May, 1879:

"Are you sure this will work?" Helen asked, tugging absently at her ill fitting waistcoat.

"No one will be able to tell," Nigel assured her as he straightened her cap.

"I look ridiculous," she muttered darkly.

"You do not," he tried. "Just keep your head down and speak with an accent like Nikola's. No one will question it."

Helen sent him an uncertain look before turning to James.

He held up his hands as if fending her off.

"You wanted this, Helen. Don't start dragging me into it, you know my views already."

She pulled a face and turned away from him to cast one more look over her attire in the mirror. Part of her mind was disapproving of the fact that she had four young men standing in her bedroom but the trousers, dress shirt, waistcoat and jacket she wore took precedence with her moral centre.

"I look odd," she muttered, narrowing her eyes.

"I like the pants?" Nikola offered. Someone thumped him on the shoulder and Helen turned just in time to see him shrug at her innocently. "You're much littler than I thought," he tried by way of explanation. "With all those skirts I thought you would be... bigger."

"Watch your tongue, Tesla," John said darkly, giving the other man a glare.

Helen merely rolled her eyes at both of them and went back to fussing with her appearance.

"Look, Helen, if you want to do this, then I don't think you have much of a choice," Nigel said reasonably. "The clothes fit, there ain't much more we can do."

"I know, and I am truly thankful to you Nigel for setting all this up for me. It's just that..."

"If you're not comfortable..." John offered.

"No," Helen said firmly. "No, let us go. I want to come with you tonight."

And she meant it. She'd spent ages wanting to go with the boys to a pub for the evening. It seemed like a foreign world to her, filled with mystery and intrigue in the form of ale. Not that she hadn't been to her share of seedy establishments but that wasn't what she wanted. Nor did she want a dinner out with them either. She wanted an evening with no pressure, no decorum, where she was neither host nor the anomaly dining with too many male companions at once.

Plus the boys always seemed to have such fun on nights like this.

Gathering her wits, Helen turned to them, gesturing for them to lead the way. James and John both shook their heads as they headed out the door, Nigel not far behind them. Nikola hung back though and offered his arm to her.

"You do look very nice," he said earnestly as she accepted it. "Before... I didn't mean to say you looked big in your dresses... It's just that there is an awful lot of fabric..."

Helen laughed as he stumbled through his apology before shifting closer to him.

"I took no offence," she assured him. "And you're right, I do feel much smaller dressed like this. I believe I could even step into a carriage without assistance."

Nikola chuckled, shaking his head.

"One day, all women shall be allowed to dress like this," he said, eyeing her. "It is far more practical than all that lace and... and... and fluff."

"Oh I don't know," Helen said coyly as they walked towards the stairs. "I won't deny that this is far more comfortable than a corset but I know the power my skirts can hold with all their lace and fluff."

"If more people could see you dressed like this, less people would be enraptured by your skirts," he told her firmly. "Now come. We have to get you well and truly... I believe the word Nigel uses is plastered."

Helen laughed but allowed him to lead her towards the front door.


The walk to the pub was quiet and uneventful much to Helen's surprise. She'd expected to have been accosted several times already but, as they settled themselves into one corner of the already bustling pub, Helen had to bite back a smile.

This might actually work.

"Slouch," someone hissed in her ear, a thumb poking at her ribs. She turned to see Nikola glaring at her. "Slouch," he said again. "You're sitting like a girl."

Alarm flooded through her as she quickly worked to mimic the way Nigel was lounging across from her.

Which, of course, prompted them all to break out into a fit of laugher.

"You're too easy," Nikola teased, taking a sip of the wine he'd ordered.

"And you are a horrible friend," she retorted under her breath, slapping his stomach with the back of her hand.

"Welcome to an evening at the pub, Helen," James muttered, shaking his head. "You've much to learn."