“Ah…no,” he stammered and could hardly believe he had done it. The reference to Alexis as his wife took him by surprise. “I will choose. I don’t want a heavy material like the one in this drawing. Do you have something very delicate? In blue perhaps?”
She nodded and left him, returning quickly with a swatch of sky blue material, so sheer it seemed to him only a film of air in his hands.
“This is exactly what I want,” he said, letting it slip through his fingers into her hand. “Can you have the gown ready by Thursday afternoon? Also the suitable undergarments?”
The shopkeeper was aghast, the curved lines of her rounded face were drawn tight with shock. “It is impossible! That is only three days away. It would take at least a week and I need your wife for a fitting.”
“Alexis cannot come in for a fitting and I must have the gown ready on Thursday,” he persisted. “I am willing to pay extra for your inconvenience. Alexis and I have been invited to a dinner at the home of Representative Davidson. The President will be there. Perhaps Dolley.” He knew it was a lie but it was interesting to see how Dolley’s presence at the occasion suddenly made the impossible possible. He knew the woman was thinking what a wealth of orders she would have if the President’s wife saw one of her gowns.
The woman smiled, her keen sense of business was surfacing quickly. “I think it can be done, but it will mean some trouble for me,” she said, alluding to the fact he had agreed to pay for it.
Cloud laughed, marveling at the way the woman’s devious mind responded. “Any price, madam. I must have the gown and I assure you Alexis will be the best model you have had in years.”
“Then you understand why I am agreeing to this insane pace.”
“Of course. Now as to the measurements…”
The woman listened closely, jotting down notes, as Cloud described Alexis’s proportions with uncanny accuracy. She was immensely pleased to meet a man who knew his wife so well and who appeared to be as astute as herself. She raised her eyebrows slightly when he asked for a modification in the design of the dress he had chosen.
“The back must be higher,” he said.
“But Captain, it is not the style or—”
“Madam, I am already paying an exorbitant sum for this gown. We both know it. Humor me on this point.” He was not going to explain the scars that made it impossible for Alexis to wear a garment that would reveal her back.
The shopkeeper gave in, as he knew she would. The captain was very insistent over what seemed a minor detail to her. If his wife was as he described, then any change seemed worth it in order to have her wear this gown. A pity, she thought, that she would never see her wear it.
They haggled over the cost of the undergarments and slippers, and although she knew she lost money on this part of the transaction, she more than made up for it by the price he was willing to pay for the gown. He had no sooner left the shop than she called for her assistants to begin working on what surely would be her masterpiece.
Cloud stopped one more time on his way home when the glint of silver caught his eye in a jeweler’s window. He stared for a long time at the necklace before he walked in to purchase it. He thought of what he had said to Howe about Alexis preferring to come in chains. He wondered if the senator would see the significance of the slender silver choker. Alexis would understand what he meant by the gift. As he slipped the velvet case inside his pocket he conjured up the image of her standing before him.
Golden hair framed her oval face. Her amber eyes were like soft flames, lighting the room with delicate sparks. The sheer blue gown hung softly from the curve of her shoulders and the low, rounded bodice revealed the tawny hollow of her throat and the gentle swell of her breasts. He could see the faint movement of the pulse in her throat as she lifted her hand to her neck to touch the silver chain caressing her skin. Her lips parted slightly and her eyes lowered, as if in supplication, then her hand dropped once more to her side. He followed the movement of her bare arm, allowing his eyes to gently touch her slim waist, only hinted at by her movement in the gown. His eyes dropped still lower to the long, straight line of her legs, legs he could not see except through the silhouette provided by the dim light behind her. The gown showed nothing, yet revealed all of her. The empire waist enclosed the curves of her breasts while the long blue folds of material defined the form they hid. Her fingers slowly drew again to her throat, and she touched the chain lightly, raising her eyes to him, telling him she understood its meaning, a tremulous smile playing on her lips. He caught the glimmer of a tear in her eye, brighter than the facet of a diamond. The image shattered.
What right? he thought. By what right did he have to present her with the necklace and announce her bondage to him? The answer came to him as almost a physical jolt. Though he had said it to her often and to himself more times than he could count, it never seemed more real than at this moment. He pressed his hand against the case in his pocket. He loved her. Hadn’t she once said his love was more binding than any chain could be? He had not fully understood then. He did now. He would offer her the necklace but the decision to wear it would be hers. She would have to decide if she was ready to accept all the necklace signified between them, even if she could not say the words he wanted to hear.
Briskly he continued his walk, his thoughts turning to more mundane matters, like the emptiness in his stomach and the fact he had had very little sleep in the past few days.
Alexis tilted her head toward the door at the sound of a knock, anticipating Cloud’s entrance. She started for the door but Harry by-passed her and got there first. She gasped when she saw Mike on the threshold, his eye almost swollen shut, his lip and jaw cut. Behind him were Frank, Forrest, and a few others. None of them looked any better.
She stopped Mike’s intended explanation by forcefully leading him to the kitchen where she could see to his battered face. “What have you all been up to?” she asked, pushing Mike into a chair. “None of you look as you did when I left you this morning.”
Forrest smiled, seating himself at the table. He moved his jaw back and forth, making certain it still functioned properly. “There was a disagreement at the wharf. We settled it.”
Alexis lifted an eyebrow suspiciously. “Nothing is worth all this damage to your bodies,” she said firmly. “John, get me some wet towels so I can see whether these men will ever be fit for duty again.”
“I assure you this was worth it,” Mike said, looking directly at Alexis. The others agreed emphatically.
Alexis did not understand why they were all staring at her when they answered, but Landis and Harry saw immediately that she had been the cause of the disagreement. They exchanged knowing smiles, and Landis patted Mike on the back.
“I hope you settled the difference of opinion in your favor,” Landis said to Mike.
“Oh, yes. We did,” he answered, grinning.
“Well, I don’t like it,” Alexis broke in, shaking her head as she washed away the dried blood on Mike’s lip. “And you all have been drinking. I suppose the losers were forced to buy.”
Forrest laughed, then winced. “Not at all, Alex. We bought them a few rounds—to soften their defeat.”
Alexis looked at all of them, taking special notice of Tom, who was doing his best to avoid her eyes. “I think you’ll all survive. Mike, you’re finished. Tom, get over here and sit down. I want to see what you call a toothache.”
