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“I believe in showing off one’s true beauty with clothes,” the modiste told Emily. “Following the latest fashions is only good if they look good on you.”
“Lady Horatia told me that low-cut dresses would make my bosom look indecent and obscene,” Emily said softly, her eyes glossing over the sketches.
“My Lady, ifIhad your bosom, the entire London would know of it!” Madame Dubois scoffed. She patted Emily’s hands in a reassuring way. “Trying to hide it will only emphasize it in the ugliest way. This dress—well, it is not merely outdated, but it does not suit you. Not at all!”
Emily could tell that the modiste was struggling to even call her garb a dress. “It must offend Madame’s sensibilities.”
“One must respect the labor of those who made the fabric by creating art with it, My Lady. This is a great dishonor to those poor craftsmen.”
Emily decided that she liked Madame Dubois because she found her brutal honesty utterly refreshing. She did not hesitate to let Emily know her thoughts and shared her sketches with her, explaining what styles would suit her best.
“It is not all low and daring necklines, no,” she told Emily. “Rather, dressing fashionably is an elegant art that allows you to display your assets without showingeverything. Men like to be kept in suspense.” The modiste winked at the young lady, who blushed prettily at her words.
Moments later, Emily and Benedict left the dress shop to head off to the milliner’s for an assortment of hats that would go well with her new wardrobe. Several gloves had to be purchased as well.
“I…I think that this might be too much,” she finally managed to say after Benedict handed over several boxes to one of his footmen.
“Well, you heard Madame Dubois,” her brother grinned at her. “Those old gloves of yours would look horrid with your new dresses.”
Emily nodded quietly and beamed up at him. “Benedict, I cannotwaitto wear these new dresses and hats andeverything. Thank you ever so much!”
Her brother merely winked back at her. “You must promise me that you will invite me to the townhouse when you wear them. I would not want to miss the look on Lady Horatia’s face when she sees you!”
“Oh, you!” she swatted playfully at his arm and laughed shyly. “I…I truly haven’t had this much fun shopping in a long while.”
“Why? I thought that every young lady goes shopping for the season?”
Emily scrunched up her nose. “Well, Lady Horatia tells me that it is distasteful to go prancing about shopping. She has the seamstresses come over to the house to fit me, and the clothes are delivered after they finish them.”
“Then, we shall try and have more fun days like these,” Benedict told her, patting her hand as he placed it in the crook of his arm. “Although, it might take me a bit more time to recuperate my losses from today.”
Emily burst out in laughter at her brother’s woebegone expression, her heart feeling the lightest it had been in ages.
With her new wardrobe and His Grace’s lessons, she would surely be able to secure a suitable match before the season was over!
* * *
Benedict stared into the flickering flames of the fireplace, deep in thought. Earlier, when he had taken Emily out to be fitted at the modiste’s, he had been doing his damnedest to rein in his anger at her situation.
If it had not been for Gilleton pointing out her plight, would I have ever noticed it?
He got up to pour himself a glass of sherry as his mind went over his sister, who had never once been taken by their stepmother to a dress shop for a proper fitting. And to think that this was already her second season!
She probably did not want Emily learning more about fashion,he thought angrily to himself, thinking about the small lecture that Antoinette Dubois had managed to skillfully weave into their fitting session.
But as much as he was enraged by the unfair treatment his sister received at the hands of their stepmother, Benedict acknowledged that he could not escape accountability himself. By turning a blind eye to his sister’s plight, he had contributed to her present predicament.
If it had not been for Gilleton…
But his friend had never been charitable towards any of the fairer sex. Emily was the first he had ever shown particular attention to.
What precisely was his reason for doing so?
Benedict’s eyes narrowed as he downed the glass of sherry. He needed to have a proper discussion with his good friend, the Duke of Gilleton, soon.
CHAPTER7
The next day, the Duke arrived at the Montgomery townhouse for tea, and with a few sarcastic remarks, he sent Amy away, very nearly in tears.
