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Something flickered in her eyes, but she said nothing, only waited, her attention riveted.
She was riveted on him—for her business. He was merely the means to an end.
But he scorned to hold grudges, especially on such a petty account—his vanity, of all things!
“I wanted to see the place for myself,” he said. “To make sure it truly existed, for one thing—and to see what sort of place it was. For all I knew, you were toiling alone in a dark room in a cellar.”
“Good grief, what a mind a man has,” she said. “How could you imagine I should produce such creations in— But never mind. Maison Noirot is an elegant shop. Everything is of the first stare, exceedingly neat and clean and airy. It’s much more neat and elegant, I promise you, than the den of that dull-witted incompetent—but no, I will not foul the air with her name.”
He was done with her. He needed to be done with her. But now, when she spoke of her shop, she was so animated. So passionate.
“I smell a rival,” he said.
She sat straighter. “Certainly not. I have no rivals, your grace. I am the greatest modiste in the world.” She leaned forward to look out of the door window. “We’re nearly there. You’ll soon see for yourself.”
It wasn’t as soon as it might have been, the street being a tangle of carriages, riders, and pedestrians. But eventually they came to the place, and there it was, a handsome modern shop, with a bow window and the name in gold lettering over the door: Noirot.
The carriage stopped. The door opened. The steps were folded down.
Clevedon stepped out first, and put out his hand to steady her.
As she took his hand, he heard a cry behind him.
She looked up, looked past him, and the light he’d seen in her face before was nothing to this. Her countenance was the sun, shedding happiness and setting the world aglow.
“Mama!” the voice cried.
Noirot practically leapt from the last step, past him, forgetting him entirely.
She crouched down on the pavement and opened her arms, and a little girl, a little dark-haired girl, ran into them.
“Mama!” the child cried. “You’re home!”
