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Mr. Butler was privately delighted to be invited to the party as a guest. Even though Miss Fisher was always generous about including him in her festivities, he didn’t have a job to do at this one.

He had truly enjoyed creating his costume and would have fun wearing it. Everyone seemed to feel that it suited him, which made him smile. Dot had been a great help, sewing golden braid onto the shoulders, cuffs and lapels of his suit. Miss Fisher had loaned him her velvet cape with the fur trim and her circlet tiara, insisting that it was “exactly what he needed!” He had to admit that it did suit him and gave the right degree of “panache” to his costume.

He smiled and wondered what Mrs. Butler would have said and then realized that she would have been playful with him. Dropping a curtsey and addressing him as, “Your Majesty.” He could hear her laughter now and thinking of it made him miss her a bit less than usual.

He touched the medals on his chest and remembered how they had been won. “For King and Country,” he thought ironically. He had cleaned and polished his old uniform sword and scabbard for this occasion. As he did, he’d had a sudden remembrance of a boyhood dream -- of being knighted and given a sword encrusted with jewels. He looked down at his sword, “No, no jewels,” he said to himself with a chuckle.

As he put on his sash, placed his scabbard and tied on the cape, he adjusted his “crown” and looked in the mirror. Grinning, he allowed himself a moment to preen. He raised his head and looked down his nose at his reflection, “Well, Tobias, you certainly do look like royalty now, don’t you?”

He gave a laugh at that and gathered his sword and “Scepter” -- a delicate brass candlestick that was topped by a “jeweled” brass Christmas Ornament. Miss Williams had found the candlestick and Miss Fisher had suggested using the old ball. He had polished them both to a high shine and then attached the ball, which fit the base of the candlestick perfectly. They all decided that it made a very fine Scepter indeed.

He put on his white gloves and practiced tossing back his cape as he turned and walked out to join the others.

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Hugh smiled, thinking of how surprised Dotty would be when she saw him in his full costume. She had helped him cut a headpiece out of an extra sheet and had hemmed up his “tunic,” but she hadn’t seen everything put together yet.

He had pulled out his riding boots, polished them and put them on over his best tan pants. Then he tried the cummerbund on again over his unbuttoned, best white shirt. Miss Fisher had lent it to him, saying it would “make the outfit!” He had to admit, it did make him look rather dashing, but he still wasn’t too sure about the “kohl” eye makeup she had shown him how to apply. But if it would make his Dotty happy, he’d give it a try.

At the Inspectors suggestion, Hugh was practicing how to move around in his costume. Jack had suggested that he try to act like Valentino so that he was more comfortable at the party. Hugh strutted around in what he thought was a swagger until he felt ready to put on the rest of his costume and try it in that.

While generally not a clumsy man, he was aware that Dotty brought out the less graceful side in him and he wanted to show her that he could be suave and sophisticated. “But this outfit! How did these men do it?” After numerous attempts, where the robe flipped back and wrapped around his arm and the kerchief flipped back into his face. He finally threw it down and walked away from it. He was frustrated and was afraid he would make a fool out of himself in front of Dotty and everybody.

Then he remembered seeing something in a film he had recently taken Dotty to. He thought of how the star had moved with the fabric of his costume so that it was an extension of his movements rather than forcing the fabric to do what he wanted. “Maybe that’s the key,” he thought. “It’s really no different than boxing. It has to come naturally. You have to think about what you’re doing, not what you’re trying to look like when doing it.”

He went back and picked up the kerchief. This time, he wound an old tie around his forehead and pulled the edges of the kerchief down and closer to his face. He noticed that when he moved with it this way, the fabric seemed to move with him and instead of trying to flip it back, he could simply roll it back before shrugging his shoulder to arc it behind him. “Hmmm,” he thought as he practiced in the mirror. “It did look more natural and felt more comfortable. Maybe he could do this after all?”

He put himself into a pose that he thought looked like the picture of Valentino he had found and successfully tossed back his kerchief, while rolling his eyes like Miss Fisher had shown him. He then tried pulling back the open collar of his shirt to expose his chest, feeling like a fool but trying to get into character. So far so good, he thought.

He wondered why Dotty found this so appealing, but decided that he did feel more powerful when he moved his body in a more dominant way. “It really is like boxing,” he decided. “You have to stand and move a certain way to bluff or meet your opponent. And you have to be prepared to take a punch or land well if needed, to maintain your balance.”

