Chapter 11
A worried frown creased Lady Norcroft’s forehead. “And you’re certain it can be finished in time?”
From the expression of disdain on Madame DuBois’s face one might have thought Lady Norcroft had questioned the honor of France itself. “But of course, my lady, precisely why we have come here to you.”
Madame DuBois had arrived far earlier than expected. Before Kate was scarcely out of bed, Ellen, one of the family’s maids, had whisked her to Lady Norcroft’s parlor. She now stood on a stool in front of a cheval mirror wearing her chemise and petticoats, swathed in lengths of rainbow-colored silks and satins and surrounded by Lady Norcroft, the dressmaker, two of her seamstresses, and a rather effeminate-looking, haughty young man who had been introduced as Madame’s assistant. One by one Belle, Sophie, and Gen had wandered in and now provided a rapt audience willing to volunteer their opinions. Kate found herself the focus of all eyes and it was more than a little disconcerting.
“You are fortunate that I am not overly busy at this time of year,” Madame said in a vaguely chastising manner.
“I am most grateful that you were able to make the trip from London.” Lady Norcroft smiled at the Frenchwoman and Kate had the distinct impression that this was some sort of game played with respect on both sides by the two women.
With her three nieces and her willingness to pay generously for what she wanted, as well as her connection to the future Duchess of Roxborough, Lady Norcroft was obviously a valuable client. Yet Madame’s skill, reputation, even nationality decreed that while she might not be on a social footing with the countess, she certainly considered herself her equal. “You have a workroom prepared for us, no?”
“Of course.” Lady Norcroft nodded. “And sleeping rooms as well.”
“Excellent.” Madame smiled with satisfaction.
Obviously there was no need for further discussion. Kate assumed—as no doubt did the Frenchwoman—that her entourage would be accommodated near a workroom in close proximity to the servants’ quarters while Madame herself would have one of the less desirable, but still respectable, rooms reserved for guests. It was how arrangements like this worked. Kate had no idea how she knew that but she did.
“Well?” Madame turned to the sisters. “You have not been reluctant thus far to express your opinions. What color do you think is best for her?”
“The pink,” Sophie, or it might have been Belle, said. “It brings out the blush in her cheeks.”
“It’s entirely too pale.” Belle, or possibly Sophie, shook her head. “The rose is much better on her.”
“Nonsense.” Gen scoffed. “The bronze goes with her hair.”
“Kate.” Lady Norcroft fingered a length of fabric. “I believe this blue-green satin is most flattering.”
“I think—” Kate started.
“Excellent.” Madame nodded and gestured to one of the seamstresses to rearrange the fabrics draped around Kate and position Lady Norcroft’s choice nearer to her face. It was indeed a lovely fabric, intense and almost iridescent, blue or green depending on how the light struck it. It deepened the color of her eyes and cast a warm glow on her skin. “It does indeed suit her well.”
Kate stared into the mirror. “I have always looked good in blues and greens.”
The three Fairchild girls traded glances.
“Kate,” Lady Norcroft said gently. “Do you remember that?”
“Yes. No.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure I remember it as much as I know it.”
“One look and it is obvious. It does not seem to me a revelation of memory as much as a fact displayed in the mirror.” Madame signaled to her staff and without question they removed the other fabrics and bustled around Kate, pinning and measuring and doing all sorts of things that went into the creation of a new gown. Surely Kate had been through all this before, still, she did wonder if it was always so tiresome. Madame glanced at Lady Norcroft. “You say she remembers nothing?”
Lady Norcroft shrugged. “Nothing of significance.”
Madame thought for a moment. “And she has been here how long now?”
“Nearly a week,” Lady Norcroft said.
“A week? And no one has come looking for her?” Madame shook her head. “It is most odd. One would think someone would have noticed her missing by now.”
“Oh, she has no parents,” one of the twins said. “And no brothers or sisters.” Kate really needed to determine a way to tell Belle from Sophie. “She does know that. But she doesn’t know whether or not she has a husband.” She cast an apologetic look at Kate. “Oliver told us.”
