“It should be appropriate for a companion,” Louise said firmly. “Nothing too elaborate.”
“Nonsense!” Cecilia called from where she was examining gloves.
Madame produced a bolt of fabric that caught the light like captured moonbeams. “Pearl silk,” she announced. “With silver embroidery, perhaps? Elegant, but not ostentatious.”
Louise touched the fabric reverently. “It’s beautiful, but I couldn’t possibly accept something so fine.”
“You can and you will,” Aaron kept his voice level, but something fierce stirred in his chest. “Unless you’d prefer people whisper that I don’t properly provide for my guests.”
Everyone turned to look at him. Louise’s lips parted in surprise, and Aaron had to force himself not to stare at her mouth, not to remember how it felt against his.
“Exactly right,” Cecilia said with satisfaction. “The pearl silk, Madame.”
“Right away, my lady.”
As Madame bustled about taking measurements and discussing trim options, Aaron watched Louise. She stood still as the modiste worked, but her eyes followed Emily’s excited dance around the salon. The soft smile that curved her lips made something shift in Aaron’s chest.
This was what he was protecting, he reminded himself. Not just Louise’s reputation, but Emily’s future. Their place in society, tenuous as it was, depended on maintaining absolute propriety. One whisper of scandal and they would be ruined.
“Mademoiselle!” Madame Beaumont emerged from the fitting area, carrying a gown that seemed to capture moonlight. “I have found the perfect gown for you. You must try it on.”
Louise’s laughter faded. “Oh, I don’t think this dress is suited for me. I’m only Lady Merrow’s companion. Something much simpler will suffice.”
“Simple?” Madame looked personally affronted. “With your coloring? Non, non, non. This pearl silk was made for you.”
“Really, I couldn’t possibly?—”
“Oh, try it on!” Emily abandoned Buttercup to tug Louise’s hand. “Please, Louise? I want to see you look like a princess!”
“Emily, it’s not appropriate for someone in my position to wear something so fine.”
Cecilia swept out from behind a curtain, resplendent in the midnight blue she had chosen. “Nonsense. You’ll try it on, or I shall be deeply offended. Madame has gone to such trouble.”
“But—”
“Just try it on,” Cecilia insisted. “If you don’t like it, we’ll find something else. But at least let us see.”
Louise looked between them, her resistance crumbling under the combined assault of Cecilia’s determination and Emily’s hopeful eyes. “Very well. I’ll try it on. But that’s it.”
Madame whisked her away behind the curtain with a triumphant smile. Aaron turned his attention to the window, determined not to watch, not to imagine the fabric sliding over Louise’s skin.
Emily tugged at his coat. “Your Grace? Don’t you think my sister will look pretty?”
“Your sister always—” He stopped himself. “I’m sure the gown will be suitable.”
“That’s not the same thing at all,” Emily observed with a frown.
The curtain rustled. Aaron kept his gaze fixed on the street outside.
“Oh my.” Cecilia’s voice held a note of wonder. “Oh, my dear girl.”
“Louise!” Emily gasped. “You look like a fairy queen!”
Against every instinct, Aaron turned.
And forgot how to breathe.
Louise stood before the mirror, transformed. The pearl silk draped her figure with elegant simplicity, the neckline revealing the graceful curve of her shoulders, the delicate hollow of her throat. The fabric caught the light with every breath she took, shimmering like morning mist over a lake. Her copper hair blazed against the pale silk, and her green eyes held uncertainty as she smoothed the skirt with nervous hands.
