Once inside the steaming, marble and gold bathing room, Ingrid turned to Irina and smiled gently.<br/><br/>"You may help me disrobe, Irina," she said, completely confident now, as she was used to having gentle ladies wait upon her, even to the point of helping her bathe.<br/><br/>Irina's fingers were deft as she peeled away the silken layers of dress, carefully laying them aside to be taken and cleaned. She couldn't help but smile at Ingrid's sigh of relief when her corset was undone, not that she should have had to wear one with such a tiny waist to begin with. But all women all over the world gave that same sigh when released from the tight whalebone.<br/><br/>Irina helped pull off Ingrid's stockings, chemisette and petticoats, freeing the princess from all of her clothing. Ingrid sat down on a small, cushioned stool as Irina loosed her long, golden hair from its elaborate updo and coiled it back into a loose, informal bun. It wouldn't do to get her hair wet - it would never dry in time for the dinner.<br/><br/>Knowing Baba would probably demand details, Irina studied the nude princess covertly. She was small and slender, but beautifully curved with a generous bosom, a tiny waist and rounded hips - just right for child-bearing. Her legs were lean and shapely, and her feet and ankles were dainty. Her skin was ivory, almost translucent. Irina noted all of this with a pleasure tinged with jealousy that this princess would get the handsome Alexei's favors and not her. She shrugged inwardly, accepting her lot and just hoping she would be able to make a good match for herself after serving Ingrid for a time.<br/><br/>Finally, Ingrid stepped into the porcelain tub, full of steaming water and fragrant rose oil, with rose petals floating on the surface of the water to provide a modicum of modesty as she soaked.<br/><br/>Ingrid allowed herself to relax fully into the hot water. Her neck and head and shoulders were still extremely painful. She closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift to Alexei...her mind going to secret places she had never dared think of before. What would he look like unclothed, with his muscles and the scars on his long, lean body? What would IT look like? She wondered what it would be like to be touched by him and almost let her hands pretend to be his, but she held herself back. Partly, out of her religious upbringing, but also partly out of curiosity. She wanted Alexei to be the first to touch her like that.<br/><br/>She frowned slightly as she remembered the lurid tales she had heard of his amorous conquests, and just how many of them there had been. Would he be faithful to her? Could she satisfy him enough to keep him in her bed, and her bed alone? How could she reconcile the gentle, kind man she had just met with the voracious, lascivious beast of his reputation?<br/><br/>Still frowning, she reached back to try and rub her neck and shoulders to ease the pain and knotted muscles in them.