There were also the duke and the duchess themselves, casually sewing the colorful items onto bonnets. Their baby, Dorian, satbetween them, stray bits of ribbon pasted to random spots on his sticky arms and head.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” said Viv.
“Sit, sit,” said Chloe. “Do you want to make yourself a bonnet?”
“I…” Viv considered the oily mess Elizabeth’s automated butler had made of what had previously been Viv’s best bonnet. “Maybe? I don’t really know how.”
“Have Lawrence do it, he’s good at it,” the duchess suggested.
Viv stared at her, bewildered. Had she just been invited to give instructions to a duke?
“Er,” she managed.
The truth was, Chloe’s bonnets were legendarily hideous. A duchess might be able to wear an entire millinery shop glued to her coiffure, but Viv would rather exhibit at least some sense of style.
The Duke of Faircliffe lifted the bonnet in his lap. “I’m almost done with this one, if you’d like it.”
Viv’s mouth fell open. It was beautiful. More elegant than anything she’d ever worn. The sort of bonnet whose price was so far outside her means, it would’ve hurt her eyes to behold it in a shop window.
“Take it now,” Chloe whispered. “Before Dory gets his paws on it. Unless youwantto copy my appearance.”
Viv looked at the duchess, looked at Dorian, then took the bonnet from the duke. “Thank you. I don’t have enough coin with me at the moment to repay—”
“It’s a gift,” Chloe interrupted. “We’re making a new batch for the women’s refuge. As each season turns, I drop off my used clothing and try to add at least a few decent bonnets to the mix.”
“You donate your entire wardrobe four times a year?” Viv asked in surprise.
“Not me,” said the Duke of Faircliffe, leaning back in his seat tohook his thumbs into his waistband. “I’ve been wearing this coat and trousers for the past five years and I don’t intend to break my streak now.”
“Not thesamecoat and trousers,” Chloe whispered to Viv. “He has half a dozen identical pairs he cycles through.”
Viv wasn’t sure which stunned her more: the duchess giving away all of her fashionable garments every three months, or that the duke didn’t bother attempting to be fashionable at all.
“Dory acquires more than enough new clothing for all of us,” said Faircliffe. “I will never understand how someone so small can outgrow dozens of play clothes overnight.”
“We donate those, too,” Chloe assured Viv. “All of Dory’s outgrown items go straight to the orphanage where I grew up.”
“You don’t want to save Dorian’s baby clothes in case he acquires a brother or sister?” Viv regretted the question as soon as it came from her mouth. Obviously, a duke and duchess wouldn’t fret over every farthing the way Viv did. They could probably afford to replace the wardrobe of every person in the household nightly if they so wished.
“I don’t know that I will have another baby,” Chloe answered with astonishing honesty. “Oh, I know it’s expected of me. First the heir, then the spare, et cetera. But we adore spoiling Dory with our full attention—when we’re not crafting speeches for Parliament. Fifteen months is a little too young to join in on that.”
“Youcraft speeches for Parliament?”
“Just Lawrence’s,” Chloe said quickly. “He’s the one who gives them, not me. Come to think of it, you’re a writer. A playwright must know how to pen convincing dialogue. You ought to come join our planning sessions. If we were faster at it, maybe wecouldoffer speeches for our allies as well. I’m sure you have pet topics you’d like the lads to discuss, am I right?”
“Um,” said Viv, showcasing her stunning ability to generate riveting dialogue.
Had she really just been invited to literally help script the next session of Parliament?
A hair-raising wail rent the air.
“Ah,” said Chloe. “Those dulcet tones indicate Dory is ready for teatime.”
“Milk time,” said Faircliffe. “After which he falls asleep, giving us a solid thirty minutes for adult conversation.”
“Or a much-needed nap.” Chloe pantomimed falling asleep right there in her chair.
Viv pressed her new bonnet to her chest and rose to her feet. “I won’t interrupt you further then. Enjoy your nap.”
