For as long as everyone had gathered at the Russell’s for Christmas, they had also attended the biggest New Year’s party in the area, thrown by the town. It was the place to be if you lived in the Newmarket area. People from all over would come to Ashley Green to take part in the celebrations. The entire town would be turned into a party. Different store fronts and businesses had different events, there were games, dances, drinking, and of course fireworks. 

The most exciting part of the New Year’s celebration was deciding what you were going to do. The kids always loved the ability to roam around taking part in a variety of different things without parental supervision. A few days before New Years a flyer had arrived with a listing of everything that was going on so that people could plan their night. Charlotte had mulled over the activities, not quite sure what all she wanted to take part in. One of the biggest events of the night was a fancy dress ball hosted by the Woods, by far the wealthiest family in Ashley Green. When she was younger it was the one thing she looked forward to every year. She would be able to wear the dress she got for Christmas, dress up and just feel pretty. She would always go to the ball to meet up with her friends in the hopes that fine young men from the upper class would ask them to dance, but now she was sort of worried about seeing those people again since she’d had very little contact with them since she left home in the summer. 

“Nick?” she spoke hesitantly, not wanting to disturb him from his book. 

Nick read down to the bottom of the page before glancing up at Charlotte with a smile, “Yes dear?”

“What are we going to do tonight?” Charlotte asked, unceremoniously flopping down on the ottoman in front of her husband’s chair. 

Nick chuckled at her dramatics and marked his page so he could put his book down on a side table, “I’ll do whatever you would like to do.”

Charlotte pouted, “That doesn’t help me at all.”

Nick thought for a moment then reached out to touch Charlotte’s hair, pushing it away from her face, “Okay, I’ll help you. Show me the flyer.”

Her frown immediately switched to a smile and she held out the piece of paper for him to look over. 

“Well,” Nick thought aloud, “We can go to the parlour games, you know how much you like a good round of charades, oh and maybe they’ll play the nursery rhyme game! You’re really good at that one!”

Charlotte grinned wildly, “I am aren’t I?”

He nodded, “I’m sure you could win all of the prizes.”

“How does your garden grow?” she asked with a giggle, knowing Nick would probably have trouble with the answer. 

Nick laughed and thought long and hard for the answer, “You know, I said it was you who was good at this game, not me.”

“I need an answer!” she teased, pulling on his hand.

“My garden grows just fine Mary Mary quite Contrary,” he quipped, sticking his tongue out at her quickly. 

Charlotte smiled, “You’re good at that game too. What else should we do?”

“I imagine we’ll be going to the Wood’s?” 

Charlotte rested her hand on her chin, “I’m not sure if I want to go.”

“Why not?” Nick asked curiously, always remembering how much Charlotte adored the ball to the point that for a week before hand she would stomp her feet with excitement every time it was mentioned.

“Everything is different now,” she shrugged, “my reasons for going aren’t the same as they were before.”

“So?” he wondered, “We can go and laugh at all of the people who we know that married ugly, unfortunate people.”

Charlotte laughed loudly, having to put her hand over her mouth to keep herself from attracting attention from the entire house, “We should go,” she agreed, “It might be nice to see some of my friends again. If we go though, you’ll have to brush up on your etiquette a little.”

Nick gasped, “I have no idea what you’re talking about I have impeccable manners!”

“I know you do,” she assured him, patting his knee consolingly, “It’s just…well, I’ve seen you at this party and sometimes you can act differently from everyone else and people notice that.”

“Different how?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Charlotte rung her hands together, biting her lip as she thought of a delicate way to tell him, “You can act very…American sometimes.”

Nick chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, “Everyone should know to expect that, I was raised as an American after all. I’m used to hearing people talking about my accent behind my back so I think I can handle it if people talk about how I’m not stuck up and boring enough to be British.”

“See, that right there!” Charlotte said with a smile on her face, “You’re being an ostentatious American!” 

Laughing, Nick merely shrugged his shoulders once again, “If I don’t act American they’ll say I’m trying to be British. Maybe if I dress up like a cowboy or a Union soldier they won’t have to secretly talk about me acting American because it will be out there for everyone to see?”

“If you dress up like a cowboy then you can go with your other wife because I won’t be seen with you,” Charlotte warned, pointing a finger at him.

“I couldn’t possibly,” he assured her, “I don’t have a hat for it.”

