She couldn’t believe the amount of pleasure it brought her to know she would be getting a new frock, even if she didn’t feel it was necessary. Although Finn was correct: she needed to project a certain image. She’d been brought up to understand the importance of the face one showed the world. A person could be dying inside, but still had to give the impression that nothing was amiss, that happiness abounded within.
However, she would be grateful to replace her clothing with something new, something that had never been infested. Her current attire often made her itch as though fleas resided within the woven fabric. Even though she knew they didn’t, she couldn’t help but believe the very possibility existed that they might have once.
She followed Finn and Beth into the hallway and came to an abrupt halt as Finn turned left. “My quarters are in the other direction,” she announced.
He faced her. “Those rooms are not yet furnished.”
“Then I shall make do.”
“We’re just temporarily putting you in the rooms overlooking the street.”
“Where will you sleep?”
He released an impatient sigh. “I’llmake do.”
“Finn, I don’t want my presence here to inconvenience you. I can return to the sisters until the other room is ready.”
“That’ll prove to be an inconvenience to us both.”
“But—”
“Vivi, if you continue to argue with me on every matter, our partnership is likely to become unpleasant for us both.”
He had a point. “Very well. But only until the other room is furnished.”
It was really a rather nice room, but when they walked into it, she noted on a table beside the sofa a vase of petunias that hadn’t been there before and was touched by his thoughtfulness.
He went into the bedroom, no doubt to place her sack in there, and returned empty-handed. “I’ll be in the office if you need me.”
With that he was gone, and the room suddenly seemed lonely.
Beth placed her satchel on a small square table where Lavinia thought she might take her meals, although she had no means for preparing them. Although there was probably a kitchen downstairs since he planned to have a dining room. The seamstress removed her tape and smiled brightly. “Let’s get some measurements, shall we?”
While the young woman worked—measuring and making notes in a little book—Lavinia couldn’t help but study the masculinity of the room with its dark fabrics and even darker wood. Everything within these walls suited Finn, everything except her. “It was nice of you to go to the bother of coming to me,” she said to Beth. “I suppose I could have gone to your shop.”
“I didn’t mind coming here.” The girl knelt, stretching the tape from Lavinia’s waist to the floor. “I’d do anything a Trewlove asked. Wouldn’t have my shop without them.”
Her curiosity was piqued. “Why is that?”
“My landlord was a brutish man. Come Black Mondays—”
“Black Mondays?”
“Aye. Rent for my shop came due every Monday. I didn’t always have what was owed, and when I didn’t, he’d want payment in other ways.”
“What ways?” she asked hesitantly, hoping she might not have the right of it.
The girl didn’t look at her. Simply continued to work. “He expected me to be his lightskirt, took what he wanted. One time when I objected, he smacked me. Bruised my cheek. Gillie came in the next day, in want of a new skirt. Noticed it. Asked me what happened.” She shrugged. “I told her. She has a way about her that’ll have you unburdening yourself without even thinking about it.” Unfolding her body, she began tucking her things into her satchel. “Apparently, a few nights later, my landlord ran across the Trewlove brothers in an alley. He didn’t fare so well but offered to sell me the shop. Mick Trewlove helped me get a loan.” She smiled at Lavinia. “So no trouble at all to come here. I’ll return in a few days, so you can try on the frocks and I can make any last-minute adjustments to make sure they fit properly.”
“Thank you, Beth. I look forward to it.”
After showing the woman to the door, she leaned with her back against it, admiring the young woman who life had dealt an unfair hand but who had managed in spite of dark days to bring such a sunny disposition with her. An abundance of unfortunate circumstances, and she’d been blind to a host of them. But not Finn, not his family. They cared for a good many beyond themselves. Perhaps she’d have not found herself darning stockings, but instead working to secure others’ rights.
As she meandered through the rooms that smelled of Finn, she imagined him looking out for a little dressmaker, looking out for her. Looking out for Sophie. He had such a protective nature about him. If her father hadn’t seen him sent to prison, everything would have turned out so very differently. But she wasn’t convinced she’d have appreciated him as much as she should have. She certainly wouldn’t have appreciated acquiring a new frock. She’d have considered it her due. What a selfish girl she’d been, thinking of herself, while he and his family tended to think of others. Resisting him was going to be incredibly difficult.
But resist him she would because she had more important matters than falling in love all over again with which to contend. There was no better time to test her mettle than the present. With a quick glance in the looking glass that hung on the wall above the washstand where he had possibly shaved that morning—she was not going to think about that intimate task or how satisfying it would be to do it for him—she ensured every strand of hair she’d pinned up earlier was still in place. She patted her cheeks to bring some color to them before heading out of the rooms and down the hall to his—their—office.
Sitting behind the desk, he was studying some papers. They seemed so fragile in his large hands; the room seemed so much smaller with his presence. Even relaxed, he possessed an alertness, an awareness, that shimmered off him in an extremely masculine manner. She imagined him striding through the gaming floor and realized she wanted to do more than imagine it. She wanted to see it. She thought of him waltzing with one of the wallflowers and knew a spark of jealousy. Perhaps he’d leave that task to those they hired, although she knew there might come a time when she’d see him with a lover or a wife. A man such as he was not without needs. She wanted him to find happiness, to have someone better suited to him than she was, someone more courageous than she’d been.