Feeling masterful, he took his stance and tried to pull back the robe Mr. Butler had given him to wear over his tunic. He wanted to put his hands on his hips and stand with pride. But when he pulled, the robe was too slippery and he pulled it too far back trapping both his arms behind him like he was handcuffed.

“Prepared” or not, all he managed to do was lose his balance and land on his bed in a very UNgraceful position. As he rolled out of it, he swore and then started to laugh. He rolled his eyes alright, thinking that all he looked like right now was someone “The Sheik” would step over.

“Oh Dotty,” he said to himself, “I hope I do you proud.”

He shook out the robe and kerchief and tried again. This time less quickly. He figured that if he did it in slow motion, he might have a chance at looking more natural. Success! He gave a hoot of joy and decided it was time to quit while he was ahead.

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Dot was all too eager to help Miss Fisher create her costume. She enjoyed being able to help Mr. Butler become royalty and she even had fun spending time with Hugh cutting out the white sheet for his "Sheik" outfit. But secretly, she was nervous about wearing her own costume.

She had said that she wanted to come as a princess, but she really only wanted to wear a pretty outfit to please Hugh. She hadn't thought about what the costume might look like or what it would take to wear it.

When she told Miss Fisher what she had in mind, she had given her several long sheer scarves as well as a long filmy dress. She also wanted her to wear one of her Tiaras, but Dot felt uncomfortable with something so grand. She did accept though, Miss Fisher's offer to wear of one of her “Facinator's” as a crown.

The reason she was so nervous about her costume was that the dress that Miss Fisher had given her to wear was so sheer. To her, the dress looked like a fancy nightgown or a slip and she was afraid to wear something like that in public. Even though it had many layers to it, it seemed like it would be hard not to see through it.

Dot found a picture of a princess in one of the books her mother had. She decided to try to copy it using the scarves so that they covered up the dress underneath. The picture showed a headdress over long plaited hair and flowing sleeves that draped down to the feet with a long woven belt over the gown.

Dot knew that she could attach the scarves to make the long flowing sleeves and there would be enough to create a large headdress too. But as the scarves were sheer, they would reveal the dress underneath, not conceal it.

To her surprise, she found that the more she tried to make the dress look different, the more she liked the dress the way it was, even though it showed a significant amount of skin in places that Dot would normally not show.

Miss Fisher had told her that she needed to wear the dress around in her room until she got comfortable with her body and how she looked in the dress. As Dot got over her shyness about how revealing the dress was of her curves, she discovered that she really liked how the dress floated and swished when she walked.

Dot hadn't worn her hair down in public in years, but found that she didn't mind the idea so much because she would have a headdress on. If she wore Miss Fisher's "Fascinator" she could secure the headdress almost like a wedding veil and she certainly would be wearing that soon.

As she swayed to and fro with the dress on, she wondered if she'd be able to get a nightgown for her wedding night that looked like this dress she was wearing. She felt feminine and graceful. But what she still really wanted was to look beautiful for Hugh.

One day, Miss Fisher showed her how she could apply some of her makeup and when she got done, Dot couldn't help but stare at herself in the mirror. She would never wear this kind of makeup normally, but for the party she felt it made her look glamorous.

She’d heard a knock on the front door and when she came downstairs, Mr. Butler, with a big smile on his face, said that Hugh was waiting for her in the parlor. Dot gulped and then raised her chin and glided into the room in the way she thought she would walk if she were wearing her dress.

She was still wearing the makeup that Miss Fisher had applied. When Hugh turned around his mouth fell open and he just stared at her. Dot felt uncomfortable and turned to leave but Hugh put his hand on her arm, turned her around and said, "Dotty I am sorry I stared to you, but you are just so beautiful. I couldn't help myself.”

Dot blushed and pretended that she was wearing the dress. She twirled around as though she was swishing the fabric. Apparently Hugh thought it was very appealing because he caught her up and pulled her into a kiss and then held her away from him telling her once more how beautiful she was. When she asked him why he had come by, he got all flustered and told her he couldn't remember now.

After he left, Dot got into her dress, let her hair down, plaited it and put the veil on to see what the whole outfit would look like. When she added the "crown" she decided that this outfit really did make her feel like a princess and she walked around the room wafting the scarves back and forth. It was a heady experience.

At that moment she decided that she wasn't nervous about this anymore and was looking forward to going to the party so she could show off her dress. She felt that if she could create this illusion as a costume, then maybe she could start wearing more daring clothes in real life. She decided to ask Miss Fisher about it after the party to see if she had any suggestions.