The two of them laughed and mutually decided that they would attend despite the fact that Charlotte didn’t really want to see her friends and Nick didn’t have a cowboy hat to wear.

“Now we’re going to have to get all dressed up,” Charlotte bubbled, starting to get excited like she used to at the thought of doing her hair and looking nice, “Perhaps I’ll wear my yellow dress.”

“Don’t you think that dress is a little bright?” Nick queried. Charlotte had always been the type to wear bright, flashy, dresses. It was those dresses that made sure every man at the ball avoided her dance card like it was an illness. People were always dressed elegantly, and blues, reds and greens always seemed to be popular colours but Charlotte had always managed to find the one colour that no one in the room would dare be seen in and make sure every inch of her from her hair pins to her shoes was covered in it. He thought to everything his father had been saying to him and decided to try and combine a little of his parent’s style of authority with some of his own. 

“I think it’s pretty,” Charlotte said, wondering what he was getting at.

“On you everything looks beautiful,” he told her, hoping the compliment would help what he was about to say, “but maybe you should wear something a little darker this year? Like the dress I got you for Christmas maybe?”

Charlotte sulked, “It’s navy.”

“I thought you liked it?”

“I do!” she urged, “I adore it, it’s lovely!" For a formal funeral, she added mentally. 

“Good!” Nick smiled, “That settles it then, you’ll wear it tonight. There’s no better time to wear a new dress, right?”

“I suppose,” Charlotte replied without any enthusiasm.

“You can even wear yellow in your hair,” Nick suggested, “It’ll match.”

“Why don’t you wear yellow in your hair?” she crossed her arms over her chest, not thinking she was going to be able to look pretty in something as boring as navy blue.

“Won’t go with my suit,” Nick grinned, reaching out to hold her chin with his thumb and forefinger, “Don’t pout it’s not becoming.”

“Sorry,” she muttered, still with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, “So I imagine if we go to the games and to the ball that will bring us right up to the fireworks?”

Nick nodded and picked his book back up, “I certainly hope so.”

“Well I’d better go press your jacket if we’re going fancy tonight,” Charlotte spoke aloud, letting Nick return to his reading. 

“Thank you,” Nick smiled and leaned over to kiss Charlotte’s forehead before turning to the book.

Charlotte let out a heavy sigh, hoping Nick heard her displeasure. She made her way out to the kitchen where her mother and both aunts were, two of them baking pies for dinner the next day. They would eat that night’s dinner at the various food stations set up along the main street, it was all part of the appeal of New Year’s Eve. You got to do what you wanted, and eat as much as you could without running out of money. 

“Nick is acting funny,” Charlotte observed, grabbing a slice of apple from a bowl before taking a seat next to her Aunt Trudy.

“He’s not feeling sick is he?” Cecilia immediately questioned, ready to go care for her son if need be.

“No,” she dismissed with a wave of her hand, “Not sick, just different. I want to wear my yellow dress to the Wood’s tonight but he won’t let me! He wants me to wear the dress he got me for Christmas but it’s,” she cringed, “navy blue!” 

The three older women shared a knowing look between them and turned back to the whining youth.

“Well,” her mother began, “It would be rude of you to not show off the gift he gave you.”

“It’s not me though!” Charlotte whined, munching on her small apple slice

“Charlotte, sometimes you have to sacrifice the things you want to make your husband happy,” Cecilia explained, “Nick bought that dress only with you in mind, so he obviously thinks that it’s you, or it’s how he would like you to dress. It’s your duty as his wife to do him that favour and wear the dress he wants over the dress that you want.”

Charlotte nodded, knowing that was what was always drilled into her head through her entire life, “It’s never been like that with him though. He’s never told me what to wear or what not to wear, or what to say. He’s always told me he loved when I was just me. Now all of a sudden he wants me to be something I’m not and I don’t understand what changed.”

Trudy pursed her lips and rubbed Charlotte’s back quickly, “Sometimes Nick is going to have to put up a front, just like he wants you to do tonight. I don’t think you realize how much he’s had to defend you to some of the people in this family. When you speak out of turn, interrupt him, talk about how he does chores and cooks, and not show up at the train station with him while he’s sick…it’s looks bad on him, not you. He might be more than willing to do all of those things for you, to let you live somewhat independently, but you can’t expect him to do it all the time.”

