AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He is back!” Chloe hurried to the door and held the skirt of her gown around her knees in her haste to be down the stairs as quickly as possible. When she reached the door, she found it was not Leo there, but Rosaline. “Oh, Rosaline.” Chloe opened the door, trying to hide the way she glanced up and down the street, searching for any sign of Leo.
“I need your advice!” Rosaline stumbled into the shop, clutching a letter.
“My advice? What for?” Chloe asked, finding the letter pushed into her hands.
“Read it, please! Tell me what to make of it.” Rosaline practically moved her hands at Chloe like she was waving away the attentions of an incessant bee.
Chloe looked away from the street and turned her focus to the letter.
The matter of Leo will have to wait.
Rosaline closed the door, and Chloe looked over the note, to find it was a letter from Lord Gloucester to Rosaline, asking if she would promenade with him the next day.
“What does it mean?” Rosaline whispered in haste, walking alongside Chloe as they walked toward the stairs at the back of the shop.
“I must confess I do not know what you want from me,” Chloe said with a smile. “It surely means he wishes to promenade with you.”
“Is this not a difficult thing?”
“Last time I checked, you walk very well indeed, Rosaline,” Chloe said in jest and pushed the letter into Rosaline’s hand, urging her up the stairs to the sewing room. When they pushed through the door, Rosaline was trembling.
“But this is very official, is it not?” Rosaline asked, her panic plain. “An earl is askingmeto promenade with him. A seamstress?”
“Yes. Your main question should be, do you wish to go?” Chloe asked, reaching for the gown she had discarded.
“Of course, I wish to go, but oh, Chloe. I will stand out like a sore thumb. People will stare at me.”
“Then let them stare.” Chloe grabbed the gown and proffered it toward Rosaline, holding the sleeves to the young woman’s shoulders. “And wear this.”
Rosaline’s eyes widened.
“You made this for me?”
“Oh yes, and I won’t hear a refusal. It should suit well for a promenade, should it not?”
The smile on Rosaline’s face imbued Chloe with a kind of confidence she had not known before.
This is exactly why I want to make these gowns! To see those smiles.
Chapter 16
Rosaline
“I am glad you came.” Lord Gloucester’s words started a simmering excitement in Rosaline’s stomach. She lifted her eyes to meet his as they walked side by side, her arm resting through his.
She was not only wearing the gown that Chloe had given her, but a pair of lace gloves Chloe had insisted she borrow from the shop for the occasion.
Never have I felt like this before!
“As am I,” Rosaline said, thrilled and yet saddened that their walk was coming to an end. It had been quite the event. Lord Gloucester had turned up early at Chloe’s shop to collect Rosaline for their promenade, and she could have sworn they had walked round Hyde Park three times together, so eager to continue talking.
I cannot believe how easy it is to talk with him, as if he was always there waiting to be my friend.
“I am sorry people stared.” Rosaline grimaced. “I thought they might. After all, it must be strange to see an earl walking with a seamstress on his arm.”
“Ha! You think that is what they were staring at?” Lord Gloucester laughed heartily, then shook his head, making the brown hair on his temples dance. “Believe me, they were staring for another reason altogether.”
“Oh?” Rosaline said, scrunching her nose in confusion.
