“Am I interrupting?”An ice blue and white head poked round her workroom door.
Laura took out the pins held between her lips. “Pierre!”
“Hi,” she said with a sad smile. “Can I come in?”
Laura swept away masses of unused fabric off one of the chairs and made room. “Have a seat. I’m about to take a break anyway.”
Pierre had trimmed her hair into a V-shaped cut that cascaded in mixed length layers down her back. The roots at the top were a vivid sky blue, but cooled to lighter blue and finally to a snowy shade as the ends tapered into soft curls.
“You’ve changed your look.”
“I’m not going to upstage the bride tomorrow with rainbow hair. This is a bit more low key.” She turned the chair around and straddled it. “Nicole made me order a pale grey shift dress. So this will liven it up a little.”
“I think you look charming.”
Pierre, unusually subdued, didn’t even acknowledge the compliment. She glanced at the mannequin in front of Laura. “This is it?”
“I’m just making sure the hem is even.” Laura stood up, dusting her knees and moved away to allow Pierre to see the whole skirt.
“Wow. That’s bloody breathtaking.”
Laura put a hand to the small of her back and tried to straighten her spine. “A couple more hours and I think we’re ready.”
“Lord M sent me to keep you company.”
“Oh, so they told him.”
“Not yet. Adam said…” Pierre faltered with a nervous glance at Laura.
The name hit her like a bullet to the gut.
Pierre looked aghast. “I’m sorry. So sorry,” she whispered.
This was ridiculous. She couldn’t fall apart every time someone mentioned his name, surely.
Yes, the clenching twisting pain in pit of her stomach said that, yes, indeed, she could fall apart.
At least she could try to hide it. It wasn’t anyone else’s job to deal with her pain.
She found a small smile from somewhere. “So, Adam is protecting Lord M from further upset? Good, because the one thing Lord M wanted was to make it to his son’s wedding. What’s the point in anything if we’re going to undo it all the night before?”
There, that sounded practical, almost nonchalant. On the outside. But God, how she missed him. How she would miss him all her life.
“Are you really okay?” Pierre gave her a concerned look. “Look I wanted to say something—"
“How’s Millie?”
“She’s fine.” Pierre accepted the change in subject. “Actually, she’s furious with Nicole and has even told George what happened.”
“That’s better than telling his father.”
“Oh don’t you believe it. Lord M can be rude and tyrannical. But George is much worse. He never shouts, no. He’s very polite and calm. And deadly.”
“How?” Laura didn’t really care but it was a good distraction. She kept her eyes on a box full of needles and pins.
“George is… I don’t know how to put it. He’s…effective.”
“Effective?” Laura looked up from sorting through needles.