“You’re right,” Charlotte said quietly, not realizing just how out of control she’d become with her lack of manners when it came to their marriage. She couldn’t very well tell the women all of the things she was hiding, but the things that were obvious to everyone could be changed, and she would have to change them. She couldn’t stand to think that Nick was being ridiculed for her behaviour and suddenly her brother’s never ending comments started to make sense.

“So, you’ll be wearing blue tonight then?” her mother asked with a sly grin.

Charlotte nodded then stood up, moving to the stove to heat up the iron, “Yes, I’d have better start getting ready or I’ll fall behind.”

The slow pace of the morning soon turned feverish as it got to late afternoon and everyone was scrambling to get ready to go out. One of the older children was staying home to watch the young ones while everyone else got dolled up. Nick had taken care of the two oldest boys, making sure their ties were tied correctly, suit jackets were clean and pressed and shirts were tucked in. The men ended up downstairs in the study anxiously awaiting the arrival of their dates. 

Nick glanced up as he heard footsteps on the stairs and watched as Charlotte was the first person down, holding her dress just above her ankles so she didn’t trip. He smiled as she walked towards him, thinking she was by far the most beautiful woman in the room.

“You look amazing,” he said softly, taking her hands. He noticed immediately the yellow ribbon intricately weaved throughout her hair and was glad she’d taken his advice since they did in fact match. 

“So do you,” Charlotte told him, taking in how sharp he looked in his tuxedo.

“Okay!” Thomas said, corralling everyone, “Let’s get going!” 

As they made their way to the door Nick happened to glance down at his sleeve and gasped, “Damn,” he cursed, “I was so busy making sure everyone else was ready I didn’t put on my cufflinks.”

“You want me to go get them?” Charlotte inquired.

“No, no, I’ll do it. You go ahead and get in the carriage I’ll just be one second,” he assured her, making sure they’d wait for him before he ventured upstairs. He couldn’t quite recall where he’d left the box with his cufflinks in it since things had gotten taken out and put away since Christmas. 

After a quick glance around the bed Nick looked inside his suitcase and couldn’t find the box. He put Charlotte’s case on the bed and sorted through it, taking out some of her clothes so he could search better. 

“A ha!” he sounded victoriously as he located the small box that had his cufflinks inside. He was tempted to just leave everything out but knew that Charlotte wouldn’t appreciate her knickers being out for the world to see, and for the younger kids to rummage through while they were home. He carefully refolded everything and placed it back in the case, curiously picking up a small velvet pouch that had fallen out of some of her clothes. His conscience was telling him to just put the pouch back in Charlotte’s case and never think of it again, but his curiosity seemed to be getting the better of him and he couldn’t help himself from pulling the small ropes until the bag opened and he could see inside. 

He was confused for a moment, not knowing what it was. He pulled out the small, beige coloured disk and held it in his hand curiously until suddenly like a bag of bricks it hit him. He had seen the notices on the bulletin board and the flyers that the anti-contraception group from his church had been distributing. He had read their propaganda and protest newsletters and knew exactly what he was holding in his hand, he just wasn’t sure if he wanted to believe that his wife was the owner of such an offensive piece. He wasn’t sure whether to fly into a fury, or cry because he’d been deliberately deceived by the one person he would have never expected it from. 

“Nick, we’re going to leave without you if you’re not down here in one minute!” his father called up the stairs and Nick quickly shoved the diaphragm back into the bag, closing Charlotte’s case and slipping on his cufflinks before racing downstairs to join the charlatan he’d married. 

“What took you so long?” Charlotte asked in a concerned tone as Nick joined her in the carriage.

“Couldn’t find my cufflinks,” he replied monotonously, suddenly not feeling up to a party. He knew there had to be someone behind all of this, because he didn’t think Charlotte would be bold enough to go looking for someone to get her something illegal. He had questioned whether or not she’d stolen that book back in the fall but he never actually thought she would ever be able to pull off anything felonious. But there she was, committing crimes, committing sins, who knew how many times a week right under his nose. He wondered if she used his money to pay for it and the thought simply disgusted him. In his mind he tried to make a list of any of the people he could imagine Charlotte going to for such a product and he could only come up with one. Sue was the only one, and he knew with every fibre of his being that it was her who had brainwashed his wife. That old woman who hated men, supported many questionable practices, and above all else had Charlotte as her protégé. 

As Nick looked out into the cold winter night he swore one thing to himself for absolute certain, Sue MacDonald was not going to get away with what she’d done, he was going to ensure she was knocked off her pedestal and he would guarantee that Charlotte would be there to watch her fall.