“This is too small, Victoria. You have misread my measurements,” Mrs. McCrae was saying.
“That is impossible, Mrs. McCrae,” Victoria furrowed her brows, “I… I checked thrice.”
“Well, I measured Lady Amelia myself, and I did not make a mistake, but it is clear to anyone with eyes that this does not fit.”
Looking at herself in the mirror, Charlotte thought it fit rather well, though a touch tight. But Victoria and Mrs. McCrae were looking at it as though it were a shabby rag.
“If I may, Lady Amelia?” Victoria asked, reaching for the hat.
Charlotte pulled it off and handed it to the young girl, who proceeded to measure it in various dimensions. Mrs. McCrae had produced a notebook from her pocket and was flipping through the pages.
“Here we are!” she said brusquely and read out a series of numbers.
Victoria confirmed each one against her measurements of the hat. At the end, both women looked at Charlotte with perplexed expressions. Charlotte looked back in confusion, not knowing what they found so fascinating. At that moment, the door to the shop swung open, and Reginald stumbled in, bearing a box bound in red ribbon.
“Hullo, Mama.Ladies,” he greeted the room brightly. “I bear a gift from the Royal Chocolate House: Mr. Tosier’s finest chocolate drops with nonpareil topping. There is plenty for your apprentices, too, Mrs. McCrae, if they like chocolate. Do you like chocolate? Victoria, isn’t it?”
He looked at Victoria, who was blushing furiously, and dropped the hat she was holding. Mrs. McCrae scolded her furiously as she scooped it from the ground.
“I do, milord,” Victoria answered in a small voice.
“Please take some,” Reginald undid the ribbon with a flourish and opened the box.
He held it out to Victoria, stepping closer to her.
“Are your family not to be offered any first, Reginald?” Aunt Phyllis inquired from the back of the shop.
“Oh, yes, of course,” Reginald grimaced, but did not move. “Well, I’ve offered now, haven’t I? It would be rude. Please take some,” he said to Victoria.
She picked one of the flattened chocolate circles out and popped it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and sighed rapturously. Charlotte saw Reginald smile in delight at the reaction.
“They are heavenly, thank you, milord,” the young girl smiled.
“You are most welcome, my dear,” Reginald bowed with a flourish.
For a moment, he simply stared at her until Francis cleared her throat, glaring at the box pointedly.
“You are quite hopeless, Reginald. So topsy turvy to offer the help a selection before your mother and sisters.”
“I suppose I am rather upside down sometimes,” Reginald replied, still smiling.
He handed the box to his sister and promptly seemed to forget about it, turning back to Victoria, who had been handed Charlotte’s hat back again.
“Neither my measurements nor your interpretation of them are at fault,” Mrs. McCrae murmured grudgingly. “It seems you made a hat precisely according to the measurements I gave you last month. It is the ladies’ head that is at fault.”
Charlotte suddenly felt as though all eyes turned to her head. Reginald frowned.
“Oh dear, has your head swelled since you were last here, cousin?” he asked innocently, “I hear such things happen when one becomes friends with royalty.”
“I should say so,” Claire put in, popping a series of chocolates into her mouth from a small pile in her hand, “I hear that our cousin there has become an indispensable advisor to the Marchioness Conyngham on the subject of etiquette.”
“I merely ventured my opinion when asked. I hardly know her,” Charlotte frowned.
“Irrespective, the discrepancy is the opposite to that which you describe, milord,” Mrs. McCrae added, “Lady Amelia’s head is smaller than it was when I measured her last month.”
Charlotte was lost for words for a moment. She had not anticipated that she would not be identical to Amelia in every way. But, it seemed there were some differences between them. Perhaps not apparent to the naked eye, but when it came to a professional hat maker...
Reginald looked at her; his smile faded. He had a speculative look on his face. He narrowed his eyes briefly, shrewdly.
