Giselle, Amber, and Gus sat in her bedroom as Inès’s maid Mary laced up the back of her new gown.
She’d asked the modiste if she had in her stock a shimmering vanilla silk. Though the lady had nothing when first Inès asked, the modiste went to a colleague who offered her a rare silk from Lyon shot with threads of gold.
Inès had approved immediately, and the dressmaker set to work. She had delivered the gown this morning. The translucent fabric provided an appropriately maidenly look but held the latest Parisian elements of pleated, puffed sleeves and angled drape of skirt. Over the past two years, Inès had come to crave Parisian fashion. With access to funds from her protector, Rossard, she had been a leader in local salons. He had wanted her to look smart and appear above them all. She had done her very best at it. Imitating the styles that Empress Josephine and her friend, Thérésa Cabarrus, Madame Tallien, made popular, Inès had reigned over Boulogne. She had spent hundreds of Rossard’s money.
Pushing away thoughts of the past, she smoothed the delicate fabric over her hips. She turned with a flourish and sought the opinions of her friends. Each one had a good word or more for the silk, the color, the style, the quality of the tailoring.
“Oh, that I could wear a cut so slim.” Gus patted her stomach. “I cannot lose this rounded tummy!”
“You will, and soon,” Amber said, chuckling. “I gained so much weight when I had our last child, I thought I still carried another baby.”
Giselle winced. “All of you are not helping my fear of becoming as big as a galleon!”
“We should form a club,” offered Amber, her hands clasped together. “Go walking every morning. What do you think?”
“In this weather?” Gus never liked the winters.
“Then…only when the sun shines,” Amber offered.
Giselle huffed. “I am just recovering from morning illness, so let’s not go far. Not at first. I am not capable.”
Inès dismissed her maid. “Thank you for your help this morning, Mary. I hope to see you in the main salon with all the staff for the wedding.”
The girl curtsied, murmured her thanks, bowed to one and all, then left.
“I know what we should do,” said Gus. “We can meet at Green Park. It is convenient to all of us.”
“A fine idea,” said Amber. “In front of Spencer House. We can wave to Lady Spencer from the grass!”
“She might want to join us!” Gus smiled, approving of her own idea.
“And Inès,” said Gus, “when you return from your honeymoon, you can join us.”
“Can we ask where you go?” Giselle had a mischievous twinkle in her blue eyes.
“For our honeymoon?” Inès was grateful for the change of topic. She could not walk with these friends each day. They knew her too well. They were practiced in not revealing much, but Inès was not. “Ask all you like. I do not know. Evan will not tell me.”
“Secrets!” Giselle drummed her fingers together. “I love them.”
“I bet it’s to be his house in Kent,” Gus said. “I’ve heard so much from Halsey about it that I bet he would take you there.”
Inès did not care where it was, as long as the trip was short, the carriage warm, and her husband beside her for kisses.
“When you return and start to call on us, we will be looking for even bigger smiles on your lips than what we see this morning.” Gus winked, and all of them chuckled. “But no, wait! I see a shadow in your eyes, my dear. You are not yourself and this is your wedding day. Inès, what worries you?”
Inès whirled and stared into her mirror. The full-length cheval showed almost everything about her. Figure, form, complexion—everything except the secrets she kept from her fiancé.
She faced her three friends once more. The silk flowed. The feeling was fluid, light, sinuous, and deceiving.
Amber was out of her chair, her arms going around Inès’s shoulders. “What worries you?
Gus frowned, while Giselle leaned forward.
Amber put a hand to Inès’s cheek. “You have not told him about what you did for Ramsey and me in Paris, have you?”
Gus narrowed her eyes on the two of them.
Inès bit her lip and shook her head. “No.”
