“Your wardrobe.”Leaning back against the seat, Lady Stark’s gaze swept Johanna up and down.It did not feel judgmental in a lowering manner, but more as though Lady Stark was assessing Johanna’s physical qualities rather than critiquing them.If she found them lacking, it did not show in her expression.“Yes.Violet as the base, certainly.No one is going to question your antecedents if they’re focused on your eyes.They really are marvelous.Men will write poems.”
“Poems?”Johanna echoed.
“About your eyes.”Lady Stark flapped her hand.“Keep up, girl.”
The idea of men writing her—her—poems was absurd, but she was not going to argue with Lady Stark.Not that she had much of a chance to, as the carriage lurched to a halt and one of the two footmen who had accompanied them appeared to open their door and help them down.Johanna held her breath as she did so but managed to reach the cobblestone street without any mishap.
Was it her imagination, or were passersby shooting her and Lady Stark glances?
It felt as though everyone was looking at her.Judging her.Waiting for her to fail.Johanna glanced around, and several hastily averted gazes did nothing to convince her otherwise.
“Come along, Johanna.”Lady Stark’s stern command had her hopping.
Perhaps she was to be a duchess, but she doubted that she would ever feel confident enough to take on Lady Stark.
Her feeling of confidence lessened even further when they walked into the modiste’s.There were several ladies already inside, perusing the fabrics, while a smiling woman stood toward the back, watching them with an air of waiting to be needed.She brightened even further when she saw Lady Stark, her keen gaze taking in Johanna at the older lady’s side.She hurried forward and curtsied deeply.
“Lady Stark.”
“Madame Allard.”Lady Stark looked around the room.“We need purples.Everything but the royal shade.”
Johanna was beginning to realize this was Lady Stark’s way of speaking.Madame Allard did not seem surprised, and she must have understood immediately what Lady Stark meant because she nodded.
“Oui, my lady.”Madame Allard gestured at Johanna’s face.“Those eyes!Magnifique!”
Feeling like everyone was looking at her, Johanna did her best not to shrink into herself.One of the other ladies, a beautiful blonde, was frowning at her with narrowed eyes and pursed lips.Her gaze was critical as it traveled over Johanna’s current attire.Johanna knew the dress she was currently wearing was not particularly well-fitted.
Madame Allard noticed that, too.She frowned at Johanna.
“You must come to the back,” she said, stepping aside and waving her hand at a curtain.“I will have my assistant work on the gown she is wearing now, and it will be ready by the time you leave.”
“Perfect.”
Lady Stark moved ahead, and Johanna followed in her wake, bemused and uncertain of what to do.
The assistant was going to fix her gown before they needed to leave?How long would this take?
Hours, it turned out.
Johanna had never had the benefit of a full fitting, and Lady Stark was determined to ensure she had everything she needed, from small clothes to ballgowns to pelisses that would not suit the weather for months.All in varying shades of purple or with purple patterning or purple trim.
“A riding habit, too,” Lady Stark ordered, through the flurry of fabric and pins.
“I do not know how to ride,” Johanna told her, because Lady Stark—or, really, the Duke of St.Albans—would already have been spending a fortune on the clothes they were ordering.Trying to guess at the cost made Johanna feel dizzy, so she had given up ages ago.
“You will learn.”
The pronouncement was made with such confidence that Johanna did not dare argue.
She would learn.
Lady Stark had spoken.
Johanna was not against learning, but she was starting to feel overwhelmed by the number of things she needed to learn.Even ordering clothing like this was an experience in how little she knew about being a lady.
What looked best on her, what the current fashions were, what a lady should absolutely not wear… Lady Stark seemed to know it all, assisted deftly by Madame Allard, but it was definitely the lady leading the way in suggestions.She knew what she wanted Johanna to wear, and Johanna was grateful someone did.
By the time they were done, hours had passed, and Johanna was not at all surprised to be presented with her previous dress, which now fitted her perfectly.After listening to Lady Stark and Madame Allard’s back and forth, she would not have expected anything less.
