“Oh, Ember, you do not need to pretend you are not heartbroken. I wanted you to attend too, you know. The ball was dreadfully boring and?—”
“Thereyou are!” Tiffany flounced into the garden, her scolding tone making it sound as if Ember were at fault for not being wherever she’d looked first. “Is it not a glorious day?”
She spun once in a full circle, smiling up at the branches of the old oak tree, which shadowed the ancient well the inn used to rely on back when it was a manor house. Ember had to admit that this stepsister of hersdidlook as though she was having a glorious day; she looked well-rested, her coiffure was perfect, and there was a spring in her step.
Ember laughed. “Have you come to help me with the laundry then?”
Tiffany stuck her tongue out pertly, before declaring teasingly, “And ruin my fingernails? Do not be silly. I am alady.”
“So am I,” muttered Bonnie around a mouthful of clothespins.
“Yes, but I am a lady who cares about a lack of calluses and ink stains on my fingers.”
Giggling, Tiffany settled against the mossy stone lip of the well. Ember was certain ifshewere ever to do that, she’d either come up with a big muddy spot on her arse, or she’d fall in. Tiffany, on the other hand, looked much like something out of a painting, as she traced the old stones with one slender perfectly manicured finger.
Venus Rising From the Well,perhaps.Or Venus Among the Lilies.
Actually, who was that Greek myth who stared at his reflection in the water until he wasted away, awed by his own beauty? Narcissus? Yes, that one.Narcissa and the Kitchen Garden Well.
Still staring dreamily into the well, Tiffany sighed. “Oh, Ember, the ball wasglorious.”
“It was boring,” Bonnie murmured consolingly, which caused her sister to glance sharply at her.
But as if she understood Bonnie was trying to make Ember feel better, her expression sharpened. “I saw Mother pushing you to dance with all those men.”
“I did not want to.”
“You would likely prefer to be back at home with a book, I suppose?” Tiffany shook her head. “Iamsorry you were not able to go, Ember. I am certain that tangerine gown would have fit you perfectly.”
Aye, it would have, because Ember had ensured it would. But it wouldn’t have been right with her coloring, not the way the perfect silver gown had been. And that one had fit like a glove as well.
She forced herself to shrug. “Bonnie was just telling me what I missed.”
Tiffany sighed happily again. “It wasincredible.The decorations! The flowers! Oh, Ember, the flowers! Everything was perfect!”
Ember and Bonnie listened in silence, finishing hanging up the last of the laundry, as Tiffany rhapsodized first about the flowers—which she made out to be considerably more exotic than Ember remembered—then about her dancing partners.
“Oh and the gowns! Remember the gowns, Bonnie?”
Without giving her sister a chance to respond, Tiffany began to describe some of the more flamboyant costumes, although Ember noticed she left out Laird Oliphant’s chicken costume for some reason.
“Your shoes were very popular, of course.”
Ember was in the process of dumping out the dirty laundry water when she heard her sister’s words. “Really?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant. “Did anyone mention them?”
“Not tome,” Tiffany declared. “I was too busy dancing.”
“Three of my partners complimented me and asked where I had received them.” Bonnie spoke from behind her book. “I told them all I knew the designer, who would be happy to accept orders.”
Ember huffed as she planted the tub back into place. “Yes, but I needwomento be interested in them.”
Maybe she could find some time to hide in the workshop and begin work on another shoe to replace the one she’d lost last night. Or perhaps it’d be better to start on a new pair entirely, in order to have something to show potential customers.
“I am certain they were only asking for their wives or daughters.” Tiffany waved her hand dismissively. “And I will admit I did hear some whispers as I swept in. They were the perfect complement to my gown and”—she patted her hair with a smile—“beauty.”
“Thank you, milady.” Ember managed to make her bow sarcastic enough her sister snorted.
“Oh, stop it. I am just trying to tell you how popular they were. Of course, I am not certain if Mr. DeVille noticed them.Heis the man you need to impress, correct?”
