“Women can visit?”
“Yes,” he chuckled. “Have a good day.” He walked to Daphne and planted a kiss on her lips.
It was obvious these two were very much in love. The way they looked at each other said it all. Harriet hoped she would be as lucky as Daphne in finding such a caring man.
“We’ve got a busy day today. I’d like to go through your gowns and see if we can use any of them this season. I’m sure with some minor updating we might be able to give them new life.”
“Wait until you see them. You may change your mind when you do,” Harriet said.
“Besides your gowns we need to go through your undergarments. I’ll make a list of what you need to take with us when we go to my modiste.”
“Splendid idea. I suppose I can thank my mother for bringing me here when she did so we don’t have to rush around. She did that last season.”
“I see,” Daphne replied. “Does your mother always rush around?”
“Yes, she puts too many things on her schedule and then goes into a panic.”
“Sometimes I feel like I do the same thing.”
They continued eating in silence until the sound of a squawking parrot was heard outside the door. Daphne nodded to the footman to open the door, while another one brought her a plate with cut-up apples. Harriet watched as the parrot walked across the floor until he was standing next to Daphne’s chair.
“Good morning, Sam. Would you like some apple?”
“Yes!”
Daphne reached for an apple slice and bent over to give it to Sam. The bird snatched it with his beak before grabbing it with his talons. The only sound in the room was Sam chewing the fruit.
“More!” Sam squawked.
“Sam, we have a guest. Be nice,” Daphne scolded the bird.
“Sam nice.”
She smiled and gave Sam another slice, which he greedily took from Daphne.
“I can’t believe how hungry I was,” Harriet said. “I think I’ll go on ahead and begin to pull out the gowns from last season.” She blotted her mouth with her napkin and placed it beside her plate.
“I’ll join you as soon as I finish a couple of things needing my attention,” Daphne said.
Harriet rose from her chair. “Take your time.”
She left the room and easily found her way to the stairs and found her rooms. Miss Rex was in the dressing area putting away things she’d unpacked. The maid stopped what she was doing and greeted her mistress.
“Good morning, my lady.”
“I need to have you help me with something. Lady Daphne and I want to look at the gowns I wore last season. I’ll show you which ones they are. We need to put them out so we can go over each one and decide what needs go to the modiste for some updating.”
“Very good. Just show me which ones and I’ll bring them out.”
“Thank you,” Harriet replied. She decided to look and see how the dressing room was being organized.
It wasn’t hard to find the gowns. Most stood out as being ridiculous hideous. No wonder she had no gentleman callers. Dressed in one of those creations would chase away even themost esteemed man. How could her mother have even thought these were remotely pretty? She had said and done nothing because her mother wouldn’t have listened to her.
She heard something behind her and whirled around to find her maid walking in. “These three are the ones I need pulled and placed in the sitting area.”
“Yes, my lady.”
She walked out to the sitting room to await Daphne’s arrival. Moments later Rex brought two of the gowns, laying them over the back of a chair. She took the top one of the two and laid it over another chair.
