikely to have caught a chill in this mild weather. I did not mean to have you worry over me." Inwardly, though, she was triumphant ....and hurt. He really hadn't thought her capable of this.

He simply curled her hand into the crook of his arm. "Yes, well." He was amazed by her turn of cheek. Was this even the same woman' It was dark out and all. He kept stealing incredulous glances at her as he escorted her home. Why couldn't she be like this in front of the servants and others in the household" Why save it for a dark night in a park where they were utterly alone" Did she not want to make things go smoothly' He couldn't answer a single one of his own questions.

With both hands resting in the crook of his arm, Luci walked along beside Cesare quietly, still in turmoil over how little faith he had in her. Did he even know how much it hurt to be treated like a child" And why was everything her fault and her responsibility' As they stepped into the house, she gently disengaged her arm from his, turning to him to drop the politest of curtsies to him. "Thank you for bringing me back," she murmured quietly. "And again, my deepest apologies for any inconvenience I have caused you." With that, she turned and walked up the stairs to her chamber, closed the door behind her, sat on the bed ....and burst into tears all over again, holding a pillow over her face in case anyone heard her.

Cesare merely nodded, still astonished by her behavior. As she walked into her chamber, he frowned darkly. He turned to go to his own chamber, quickly undressing and getting into bed. As he curled on his side, he didn't get much sleep, deep in thought.

When the door to the chamber closed, Sharenne was in the bathroom, cleaning. She did not come out until she heard the heartbreaking sobs coming from the bedroom. Wiping her hands upon her apron, she approached Luciana quietly. "Now there, Miss. Nothing a good hot toddy won't fix right up." But she knew better, knew the sound of a broken heart when she heard it.

"Only if you drown me in it." Muffled, snuffly and far from the most attractive her voice had ever sounded, nonetheless that sentence proved that Luci knew what she was feeling. One week. She'd managed one week in love, and now she was heart-broken. She stretched out on the bed, her face still in the pillow, and sobbed harder. "Nothing is ever going to be right again!"

Sharenne hiked up her skirts and took a seat on the edge of the bed, one knee curled towards Luci. She began to rub her back gently. "There, there. It'll be alright. You just tell Sharenne what happened, hmm?"

"I can't do this," Luci sobbed into the cushion, turning her face a little way towards Sharenne. "Nothing I do is good enough, he always finds fault with something ....I wish he would tell me, clear, what he wants from me. I'm changing my whole way of being for him, the least he could do is be civil to me! I love him, and I hate him, and he looks down his nose at me as though I will never be what he wants!"

Sharenne had no words for her. She simply rubbed Luci's back. A thought struck her and she smiled wanly. "Maybe he doesn't want you to change, at all. And what you're doing is confusing him, too?" She shrugged her shoulders, in defeat. She really had no experience to base this off of.

"I did it tonight, I showed him I can be what he wants me to be, and he didn't say a word," Luci continued to sob, feeling her chest ache with more than just tears as she rolled onto her side to look at Sharenne. "I wear these clothes, I played the part for him, and he didn't say a word to me. I'm not good enough. He must be wishing he'd never set eyes on me." Self-pitying, yes, but she felt justified. And he was very lucky she was sad, and not angry, right now. But what could she do to convince him of her good intent, that she had not done already"