“I would say there is no husband then,” Madame said with a decisive nod. “A husband worth the name would have come to find her by now.”
“That’s quite what I think. You haven’t heard anything, have you?” Lady Norcroft’s tone was deceptively off-hand. “About anyone who might have mislaid a wife?” At once Kate wondered if Madame’s true purpose here was as much for her knowledge of current gossip as for her fashion sense.
“Nothing at all.” Madame’s brow furrowed. “But then most of my clients do not return to the city from their country homes until later in the year.” Madame nodded to her staff and her assistant offered his hand to help Kate off the stool.
One of the twins leaned toward Kate. “Madame knows everything about everyone in London.”
The slightest hint of a knowing smile quirked the lips of Madame’s assistant and Kate wondered if the frills on the young man’s cuff and manner were due more to his position than any personal preference on his part.
“And you have not had any response thus far from the letters you sent?” Madame had already been told Lady Norcroft’s theory that Kate was the daughter of someone she might have known as well as everything else Oliver’s mother knew about their guest.
Lady Norcroft shook her head. “It’s entirely too soon but I am optimistic.”
“I shall be happy to make inquiries when I return to London,” Madame said. “Discreetly, of course.”
Lady Norcroft grinned. “I expected no less. Now then.” She started for the door, Madame a step behind her. “I’ll have Hollinger show you to your rooms. Have you any ideas for Kate’s gown?”
“I have some thoughts I should like to discuss.” Madame cast one last critical look at Kate then left the room after Lady Norcroft. “She has an excellent waist, very small, but the bosom, well, there are ways…”
Kate tried and failed to resist glancing down at her bosom. It wasn’t especially large but it wasn’t particularly small either.
“Madame makes us all feel wanting in some respect,” Gen said coolly. “But she is quite brilliant and cleverly manages to hide any number of flaws. Why, she can make anyone look exquisite.”
“I wasn’t aware I had that many flaws,” Kate said under her breath. Ellen helped her into her day dress—or rather Gen’s day dress—and immediately took her leave. “Does she always talk about you as if you weren’t there?”
“Always.” One of the younger girls nodded. “Why she quite crushed poor Belle the first time we had a fitting with her.”
“It was most disheartening.” Belle sniffed and Kate made a mental note of the dress she was wearing. There really seemed to be no other way to tell the twins apart. “She thought I had any number of flaws whereas Sophie did not. And as we are exactly the same—”
“Except for the flaws.” Sophie grinned.
Belle ignored her. “It wasn’t the least bit fair.” Her eyes narrowed. “I think she just doesn’t like me although I can’t see why. Monsieur Harvey seems to like me quite a lot.”
“Monsieur Harvey?” Kate asked.
Sophie nodded toward the door. “Madame’s assistant.”
“Utter nonsense.” Gen rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “It’s obvious that Monsieur Harvey doesn’t like, well, girls. Madame certainly would never allow him in a fitting room otherwise.”
“No, of course not,” Belle said under her b
reath and once again Kate wondered as to the true likes and dislikes of Monsieur Harvey.
“Now that we’re alone.” Gen’s eyes narrowed. “We were wondering what your intentions are.”
Kate raised a brow. “My intentions? I don’t particularly have any intentions other than to learn who I am.”
“It’s rather farfetched, don’t you think?” Gen said. “This nonsense about losing your memory. I’ve never heard of anything so absurd.”
“I may have read something about this sort of thing once,” Belle murmured.
“Gen doesn’t believe you,” Sophie said.
“I see.” Kate’s gaze moved from one twin to the next. “Do you?”
“We really don’t know,” Sophie said quickly. “We don’t know what to think.”
“We are exceptionally fond of Aunt Edwina and Oliver,” Belle said in an apologetic manner. “They took us in and made us part of their family in spite of the vague nature of our connection. They are both very kind and generous and we would hate to see them…misled in any way.”
