Behind her, she heard Cedric tsk his tongue, and in the next second, he appeared behind her in her reflection.
“The suit is not the problem,” he said testily, reaching around her to unbutton the jacket, “It is your body. Even in these clothes, you still look too feminine.”
He pulled back the jacket, and Deborah immediately saw his point. While the bulk of the jacket hid the size of her breasts a little, the shirt clearly revealed the swell of her chest. In fact, the way it was tailored had her breasts straining against the fabric and had even accentuated her small waist.
“It seemed the tailor did a little too well,” Deborah said in way of agreement.
“Indeed,” Cedric murmured, pulling the jacket down her arms. “Take off the shirt.”
She turned to him with an arched brow as he laid the jacket carefully over the back of her vanity chair.
“What for?” She asked, “We must go!”
“This will not take long,” he assured her as he walked back to her bed. She watched him curiously as he pulled back the pretty duvet and grabbed the white sheet underneath. Her jaw dropped as she watched him rip a long piece off with great ease.
“What are youdoing?” She asked.
“Shirt. Off,” Cedric demanded, gathering up the long strip of fabric.
Annoyed but intrigued at what he was up to, Deborah removed her hat and then pulled the collared shirt up over her head, tossing it atop her jacket.
Cedric sighed heavily as his gaze fell to her bare breasts, and he shook his head with a saddened expression.
“What I am about to do is an affront to God’s creation,” he sighed woefully as he approached with the strip of cloth, “When this is over, your breasts and I are going to have a private conversation, and there is not a thing you can do to stop it. Now lift your arms.”
Deborah chortled. Her face shifted into a look of amused curiosity, but she obeyed, lifting her arms above her head.
“I am so sorry, my pretty darlings,” Cedric sighed as he began winding the strip of cloth tightly around her breasts and ribcage, “I promise I will make it up to you later.”
Deborah lifted a brow as she took in Cedric’s face and saw that he genuinely appeared remorseful.
“Are you apologizing…to my breasts?” She asked as he wound the fabric tighter and flattened her breasts to her body. Even as she asked, heat pooled into her lower belly as he stared adoringly at her chest for another moment, then frowned as if he was watching someone destroy a masterpiece.
Deborah’s cheeks flushed as she remembered how he had worshipped her breasts that first day in the parlor. How his tongue, normally so sharp and witty, had become soft and warm and teasing as he drew her nipples into his mouth one at a time until she was breathless and fully of need.
“Well, someone certainly needs to,” Cedric grumbled, continuing the binding until the sheet came to an end and pulled her from the memory.
Deborah willed herself to focus on their plan as Cedric pinned the fabric carefully so it would not unravel, then grabbed her shirt. He lowered it over her head and arms, then carefully tucked it back into the waistband of her trousers.
“There,” he sighed, pointing to her reflection in the mirror, still looking quite saddened by her changed figure.
It was indeed changed, for instead of the curves that had once fit into the shirt, there was now nothing but the smallest swell of a chest that dropped into a narrow waist, very much like a man’s torso would.
“Now the jacket,” Cedric said, grabbing it for her.
She held out her arms again as he also put that back on her, and then retrieved the black cravat and top hat.
“Your mask will hide the feminine features of your face,” Cedric muttered, reaching up to almost lovingly caress her cheek. “Thank heavens for that, for there are no cosmetics that could hide such beauty.”
Deborah’s heart thudded in double time at his compliment, and she lowered her hat to hide the blush blooming in her cheeks.
“Do you have my mask?” She asked.
“I do,” Cedric agreed, draping a cloak around her shoulders, “But you will wait until we are in the carriage to put it on. “The last thing we need to do is risk one of our neighbors seeing us in them.”
Deborah only nodded in agreement and followed him out to the carriage. The long ride to the auction was tense and silent. Instead of trying to fill the space with conversation, Deborah chose to turn her focus on the night’s goal: to try to goad othermen into speaking about other auctions- specifically the ones Sylvester hosted.
When Cedric had shared the knowledge he’d discovered that Sylvester held his own knowledge, Deborah had nearly gotten sick with disgust. However, once she was through her bout of fury, she realized that those auctions were the perfect way to expose Sylvester as the horrible person he was. They just needed proof to release to the papers, and her vengeance would finally be paid. She could finally look for Hester and bring her home.