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Two weeks later, I was standing as tall as my five feet, three inches would stretch atop a small platform while a prickly stylist stabbed me with pins and fitted me with a new wardrobe. It took her most of the week, but when Georgina realized that Xavier would not be dissuaded from bringing me with him to every event he attended as part of the Season, she insisted that he pay for new clothes. And to my surprise, he agreed, even going so far as to suggest that we hire a personal stylist to orchestrate it all. That stylist, apparently, was also Georgina’s.
Odd, really. Though Xavier had a taste for some of the finer things in life, I’d never had the impression he cared much about what I wore. He’d always liked me however I came, whether that was in oddly-printed pajama pants or a vintage dress.
Now, however, I stood in the room filled with pastel-colored frocks and too many hatboxes to count, and my only company was this stolid, somewhat rude woman. Regina didn’t seem to want to be there any more than I did, but she was getting paid enough that she was willing to put up with me.
“This is the last one, right?” I asked.
Regina looked down a snub nose and exhaled through the pins trapped between her thin lips. “Yes, miss.”
“Good. I was hoping to get in a bit more research today.”
Heartily tired of this entire process, I swished back and forth in the salmon-pink, floor-length confection that could politely be described as cupcake-esque and was designated for the Ortham Ball tomorrow night—the first major event I would be attending on Xavier’s arm. It was basically a mountain of ruffles, one I couldn’t escape easily to get back to my beloved library.
For the last week, I’d been spending most of my mornings working through the family journals, then used the afternoons to take Sofia somewhere around the countryside before dinner. We would see Xavier briefly for an hour or so before Sofia went to bed, and he would generally work longer before toppling into bed beside me—if he made it there at all.
Things were…working. I supposed. I had a bit more purpose, as I’d requested, and Xavier made a point to be affectionate whenever we were around. The problem was, that didn’t happen often. And no amount of library treasures and farm visits could change that.
I tried to remind myself that he hadn’t invited us here on vacation but to join him in his actual life. He couldn’t help the issues arising in his family any more than I could. But that didn’t change the fact that September was coming, and I was due back for the school year in a matter of weeks. I had no idea what was going to happen between us, nor did I feel like this was the time to broach the subject. Was he expecting me to stay indefinitely? Did he think I was going back to New York? Either way, where would Sofia and I stay? What would we do?
To be honest, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to stay in England past August—not if it meant living in a museum and dealing with his family’s snooty behavior. At the same time, it was difficult to imagine going back to my old life and spending half my time reviewing fractions and filling glue containers for a living. Teaching was fine. It had always been fine. But it had never given me the sliver of excitement I had felt digging into the library over the last week. I honestly wasn’t sure I could go back now and make do. Whether he liked it or not, Xavier had opened up a whole new world for me here. I just didn’t know how I’d traverse it in the weeks and months to come.
And then there was my sister’s voice—which one, I wasn’t sure, as they all had the same thoughts about marriage—niggling at me, asking again and again: “Has he popped the question, yet?” Given all the stress Xavier was enduring, I was still trying not to think too hard about the M-word, despite the fact that my sisters brought it up every time we spoke. Although, sheesh, sitting here in a blush-pink gown wasn’t exactly helping things.
I pushed all the thoughts out of my mind. Next week. Next week, I could bring up these concerns. Right now, I needed to focus on figuring out how to be a duke’s girlfriend in a world thatreallydid not want me to belong to him.
The door opened as Regina was placing another pin, and Sofia skipped in, followed by Miriam, her new nanny. Well, “nanny” was putting it generously. Miriam was actually just a local girl I’d met in the village and had chosen over the three sterner, Trunchbull-ish type women Georgina had procured alongside Elsie’s recommendations. She had zero child-rearing experience, but she reminded me of my sisters, which would only make Sofia more comfortable with her. Not to mention me.
“Mama, where are you?” Sofia demanded, then stopped abruptly when she caught sight of me. “Whoa, Mommy. That’s a big dress.”
I looked down at all the layers. I did sort of look like I was being eaten by a sea anemone. Definitely not something I’d have chosen, but since I wasn’t paying for it, I couldn’t really say much.
“It’s Jenny Packham,” Regina informed us. “It’sde rigueur, and absolutely appropriate for a society ball.”
Sofia, Miriam, and I all blinked as if we should know who she was talking about.
“Well, it’s really fluffy.” Sofia dropped her doll on the floor and came over to investigate, pulling out some of the layers as if to see where they ended and I began. She did not find the answer.
“The silk, miss,” drolled Regina as she stuck me with another pin near my shoulder blade. “Please. It’s very delicate.”
“Sofia, babe, give Mama some space,” I said.
“But I can’t find your legs! You look like a shower puff!”
“I know, peanut. It’s all right, all right. I promise they are still there. Have you been having fun with Miriam?”
“Oh, we had ourselves a grand time,” Miriam chimed in her thick Northern accent. “Saw the new foals, and Colin, the stable manager, even let us feed some, didn’t he, Miss Sofia?”
“Yep. Colin likes My Little Pony too,” Sofia tittered, still enamored by the delicate folds of the dress, which she only touched before checking covertly that Regina wasn’t watching her.
The Ortham Ball was a charity event the Douglases put on every year at their house outside of London. It was a private event included in the very public London Season, but unlike the public events, this one was invite-only rather than something anyone could purchase tickets for. And that meant it was one of the places Georgina wanted Xavier—and by association, Frederick—to do the “important connection-making”—she was so keen about these days.
It also meant I needed a new dress.
“Let’s go show Daddy,” Sofia said, already reaching out for my hand and pulling me off the platform.
“But we still have to fit a few more pins, miss,” said Regina stiffly.
“We’ll be right back,” I told her and Miriam.
