There were just somanythings. Tea dresses and day dresses and riding habits in lilac and peach and moss, every last one of them with a hat to match. And that wasn’t even including the gowns: floaty, frothy concoctions that shimmered with glass beads, silk bows, or swishing fringe.
“What do you think; is this appropriate for Athens?” Agnes held a gown up to her chest. It was gorgeous, its deep green silk covered in velvet scrollwork all down the bodice and skirt.
May blinked in surprise. “You’re going to the wedding?”
“Not to theactualwedding, of course.” Agnes smiled. “But you can hardly blame me and Mother for wanting to visit when so many crowned heads will be there! I’ve never seen a royal wedding,” Agnes added, almost shyly. “It will be such a treat to simply benearone.”
That made sense. Athens would be the most glittering place in the world that day, with so many royals and their retinues descending on the city for wedding festivities. The Endicotts were just one of countless wealthy families who, along with reporters and photographers, would flock to the city in the excitement.
“It’s a beautiful gown. Just make sure you have a warm fur to go over it; Athens is cold this time of year.”
“Thank you, I hadn’t considered that. Lisette!” Agnes called out. Moments later, her lady’s maid appeared from an interior door. Agnes nodded in May’s direction. “Can you pull out the gowns we set aside for Her Serene Highness?”
May flushed as her friend’s intent became clear. It was onething for Agnes to lend her gloves or a hat, even to buy her a gown or two from Linton & Curtis. But for May to accept a whole Season’s worth of cast-off items? “Agnes, I don’t…”
“Oh, please, just take these off my hands! We both know I won’t wear any of them again, not when I have all my new clothes from France.”
May watched as Lisette began pulling things from the depths of Agnes’s wardrobe: a pale gray tea gown, an ivory silk blouse with pearl buttons, a velvet skirt with panels of black lace. A veritable treasure trove of expensive dresses, most of them hardly even worn.
“I can’t accept these,” May said again, but Agnes waved dismissively, pretending to misunderstand.
“I know they’re not perfect. You’ll have to adjust the length in a few places, since you’re a bit taller, but you’re resourceful—you can let out some hems, or wear flat slippers….”
When Lisette had ducked back into the hallway, her arms laden with garments to fold and put into boxes, Agnes smiled. “You’ll never believe what else happened while I was in Paris. I havesuchnews.”
“What?” May asked, curious.
“It’s about the Princess Hélène.”
“Princess Hélène was in Paris?” May frowned, leaning one hip on the side of Agnes’s bed. “I thought her family were in exile?”
“No, she wasn’t there, but I learned something about her. Something that will change everything.” Agnes paused dramatically. “May, she had an affair with her family’scoachman.”
May was so startled that for a moment she could only stare at her friend. “What are you talking about?”
“Princess Hélène! She’s been sleeping with the help!” Agnes exclaimed, with typical American bluntness.
May headed to a love seat along the windows, moving a hatbox onto the floor so that she would have room to sit. Agnes quickly came to join her.
“I know it sounds impossible, but I assure you that it’s true. Hélène was involved with her family’s coachman for nearly a year.” Agnes proceeded to tell a preposterous story about how she’d seen Hélène sneaking off at Epsom Downs, and followed her, only to eavesdrop on a highly intimate conversation between Hélène and her former lover.
May shook her head, struggling to keep up. “You followed Hélène at Epsom Downs? Why? That was before Balmoral, before I had any idea about her and Eddy.”
“I could tell she wasup to something,” Agnes insisted. “The way she was walking, all angry and tense, I sensed that something illicit might be going on. So I went to see what it was.”
“But…you didn’t even know her.”You still don’t,May thought dazedly.
Agnes’s nose wrinkled. “I don’t see how that matters. She is a princess, or a former princess, and if I could find a secret about her, then it might prove useful someday. Secrets always do,” she said firmly. “When I heard what Hélène said to him, I knew at once that I had stumbled upon somethingveryillicit. Though of course, I didn’t have any reason to use it until you came back from Balmoral and told me about Eddy and Hélène.”
“Is that why you were talking to the coachmen in Hyde Park?” May asked, comprehension dawning. “You were digging into Hélène?”
Agnes nodded, pleased. “I knew I needed to track downthis mysterious Laurent figure if I was going to have any hope of using what I knew. And I finally did.”
Horror, and shock, twisted in May’s stomach. “You didn’t just go to Paris for the shopping, did you.”
Agnes’s green eyes flashed with satisfaction. “Laurent works for the Marquis deBreteuil, at a château just outside Paris. It was easy enough to tell Mama I was going on an excursion to a picture gallery, then pay him a visit instead.”
“Whatever for?” May whispered hoarsely.
