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“The money . . .” Chloe went on, clasping her hands together once more. “I only have a little. Perhaps Covent Garden is too much to hope for.”
“Not if we negotiated the rent down to a reasonable price,” Leo declared, watching as Chloe’s lips spread into a smile.
“You could do that?”
“I have some skills.” Leo tried not to look too proud, even as he continued walking around the room, taking extra care not to bump into anything or knock an ornament to the floor. When he stepped between two Chinese porcelain vases, placed either side of him on plinth-style tables, he moved incredibly slowly, glancing between them as if they would come alive at any moment.
“I could look at some shops and the contracts for you. Once you are set up and making a turnover, rents and fees will become much easier.” Leo returned to the others by the settee, aware that things there had changed.
Nathan was no longer playing with his toys but sat in his father’s lap, on the verge of going to sleep with his eyes half lidded. Maeve looked lost, as if she didn’t know whether to spend her time admiring the gown beside her or the notebook in her lap.
“Would you like that?” Leo asked, turning back to look at Chloe.
“Like it? I would love it, my lord!”
Not for the first time did Leo wish Chloe wouldn’t call him “my lord.” They had known each other for so long, and even lived under the same roof for a short time. It would have been natural for her to call him Leo, just as he thought of her as Chloe. It irked him that he had to address her as “Miss Green”, for it lacked any intimacy at all.
“How do you intend to announce yourself to the world?” Benjamin asked, holding his son. “In my experience, modistes can go unnoticed if they do not have the proper announcement.”
“I can help with that,” Maeve declared and closed the notebook. Leo remembered the idea she’d had earlier, just as Maeve stood to her feet. “Chloe, there are so many designs in this book. It is imperative that if you are to be successful, as many people as possible from the ton see your designs.”
“But how?” Chloe asked, wrinkling her nose as she stepped toward her friend. Leo was rather disappointed to no longer have her beside him.
What is wrong with me!?
Leo turned away and purposefully sat back down on the settee, only this time, he checked for discarded wooden horses on the cushion before he did so. As he sat, he grew aware of a pair of eyes on him. He looked up to see Benjamin staring at him, those eyes calculating.
Why is he watching me so?
Leo shifted uncomfortably and turned his focus back to Chloe and Maeve.
“I can hardly afford a fashion magazine to display some of my designs.” Chloe shook her head at the idea, clearly baffled by the thought.
“Then how about the ball?”
“The ball?” Chloe repeated Maeve’s words.
“Yes.” Maeve turned to grab the gown and held it up to her body once again. “I shall wear one of the gowns, and we can ask others to wear them too. Your friend Lady Shrewsbury, she could wear another. Do you think she would if we asked?”
“I think she’d do so in a heartbeat,” Chloe said with a smile.
Leo remembered the first night Chloe had met Lady Shrewsbury. He had introduced the two of them at a ball, for Lady Shrewsbury had quickly approached Chloe when seeing the beauty of the gown she was wearing. Very quickly, Lady Shrewsbury had become another of Chloe’s customers.
“What about the rest?” Leo asked, gesturing to the notebook. “There are so many designs in there, it would be a shame for only two to be on display.”
“Then we could ask the seamstresses to wear some. They could attend the event themselves to display the designs.” Maeve placed down the gown and took Chloe’s hands excitedly. “Think of it, Chloe. It could be like the displays in a ladies’ fashion magazine, yet this display will be real. Women will be dancing at the ball wearing your designs, making many a lady titter and gossip about who created such beautiful gowns.”
Chloe felt a smile growing across her cheeks. She was thinking of the happiness it would bring her friends to be invited to a ball, especially after they had been talking of it excitedly earlier that very same day.
“It sounds like the perfect advertisement,” Leo concurred with a nod. “In truth, it will probably be more effective than a printed advert anyway.”
“Do you think so?” Chloe looked to Leo as she spoke, as if particularly desirous for his opinion. Leo loved that moment, even it didn’t last long.
“Of course, he does,” Maeve said, pulling on Chloe’s hand and taking her attention.
Leo shifted in his seat, longing for Chloe to be sat beside him again.
What has gotten into my head? Why am I so jealous whenever Chloe looks at another person in this room?
