Dearest Cousin Colleen.

I take no pleasure in your predicament. As a man, and I say this with all honest as you were one, I had every confidence you would become a credit to your family title and an asset to the crown when duty called. I regret the loss of your name but as I have had time to reflect I believe Colleen will suit you well. My maid and the dressmaker both spoke enthusiastically of your beauty and grace. Do not look upon your transformation as a burden but as an opportunity.

I've long prided myself on being a practical lad, now lass and see no reason that trait should diminished. If anything this is an opportunity for us to demonstrate the temper of our steel. It may be via a different path than we were trained but one no less fraught with danger and glory.
Being of the weaker sex, with law and custom against us we must be more cunning and brave than any man if we are to make our fortunes. Yet we have opportunities before us that as men we never imagined. Being healthy, desirable young woman of breeding afford us the opportunity to recover much of our lost fortunes. Youth and beauty are powerful weapons if used with skill, every bit as deadly as the sharpest blade. You know by experience the effect a comely figure, a winning smile, a quiet gesture from a woman can bewitch the hardest man. Use that knowledge to advantage. As men we were expected to win honor in battle or by hard work and applied genius make our fortune.

As women the battlefields and industry are different but no less perilous or rewarding . Fortune favors the bold is as true for women as men. Like any general we must first know ourselves, our weakness and strengths. We must study the enemy, know his weakness, make a plan of battle, train diligently then choose the moment of our greatest advantage and strike boldly. Our weapons are not cannon and saber but charm, wit and the flush of youth.

Or as my mother said, a man's glory is to win fame in battle, wealth in commerce and to die surrounded by his children. A woman's glory is to marry well; a young man of fortune or better still a old man with a great fortune then live as his young, wealthy widow.

Mother has a most scandalous wit I am only now learning to appreciate. I am certain there are women who are but fluff and frills. My mother and I dare say yours are proof that many women are every bit the equal, nay the superior of their men folk. That she can love my father despite or is it because of his flaws amazes me. But then she said she chose him as much for the superior children he might sire than his mind. Mother then compared father to our prize stallion and most explicitly so. I dare fainted at the time!

Do not be shocked by her seeming lasciviousness. She has been deliberately uncouth with me, talking like some of the women of loose morals we did business with back at school. I soon realized this was so I might learn in weeks that which any born woman learns from birth. Despite our years we are but babes as to the mysteries of womanhood and vulnerable because of that. My mother wants me to be a proper lady but a proper lady of my own choosing. I loved her as a son should . As her daughter I worship her.

I am confident your mother, the resourceful woman that she must be, has taught you similar lesions. You cannot go wrong following her wise example. Except perhaps as to the latest fashion for young women. For that I would seek the advice of your cousin Lady Mary Beth whom I desired as my wife. Be not shocked, Colleen, you know my intentions were always honorable and that your cousin and I were long fond towards each other. I intended to ask for her father's permission to court her upon our next visit come the Christmas season but alas that is no longer possible. But you must admit she has always had the best taste in fashion, even as a child, and would be a fine example to emulate.

A word of caution, dear cousin. I managed by use of my newfound charms to extract some disturbing knowledge from one of the younger wizards we consulted. I assure you I did nothing improper though I did flirt with the man most wickedly. He informed me it is quite probable the magic that transformed us was in revenge for some perceived wrong or simply to eliminate a rival. This is not mere conjecture but the result of the many examinations I was subject to.

There is a component in our *curse* that makes us more susceptible to a man's charms than most women. Many times so I am informed. Until I extracted this intelligence from the wizard I confess feeling a most inappropriate desire for him. I must be blunt, it was all I could do not to throw myself at him and beg to be ... I cannot lie to you, my cousin I would have taken HIS virginity if he'd not been a man of honor.

Do not think me a weak and lascivious woman. The wizard assured me that was a deliberate aspect of my, our transformations. You no doubt know our transformation stripped us of all that was masculine. But what if that masculinity was not simply stripped from us but transferred unto someone else? Have you noticed anyone of our acquaintance who is suddenly more handsome, commanding, manly in bearing? To use a vulgarity, a man endowed like a horse? Forgive me but Charles, the young wizard, words were most alarming. Have I told you how handsome Charles is? I apologize, I had was overwhelmed by that foul spell for a moment. Mind you Charles is a fine young man. One any woman would be fortunate to wed. Regrettably he has no title, unlike your Lord Mathis.

Perhaps I am giving into some feminine weakness caused by the shock of my transformation but I recall Lord Mathis as a slight, awkward if not actually unpleasant boy, hardly a handsome and charming young man. I do not remember him as a friend, at most an unwelcome acquaintance.

That he is an apprentice wizard and is interested in your hand is suspicious. How does he even know of your existence as Colleen unless one of the wizards who examined you was indiscreet? Could Lord Mathis have enchanted us most foully, draining our manhood's to fuel some scheme of his? Is his manliness and charm at the expense of ours? Is he a common rake looking to deflower a confused and naive woman? Or is he true in his desire for you?

I fear for you, my cousin. Seek a wizard your family trusts, one not associated with young Lord Mathis, and be examined for signs of ungentlemanly manipulation. At least do as I have done and make it known your parents will not permit you to be courted until you have attained your 15th, nay even your 16th year. I have it on good authority nowadays a woman is not considered as an old maid until she is 17 or even 18 years of age. Mother knows of a few women who were debutants as late as their 19th year and still found excellent matches. As newly coined women we would be afforded some measure of forgiveness in this matter. Our politely refusing to accept any suitors for some months would not be unseemly.

Excuse me verbosity but since recovering my wits post our transformations I find I express myself more in words than in action, at least compared to when were we men. Mother assures me this is a fortuitous sign as women by nature and convention are social creatures. That I am comfortable in my now conversant nature will serve me well. Though I have some mannish traits mother says I am fully female to any who are not party to our secret.

I must finish this letter with dispatch. Father is home and remains in a bilious mood regarding our misfortune. I pray mother and I can contain his anger but you know how forceful he can be.

If some way can be found for us to meet surreptitiously please inform me. I miss your company and to be honest wish to see this great beauty my maid and your servant described. I fear I will pale in comparison. This evil enchantment as made an abomination, a parody of a woman. It is only my devotion to family and mother that keeps me sane. My breasts are much much too large, my, um, rear too wide, my hair too long and blonde to fashionable and I am far too tall. I look like some French woman of loose morals to be blunt. I fear I will be forced to marry some unsuitable man for the family's sake.

Your friend as always.

Francis.

* * * *

(By John in Wauwatosa)

Lady Margrette Ansbach-Stewart,

Your reply to my letter would be laughable if not for its insolence.

Apologize? I should apologize for what your licentious child did to my son? I... I cannot continue as I fear I will say something untoward in my indignation. That you would sully our honorable Queen by attempting to tie her to this this sordid affair speaks to a shocking lack of decency and decorum.

I would challenge you to a duel for your insults to the crown and my family but as a woman you are unfit to claim that test of honor.

I will say no more.

Address any further correspondence to my solicitor. You know his name. If you do not desist in this folly we will meet in court.

Lord Francis Lane-Stewart.