The girl’s mouth opened.
The other girl was already moving toward the rear of the shop. Henry followed without waiting. She glanced back once, saw his face, and walked faster. She led him down a short passage to a door where she lifted her hand and tapped lightly upon it.
“Madame—”
Henry placed his hand on the door above her own and pushed it open.
Madame Renard sat at a small writing table by the window, a measuring tape draped across her shoulders, a ledger open in front of her, and a cup of chocolate steaming at her elbow. She looked up when the door swung inward, and her mouth produced a smile that died in stages.
“Your Grace. What an unexpected—”
“Are my wife’s dresses ready?”
The smile vanished from her face.
“Your Grace, I—”
“Where are her shoes? Her bonnets? Where are the morning wardrobe and the ball gown? Where is anything bearing the name Iredell to be found in this shop today?”
The cup rattled in its saucer, and Madame Renard’s hand closed around the edge of her writing table.
“Your Grace, I beg your pardon. I have had a great many orders this season.”
“Have you begun?”
“I, um—”
“She was here the better part of a week ago. Show me what you have done to date.”
Her eyes had gone very wide, and she rose to her feet, smoothing her skirts with hands that would not be still.
“The patterns… the patterns are drafted, Your Grace. The work is… in the queue.”
“In the queue.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Behind whom?”
She swallowed. No words left her mouth.
His palm came down upon the writing table with a force that made the cup leap in its saucer. The chocolate slopped over the rim and spread across the open page of the ledger. Madame Renard stepped back until her shoulders met the wall.
“Behind whom? Who could possibly be more important than the Duchess of Iredell?”
“Your Grace, if I may explain.”
Henry stood to his full height and crossed his arms.
The woman’s voice shook as she said, “The reason we haven’t started is that Her Grace left in a rush. I was waiting—”
Henry took a step closer. The madame tilted her head back to look at him.
“You were waiting for my wife, a duchess, to seek you out and do your bidding?”
She swallowed again. “Of course not, Your Grace. But calling on her would be… inappropriate when she had not invited us.”
“Is that so? Then tell me, why did she leave in such a hurry?”