When she got undressed and only had on the gown, she was standing near her mirror with sunlight streaming in, which made the gown more transparent. She looked at herself in the mirror for a few minutes and felt something inside of herself break free.

She realized that just because she had curves didn't mean that they weren't desirable. It seemed as though Hugh thought they were, so she decided right then and there to stop worrying about it and allow her natural self to come forth without embarrassment.

She was ready now for the day when she could get dressed in her costume and go to the party. She felt beautiful in it and knew that Hugh would find her beautiful as well.

When she got downstairs again, she ran into Mr. Butler, who said, “It was quite amusing to see Hugh get so flustered because of how you looked.” Dot said, "Why do you think that, Mr. Butler?” He smiled at her and said, "Because, Dorothy, you are already a beautiful person inside and your love for Hugh makes you radiate your beauty even more. It's the rare man who wouldn't be affected by it and your Hugh is not immune. I suspect it's one of the lessons that Miss Fisher has had to learn about herself and I have seen you learn about yourself as well. I agree that you are beautiful, but for what it's worth to you, I am also very proud of you for accepting it about yourself.”

Dot had tears in her eyes when he finished and could only say, “Thank you.” Later, in her room, Dot wrote Hugh a letter to give him after they were married. Among other things she thanked him for thinking of her in a way that let her think about herself that way too.

She had started out nervous about it, but now she was really looking forward to seeing him in his “Sheik” outfit and seeing his reaction to her looking like a princess.

Chapter Text

Jack's spirit of adventure had come up while he was in his office that morning talking to Hugh. It stayed with him all day and he began to envision the kind of costume he wanted to create for the party.

He knew that somewhere, either at his sisters or at his mother's, he had a Tricorn Hat left over from his drama days. He also knew that he had a pair of boots somewhere that flopped over on the top and would look like pirate boots. He hadn't kept much from the war, but he did keep his dress sash and sword and felt that he could use the sash on his costume without a bringing up old memories.

He had a white summer shirt in fine lawn that was less tailored than the normal shirts he wore. He wondered how it would look if he wore it unbuttoned and tied with the sash around his waist. He also had an old reddish tie that he could cut open and tie around his head like a scarf under the hat.

He had an old leather jacket of his fathers that could never be worn again as a jacket, but with the sleeves removed and some alterations it would look like a pirate's vest. He had a wide buckled belt that might fit below the sash as well. He found a pair of dark leather, work gloves that he thought would be wide enough at the top to look like Pirates gloves. He also remembered seeing a woman’s small hoop earring in the unclaimed box at work and thought it might add to the outfit.

He decided to not use an eye patch, but did want to get a large feather to put in his hat. It crossed his mind that perhaps he could get Dot to give him one of Phryne’s Fan feathers so he could tease her with it.

He wanted to alter his look a bit too so he decided to stop shaving for a few days and see how much beard he could grow out. If he didn't pomade his hair he could wear it full and then wear the tie over it.

He remembered his days rehearsing to do Penzance. And while he didn't get to play a pirate in that, he certainly did get to see them perform and he thought he might be able to carry it off.

With the pieces of this costume in his mind, he started thinking of what kind of pirate he wanted to be. Of course there was the swashbuckling fighter, pulling out his sword and saying “Arghh” a lot, but that seemed too comical to him to be doing in front of Phryne.

He wanted to play a gentleman pirate, a buccaneer, or maybe something like a musketeer -- the hero with a heart of gold. He supposed he probably wasn't that far off in real life, given his job, but he really wanted to step out of his normal self and be a more outrageous character.

And frankly, he wanted to romance Phryne. He wanted to see what she would do if he turned on his charm and engaged her in more than just their usual banter. They'd been headed in this direction for a while and, while he wasn't intending to bed her with his performance, he might be able to get closer to her and see where it led.

The thought excited him and he kept thinking of things he could say to her to be provocative and surprising. But mostly, truthfully, he just wanted to be near her in a different environment than normal life and this was his chance.

But first he needed to be assured that he wasn't going to have to wear the Mark Antony costume. It carried too many memories of that night.

When he got home he donned a partial costume and started acting the part of the pirate, refining an accent and practicing some of his moves, using his own hat until he got the bigger hat. He had a feeling that this was the right choice and that she would be amused and maybe even impressed.

But he was really doing it for himself. He had always said he wanted to play a pirate and now was the time. He intended to have fun with it and felt lighter already. He considered it to be a birthday present to himself.