Her heart was thumping inside her chest by the time they'd entered the wardrobe room. What would she want to wear? A nightdress? Or something…
Rose gulped. Something sexier?
Bloody hell. This was going to be a nightmare.
"Nightclothes are this way," she said, leading Reinette through the racks of clothing. She stopped, and gestured to the wall. "Take your pick."
Reinette glanced at Rose. "What do you think I should wear?"
Rose's cheeks warmed. Was she seriously expected to answer that? To tell her what she thought Reinette might like to wear to impress the Doctor? Rose felt sick.
"Um…I don't know. Whatever you want," Rose blustered.
Reinette reached out and scanned through the expensive, silky garments, avoiding the less posh ones that Rose was used to perusing.
Rose closed her eyes, trying to regulate her breathing. She'd never felt brave enough to wear any of these particular items, however much she'd secretly wanted to attract the Doctor's attention; she'd stuck to variations of her simple cotton shorts and tank top, and most of the time she wore a dressing gown too. Reinette was confident and sensual, and undoubtedly she'd have no trouble picking something delicious to seduce the Doctor with.
With that thought, Rose started to back away.
"Oh, Rose? Please would you stay? I'll need help removing my dress."
Rose bit back a retort about maybe asking the Doctor to help with that, and smiled winningly, determined not to convey her inner turmoil. She didn't want Reinette to pity her, or think her pathetic. "Okay."
Reinette smiled sheepishly in return. "I suppose you think me terribly vexing, for requiring help to get out of my own clothes; it's just that I'm used to servants helping me, and - "
"I don't mind," Rose interrupted firmly, stepping behind her. She began to unbutton the back of Reinette's dress – there must have been a hundred buttons, she reckoned, because it took ages.
Reinette sighed wistfully. "It must be nice to wear simpler clothing that one can remove oneself."
Rose scowled at the back of Reinette's head, though she knew the other woman hadn't meant anything mean by it. They may have been from the same planet, but they were from different worlds.
"Which century did you say you were from?" Reinette asked.
"The twenty-first."
"Is it a beautiful era?"
"It has its moments," Rose murmured, her lips twitching. "France and Britain are currently friends. Paris is still beautiful. Versailles is still grand and lovely, from what I've seen in pictures." She finished unbuttoning the dress, and then turned Reinette around to start unlacing the front. "Do you enjoy living in the eighteenth century?" Rose asked with a smile.
Reinette tilted her head to the side, contemplative. "I really don't know any different," she pointed out. "But yes. As you say; it has its moments."
Rose thought she could detect a slightly mischievous twinkle in Reinette's eye. "You mean the King?" she asked cheekily.
Reinette nodded. "We had some wonderful times together."
"Had?"
"Yes." Reinette paused, then added, "We are still the closest of friends."
"I thought…I mean, I was under the impression that you two were still…um."
"I am still, officially, his mistress, yes."
"Sorry, I'm being nosy - " Rose began to apologise, as she helped Reinette push her dress off her shoulders. It pooled around Reinette's feet on the floor and Rose winced as she looked at Reinette's corset. "That must be painful to wear all day."
"I am often tempted to lace it in a looser way, like other women tend to do. But one gets used to it, I suppose," she gave a half-shrug. "However, it is delightful to be rid of it at night." Rose helped her to unlace it, and as it fell to the floor Reinette breathed in deeply. "You see? Now I can inhale properly," she gave a measured giggle.
"Yeah," Rose smiled. If she were a different sort of girl, the sort who was prone to cattiness and bitterness, Rose would've noticed that now Reinette's chest was free from her corset, her breasts weren't appearing nearly so pert and inviting. Rose smothered her absurd giggle at that stray thought, and internally reprimanded herself for thinking so meanly. It wasn't like the Doctor would even care, not now that Reinette had captured his attention already, so Rose's little burst of triumph that perhaps the older woman wasn't quite as sumptuous beneath her dress as Rose had thought she would be was completely irrelevant anyway.
"As to what we were talking about before," Reinette started.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me," Rose assured her. It wasn't like she wanted to hear who Reinette now considered to be her – her – well, her lover – if not the King.
She placed her hand on Rose's arm. "It is fine. I do not mind. As I was saying, the King and I are very close, but we no longer engage in anything sexual. It has been that way for some years, now, actually."
Rose could feel her cheeks heating up – which she found absurd, because it wasn't like her to act like a blushing virgin. But still, the way Reinette spoke of things so frankly was something that Rose wasn't entirely used to.
"In fact I arrange other mistresses for him," Reinette continued casually.
Rose's eyebrows lifted. "What? Seriously?"
"Mmm. It is not an ideal situation, but it – well. It is necessary."
"I don't understand. Why would - "
"I am not able to partake in such things any longer," she explained carefully. She glanced at the floor, bringing her arms up to cradle herself as she shivered slightly. Rose was thus reminded that Reinette was standing there in her thin chemise alone, so she quickly picked up the nightdress she had been admiring before, and helped her into it. She then brought over a warm dressing gown, and Reinette smiled at her gratefully as she put it on. "I lost babies, you see, on two occasions of pregnancy," she murmured to Rose.
Rose looked at her in shock, tears glistening in her eyes. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry - "
Reinette smiled sadly. "Thank you. No, I decided, after those two incidences, that I would not take a chance of losing another. I couldn't bear it. Thus, I arrange for others to please him. He is devoted to me, though – we play cards and hunt together, and I do exert a certain political influence, still, for which I am grateful. I have enemies because of that, because of my humble beginnings, but that doesn't much worry me anymore."
"I see," Rose murmured, her voice rough. "So, um - "
She was about to ask Reinette about the Doctor – about the exact nature of her relationship with the Doctor – when the very man entered the room; she promptly cut herself off.
"The TARDIS has set up a nice room for you, Reinette, so when you're ready I'll show you the way," he said, as he came upon them in the wardrobe room.
Reinette cleared her throat. "Thank you. Rose here has been helping me undress; I feel terribly foolish about it."
"Don't," Rose assured her.
"Yeah, don't worry," smiled the Doctor. "Rose is the least judgemental person I know."
Rose felt guilty upon hearing those words of praise. She'd certainly judged Reinette before she'd got to know her. Mind you, she suspected that Reinette had done the same with her.
"You were very efficient, I must say," Reinette said to her. "One would think that you are used to removing such garments – have you worn corsets and things yourself?"
"Rose likes to dress up when we go for trips to the past," the Doctor grinned.
She blushed. "Er, yeah. It's fun, you know…" It was fun, pretending to be someone else, she thought. Someone who was made for such clothing. Someone who might catch the Doctor's –
No. Rose swallowed and continued, "Right, then. I'd better get ready for bed myself. See you two tomorrow - "
Reinette surprised her, then, by giving her a hug. "Thank you, Rose," she whispered into her ear, and gave her a grateful squeeze.
Rose, astounded by this turn of events, hugged her back. "No problem. Um…goodnight."
The Doctor was equally astonished. He wondered just how friendly they had gotten whilst in here. He shot a bemused glance at Rose over Reinette's shoulder, and she returned it with one of her own. When Reinette finally released Rose, looking a little embarrassed, the Doctor nodded towards the exit. "I'll show you your room."
"Yes, thank you."