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Benjamin's eyes widened and he gulped, "You want me to help you ehm...put this on?" He looked first from April, then down to the package, then up to April. "I may be from this period, but this...this is foreign to me. I assume this is to go under the decorative skirt and these?" here, he held up some wire framing, presumed to go below even that, "I have no idea what this is. Ah, if only I could ask Mary-Ellen for help! She was the costume designer for my last play, very talented. She would know!" He groaned looking at all the various parts, "I guess I was hoping this sort of knowledge just came imbedded in you. Uhm. Alright. We can look at this as sort of a puzzle? But I don't know how I can help without ah..." He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence and shook his head and sighed. "What can I do?"

Benjamin breathed a sigh of relief when she said that she would be discarding the corset. Of course, that meant that she'd stick out, but only to those that were really paying attention. "Uhm...forgive me for asking this, but what's a bra? I know what ehm... panties...are, but I have never heard of a bra. Is it..similar?" His face was flushed as he asked this. Her early ancestors wore corsets, he could tell by the narrow waists, but he never cared to spy on them as they were changing so he'd never seen one before. The entire situation was a new one to him.

All too happily he left the room and waited for April to get dressed. After what felt like twenty minutes he heard her voice calling from the other side of the bookshelf and came in, blushing when he saw her exposed back, "Just uh...zip this up?" He did as he was told with trembling hands and sweat beading on his brow, but he stepped back and admired their combined handiwork. "You look like a genuine lady. By the by, I checked the date. We have one week. Do you think you can last that long?"

Benjamin turned a dark shade of red, deepening when his eyes followed her hands and he found himself actually looking at the gestured to regions. Thankfully it was only a moment, but Benjamin hoped that April didn't notice. "Well, it's immodest," he said truthfully, "I'll be thankful when this getting you clothes debacle is through, that much is certain." He tilted his head as he watched her expertly twist her hair around into a neat bun and put on the bonnet more skillfully than he expected. In his brief time knowing her, she'd never worn a bonnet, but then, he supposed that the concept was simple enough.

"That is a splendid idea, and this time, you may accompany me," Benjamin paused, looking down and getting serious for a moment, "I apologize, for all of this. You're a complete stranger to me and yet, and in a few days, you'll be witnessing the most intimate, most personal moments in my life. It has to be a little awkward for you, doesn't it?"

Benjamin forced a smile as other, less pleasant, thoughts bubbled to the surface of the recesses of his mind, forcing themselves into his consciousness. Dorothea had never met his parents. Hells, his parents never even heard of Dorothea. They never saw his posts go out; they never saw hers come in. He collected the letters before his father picked it up and he went to the office himself to send them out. Only under the guise of wealth could he have ever brought her to his parents as he was about to do with this complete stranger.

"They will believe it," he finally said with a smile, "They've been suspecting that I may have found someone for quite some time, and they have been encouraging me to pursue a wife." As he spoke, he couldn't help but remember that he was back in a world where his beloved had loved him, where she still wrote to him faithfully. Where he could still write to her faithfully. He nodded, looking at her grimly "Let's hope that that is the reason you and I ended up here. And don't forget." He chuckled "My parents might find it a bit...disconcerting."

Benjamin laughed, fiddling with his hands, "That sounds like the closest thing to a plan we've had this entire time. Ehm...I can't lead you to Mother from here though, as that would look suspicious. We'll come through the front door, but first...we've got to get out." His lips pursed into a thin line as he thought about how he could dodge all of the servants as well as his mother who at this time had already returned from her morning stroll. He breathed deep, "Alright, follow me."

Holding April by the wrist, he led her through the maze of rooms and hallways, always ducking into the least traveled passages until they had gone out the back door, the sunlight bathing the couple with its rays. "That should do it; we just have to go around the front now."

Benjamin breathed in the late morning air and turned to her with shining eyes, "Shall I lead you inside now?" He said this as he was already leading her to the front of the house and they were shortly standing on the walk leading to his home.

The pair moved inside and Benjamin called out, "Mother! I've returned, and I've brought someone along, I hope you don't mind!"

Benjamin's mother, Katherine peered out of the doorway to the kitchen her face immediately brightening when she saw that the aforementioned person was indeed a woman, and a well-dressed woman at that. "Well, hello there! And who might you be?"