A Little Mischief by Amelia Grey

weeks before the opening party of Isabella’s first Season. It was a complete disaster. Isabella was so shy she did nothing but stand against the walls party after party, seldom speaking to anyone and refusing occasional requests to dance.
    Over the course of the Season, Isabella had noticed how capable and self-assured her aunt was. Auntie Pith was a contented spinster with a wide circle of friends and social projects to keep her busy. She was intelligent, well-read, and extremely popular among the ton.
    Isabella, who had grown up an introverted child, admired the strength, confidence, and cheerfulness she saw in her aunt, and she became determined to become just like her auntie Pith.
    Throughout the next year Isabella pushed herself to overcome the shyness that had plagued her all her life.
    At the beginning of her second Season, Charles sent word that Olivia was with child, and they couldn’t return home for Isabella’s nineteenth birthday. She missed her father, but she understood how much it meant to him to have a son.
    Isabella was a different young lady for her second Season. She was self-confident and engaging.
    All the handsome young men who ignored her previously waited in line to dance with her. She enjoyed their attentions and accepted it graciously. After the first week of parties, she noticed the shy, quiet young ladies who stood on the perimeter of the room just as she had stood the year before. They were seldom asked to dance and never invited to the best parties.
    Isabella decided if she could change, they could change, too. She would help them. She invited two of the young ladies for tea the very next day. They had a wonderful time reading poetry and a horrid novel with her. The next week Isabella added another lady to her guest list and the next week another.
    By the end of the Season, Isabella’s afternoon group had grown to a dozen. Isabella realized that what most of the ladies needed was to feel a part of a special group and not be treated as though they were not marriageable.
    Her goal was to lift the confidence levels and social status of these young ladies who were more diamonds in the rough than diamonds of the first water.
    Isabella poured weak tea into a cup and headed back to the parlor. Less than a month ago she received another letter from her father stating that his son wasn’t well and he couldn’t travel home for Isabella’s third Season. She must remain with her aunt.
    Isabella had expected something would come up to keep her father away and was fine with it. She was happy in London and didn’t want to return to country life. She had made friends and had a full life where she didn’t have to be quiet. Whenever her father returned, Isabella did not want to leave London and join him.
    Everything was going well until this afternoon when she discovered Lady Gretchen Colebrooke standing over Mr. Throckmorten. Isabella thanked the saints that the man was able to get up and walk away. She didn’t relish the thought of a man being killed in her aunt’s back garden.
    A few minutes later, while Isabella was drinking her tea, she heard the front door open. Auntie Pith and her maid walked into the parlor. Her aunt had an ivory-colored gown draped over her arms. A big smile spread across her round face.
    “Here it is, dear. Look, you were so right to insist I go after it today. It’s the most beautiful gown I’ve ever seen. I do believe it’s the best work Mrs. Hollyfield has ever done.”
    Isabella touched the dress with fancy gold stitching around the scooped neckline and full capped sleeves. She smiled. “It’s quite exquisite, Auntie, but I think it might be cut a little too low.”
    “Oh, botheration, Isabella, I don’t know why you try so hard to be an old woman. You are young and beautiful and you should act like you are. It’s perfectly acceptable to show a respectable amount of your bosom.” Auntie Pith cleared her throat and smiled. “Especially when you are trying to