“I’m sorry,” William commiserated.
“All I can do is endure. After all, something better is on the other side of it, isn’t it?” Rachel repeated his words.
Reaching for his wine, William nodded. “Exactly.”
***
The modiste Lord Strathmore had engaged for her fitting was the most expensive dressmaker in the city. Madame Galilea, a tiny Italian woman with sharp black eyes and a severe bun, came into the waiting room with a clipped stride.
“Lady Hampton, I take it?” She asked. “Lord Strathmore’s intended?”
“Yes,” Rachel stood. “And my maid Miss Colton.”
“Buono.” The dressmaker’s eyes ran over Rachel’s body from the top of her head to her booted feet in one fell swoop, making Rachel feel as if she had been stripped of her thick gown and left bare. “I was not aware that they made velvet gowns anymore. Well, gown is a gracious word, because what you are wearing, my dear, is akin to a tent.”
She went to a lectern and lifted a quill. “I have an inkling of what you need, but I must get some measurements.” Crookingher finger for Rachel to follow her, she turned down a corridor.
With a quick look to Jane, Rachel followed the woman and entered a small room with a divan, another lectern, enormous mirrors that adorned all four walls, and a dressmaker’s raised platform. Rachel saw herself at every angle and grimaced at how truly shapeless and unfashionable her gown was.
“Up, up,” Modiste Galilea ordered. “We shall start with the underthings. Petticoats, stockings, and such.”
Hesitantly, Rachel mounted the stand. As she stood there, images of herself flashed around the chamber, and her breath grew choppy with self-consciousness.
The dressmaker drummed her fingers on the lectern. “Please, undress.”
Rachel’s cheeks burned, “I need help with the buttons on the back.”
The modiste joined her and began to pluck the buttons out with quick efficiency, then stood back. The dress slipped off her body with ease, making the modiste’s brows raise.
“Why in heaven’s name have you been hiding such a slender body under all that fabric?Mio Dio. It's big enough to clothe you and me. And are those drawers under the chemise!” The modiste sounded horrified. “No, no, those go too!”
Soon her lumpy gown, starched petticoat, and stays lay in a pile on the divan, and she was left standing in her plain chemise and stockings. Her cheeks burned a little at being undressed in front of a stranger.
Madame Galilea lifted her brows in expectancy.
“My chemise?” Rachel asked in horror. “Surely not.”
“Yes. His Lordship has requested a full suit, silken underthings as well, and if I were to measure you in that thing, I would be a foot off in my measurements.”
With a sigh, Rachel did away with the last barriers of her modesty. The modiste pursed her lips and went for a cord. Just as swiftly, the woman measured her and jotted the numbers in a book, then went to a few cupboards and took out a few things.
They fitted the corset on first, and when the ties were yanked tight, Rachel lost her breath. “Is this necessary?”
“All the fashionable ladies in London wear this garment.”
“The fashionable ladies must not like to breathe.”Pressing a hand to her stomach, Rachel muttered while the modiste went off.
Made of pale pink satin, the corset, cinching her waist, was embellished with a single column of little black bows down the front. Rachel was not sure the mirrors were showing her a true reflection for a moment. Was she that shapely?
The modiste handed her silken slips of stockings that matched the corset, and she donned them. They added a sleek empire-waisted dress of watered ivory and silver trefoils that sloped off the shoulders with puffed sleeves. The modiste pinched the middle. “It needs some taking in. But overall, it’s a wonderful look on you, My Lady.”
“May I ask, how much do these garments cost?” Rachel asked.
“All together? Four hundred pounds,” the modiste replied.
She nearly swallowed her tongue at the figure. She was sure her entire wardrobe at home had cost less than half of that sum. Rachel admired her silhouette in the mirror for a moment while trying to forget that her dress came with another price.
The modiste wrote some adjustments and then helped Rachel to disrobe and redress. She left for the first room and joined Jane.