Kate bristled. “That is not my purpose.”
Gen leaned forward. “What is your purpose?”
“I don’t have a purpose.” Kate’s tone was sharper than she had intended. She drew a deep breath. “My apologies. The circumstances I find myself in are both confusing and distressing.”
“Of course it would be,” Sophie said quickly. “We don’t mean to upset you but—”
“We don’t trust you,” Gen said.
“She doesn’t trust you,” Belle added.
“Let me ask you a question.” Kate chose her words with care. “If I am deceiving Lady Norcroft and her son, to what end? What could I possibly gain by a charade like this?”
“That’s what I wondered.” Sophie looked at her older sister. “Well?”
“Oliver.” Gen shrugged. “She wants Oliver.”
Belle nudged her twin. “And Oliver apparently wants her.”
Kate stared. “Why do you say that?”
“If you don’t know you’ve lost more than your memory,” Gen muttered. “It’s apparent to even the most dull-witted observer that he is attracted to you. Hollinger said so and he is never wrong. And Oliver was most evasive when we asked about you.”
“When we arrived last night it was obvious that he was about to kiss you.” Sophie smirked. “Practically under the nose of his mother.
“It’s been my experience that if a man is willing to kiss you with his mother very nearly in the same room…” All eyes turned toward Belle and she winced. “Not that I truly have any experience, mind you.”
“Oliver is extremely wealthy,” Gen said.
Belle nodded. “And quite handsome.”
“And an earl,” Sophie added. “Why the man is one of the most eligible bachelors in the country.”
“And you are.” Gen’s gaze flickered over Kate. “Old. And probably desperate.”
Kate gasped. “I am not old.”
“She didn’t mean old.” Belle cast a sharp look at her older sister. “She meant older. Than we are, that is.”
Kate crossed her arms over her chest. “And I am certainly not desperate.”
Gen smirked. “But you say you don’t know.”
Kate clenched her teeth. “I suspect I would know if I were desperate.”
Gen shrugged in a disparaging manner.
“But allow me to tell you a few things about my situation.” Kate ticked the points off on her fingers. “One, if my true purpose here was to trap a husband, no doubt there are easier ways to do so than to pretend not to know who I am. Two, I more than likely have wealth of my own as, from what we have been able to gather, I appear to be well educated. A characteristic, I might add, that would be remarkably difficult to feign.”
“You’re right, such a charade would not be easy to maintain for long.” A determined glint sparked in Gen’s eye. “Dedicated observers might well be able to catch a mistake.”
“And three.” Kate fixed her gaze hard on Gen. “If I were involved in some kind of convoluted scheme, it would be the height of stupidity to attempt it without my own clothes. While the gowns Lady Norcroft has leant me are flattering if a bit too large,” she met Gen’s gaze, “they are also somewhat immature.”
Belle gasped.
“Childlike,” Kate added.
Sophie winced.
“And entirely without so much as a modicum of…” Kate paused for emphasis. “Sophistication.”
Gen got to her feet, anger sparked in her eyes. Excellent. Kate was in the mood for a good fight. She really should work on that tendency toward violence she had discovered but not now.
Gen glared. “I can certainly understand why you think my dresses are entirely too youthful for someone of your advanced years.”
“I say, am I interrupting?” Oliver poked his head in the door.
“Not yet,” Belle said under her breath.
“I was just telling Kate that I intend to be much more observant in the future.” Gen said, her gaze still locked with Kate’s.
“And I was just saying to your cousins that astute observation is an excellent quality for a young woman to develop.” Kate’s voice rang cool and controlled. “Among others that will only come with maturity.”
“And we are most grateful for the advice.” Sophie cast Oliver an innocent smile.
“No doubt.” Oliver studied his cousins, suspicion in his blue eyes, then glanced at Kate. “I was sent to fetch you, if you are finished here?”
“I daresay I am more than finished.” Kate nodded at the sisters. “Ladies.” She turned and swept from the room in a vaguely grand exit but then why not? She was certainly old enough for a grand exit.
A moment later Oliver joined her. “I gather you and my cousins were getting on well together.”
“We were certainly getting on.”
He chuckled. “I suspected as much. They interrogated me last night.”
“You could have warned me.”
He cast her an unrepentant grin. “And where would be the fun in that?”
She slanted him an annoyed look.
“I know, I know, I am incorrigible.”
She stopped and studied him. “Who sent you to fetch me and where are we going?”
“You shall see.”
He steered her through the corridors of the manor and out of doors.
“I should like to know where we are going, Oliver.” She huffed.
He grinned but held his tongue.
“Very well then don’t tell me,” she said sharply and regretted it the moment the words were out of her mouth.
He wasn’t the one she was annoyed with after all. It was his cousin. Or perhaps it was herself she was annoyed with. As irritating as Gen’s charges were, Kate wasn’t at all sure they didn’t contain at least a morsel of truth. It was a bothersome thought.
They reached the stretch of lawn that hosted the archery target. There on the grass stood a table covered in a fine white tablecloth and two chairs. On the table was a teapot, two cups, and a platter of pastries.
“Oliver!” She stared in surprise. “Are you responsible for this?”
He grinned. “I knew you wouldn’t have time for a proper breakfast. I arranged for Ellen to let me know when you were finished.” He held out a chair for her. “It is all right then?”
“It’s perfect Oliver. And most romantic.” She poured the tea and offered him a cup.
“I have heard a session with Madame DuBois can be quite draining. Add to that the presence of my mother and cousins and I thought you would be in need of a relaxing moment. From what I heard.” He nodded at the bow and quiver on the ground a few feet away from the table. “You might wish a bit of practice as well. I have noticed it has a calming influence.”
“You can be quite thoughtful,” she murmured. “I do appreciate it.”
“I am nothing if not thoughtful.”
“Oliver.” She took a sip of tea. “Do you think I’m desper
ate?”
He choked on his tea. “Desperate?”
“Yes.” She set down her cup and stared at him. “Desperate.”
“I should think you are somewhat desperate to find out who you are.”
“Well, yes, that of course.” Still, there was a gnawing sense inside her that felt very much like a desperation that had nothing to do with her identity. The absolutely certain feeling that there was something important she had to do. “Your cousins think I’m desperate to find a husband. That I am pretending to have lost my memory to ensnare you.”
“Really?” He grinned.
She drew her brows together. “And you find this amusing?”
“Not amusing as much as flattering.” He cast her a wicked grin. “I am extremely flattered.”
She stared at him. “Do you agree with them?”
“Admittedly, when you first awoke and claimed to have lost your memory I had doubts as to the veracity of your claim.” He chose his words with care. “However, we have spent a great deal of time together in this past week and I do believe you are exactly who you say you are. Or rather who you don’t say you are.”
“But—”
“In addition.” He met her gaze directly. “A charade on your part would not have been necessary. I meant it when I said that if we had met under other circumstances I would be actively pursuing you. And when the moment comes that we know who you are and what your obligations are, and I do pray that does not include a husband, I intend to do exactly that.”
“But if I have a husband—”
“You don’t,” he said with a confident shrug. “You have recalled deceased parents and that you have no siblings or children. I think by now you would at least have a feeling as to whether there is a husband or not.”
She shook her head. “And I don’t.”
He grinned.
“But if I’m wrong—”
He covered her hand with his. “We shall deal with that possibility if it occurs. And I am confident it will not. Kate.” He leaned closer to her. “I am feeling things about you I daresay I have never felt before.”
“Only because I am a mystery you wish to solve.”
“Admittedly, that might be part of it. But I have come to know you without the trappings of name or position or family and I am…” He smiled, a slow seductive smile. “You have enchanted me, Kate.”
Seduction of a Proper Gentleman (Last Man Standing) Page 13
