Murder in the Drawing Room

by C. J. Archer

  A girl of no more than seventeen or eighteen emerged from the dressing room wearing an ivory chiffon gown overlaid with black lace at the bodice and hem. The assistant darted around her, adjusting the sleeve and flattening a minute wrinkle on the skirt.

  Madame Poitiers lightly clapped her hands. “C'est magnifique!”

  The girl stood on the raised dais and smiled at her reflection in the mirror before turning to her mother, the smile slipping off. “Mama? What do you think?” She bit her lip as she waited for her mother’s verdict.

  “Oh, Cleo, that would look lovely on you,” Flossy said. “The black lace makes it suitable for half-mourning.”

  The girl’s mother stiffened and she eyed me up and down coolly. “Your gowns are unique, are they not, Madame Poitiers?”

  The dressmaker placed a hand to her considerable chest. She looked offended. “But of course! I assure you, Lady Davenport, no two are the same. There will be no other at any of the balls you attend in exactly the same Colette Poitiers dress.”

  Lady Davenport turned her back to us. “I don’t think we have to worry about appearing at the same events.”

  Beside me, Aunt Lilian stiffened.

  Flossy didn’t seem to notice the slight and continued to make her way around the room. The salon resembled a small but sumptuous drawing room. The pink color scheme of the sofa, armchairs, cushions and drapes was a little too much for my taste, but it suited the feminine space. A life-sized portrait of a younger, slimmer version of Madame Poitiers wearing a gown in the tight fitting princess line style, fashionable at the time, watched over her salon, while the remainder of the walls were covered in floor to ceiling mirrors in gilt frames. Wan morning light reflected in the mirrors, brightening the interior but not so much that the customers noticed every blemish when they studied themselves outfitted in one of Madame Poitiers’ splendid creations.

  Flossy fingered the white fringing at the waistline of a dress on the headless mannequin beside the counter then moved on to a display of silk fans. I stood to admire the combs arranged under glass on the counter, but didn’t set my heart on any in particular. I was here because I’d agreed to attend some parties and dinners during the upcoming social season, but I wasn’t going to be put on display myself. Flossy was the main feature and so this appointment with London’s most sought-after dressmaker was for her benefit.

  Madame Poitiers continued to talk to Lady Davenport while her assistant pinned the hem to the correct length for the girl. Lady Davenport appeared not to be listening. I could hardly blame her. Madame Poitiers prattled on about a party she’d attended in Paris years ago where she’d sung all night. According to the story, which she wove in a rather erratic pattern, she’d been forced to give up singing opera, her first love, when she caught a disease of the throat. By the time the assistant finished and stepped back to gain perspective, Madame Poitiers had mentioned the name of every important person who’d attended the party, which arias she’d sung, and given an account of every conversation she’d had and with whom. She’d just begun to list the refreshments when Lady Davenport announced she’d wait for her daughter in the carriage.

  Undeterred, Madame Poitiers turned to us with a bright smile. “Now, Lady Bainbridge and Mademoiselle Bainbridge.” She clasped her hands. “What a delight it is to see you again. And who is this jolie fille you bring to me?”

  The assistant ushered Lady Davenport’s daughter into the change room while Aunt Lilian introduced me to Madame Poitiers. The dressmaker wore a simple gown in burgundy that fit her figure in such a way that at first glance, her waist appeared smaller than it was. A white lace necktie was the only decoration. The outfit was designed to not distract the customer from the beautiful pieces on the mannequins.

  She seemed older than Aunt Lilian, with lines around her eyes that appeared only when she smiled and a sagging jawline. There was no gray in her hair, however, and her movements were elegant if somewhat drawn out, as if she put thought into each one. She glided rather than walked, and kept her chin raised, her nose in the air as Lady Davenport had done as she strode out of the salon. But with Lady Davenport, the haughty pose seemed natural, as if it was one she’d employed every day of her life. With Madame Poitiers, it was practiced.

  She stood back and studied me, one finger making a little circle, asking me to twirl. “Mademoiselle has a lovely shape. Très elegant. And what a pretty face, the skin so clear, the eyes so green! She is more like you than your own daughter, non?”

  Aunt Lilian nodded, smiling. “So they say.”

  Madame Poitiers turned her attention to Flossy. “And Mademoiselle Bainbridge, how you have blossomed since you were last here. Your hair is the color of the Arabian sunset! And your figure…” The dressmaker turned her attention to Flossy’s chest with the discerning eye of a woman who knew the size without using a measuring tape. “There will be no need to use the embellishments other girls must.” She indicated the blue dress with the gathered chiffon on the bodice, positioned to subtly disguise a flat chest.

  Flossy giggled.

  “So I am to outfit both girls for the season, oui?” Madame Poitiers spoke to my aunt, not Flossy or me. “And you, Lady Bainbridge? Are you to have new clothes too?”

  “Just the one,” Aunt Lilian said. “Florence requires four new ballgowns, another four evening gowns. Cleo is still wearing half-mourning for her grandmother, but I think just the two evening gowns, one in a very light shade of gray and the other purple. She’ll also require four new ballgowns and another two evening dresses in the latest colors and styles. She’ll be out of mourning altogether soon.”

  “I don’t think I need quite so many,” I said. “I won’t be attending all the events with Flossy.”

  “Of course you will,” Flossy said with a pout. “Tell her, Mother.”

  “We agreed,” I told Aunt Lilian.

  Aunt Lilian gave me a small but triumphant smile. “We agreed you wouldn’t attend an official palace debut. That was all.”

  My aunt and cousin had tried to convince me to do my debut along with other girls coming out this season. I had refused. For one thing, I felt as though I was too old at twenty-three, and for another, I simply didn’t want to. The idea of partaking in an outdated tradition that mattered only to snobs like Lady Davenport sounded like the least enjoyable way to spend a day. I’d expected my aunt to dig her heels in and insist, but she’d given up without much of a fight. Flossy was more disappointed than her mother, but I suspect that was because she wanted to host a ball for me at the hotel.

  I leaned closer to my aunt and kept my voice low. “I can’t afford all these new gowns and it’s not fair that Uncle Ronald pays for it.”

  “Nonsense. He won’t mind.” She took my hands in both of hers. “He will want his niece to be as elegantly outfitted as his daughter. Trust me, Cleo. I know my husband.”

  I didn’t doubt her on that score. I was an ornament on the family tree, a representative of the Bainbridges at every event, just as much as Flossy and Floyd. If I were to attend balls and parties alongside my cousins, aunt and uncle, then I must look as though I belonged. It was just that I hadn’t expected to be attending as many functions as them.

  I had no more opportunity to protest as Aunt Lilian and Flossy launched into descriptions of the outfits they wanted. Madame Poitiers wrote nothing down but listened attentively until Lady Davenport’s daughter emerged from the dressing room. The assistant carried out the dress behind her.

  Madame Poitiers excused herself and opened the door for the girl who hurried out to join her mother in their waiting conveyance. Once the door was closed, she turned back to us.

  “If you admired that gown so, would you like something similar?” She snapped her fingers at the assistant, hovering near the door to the change room, the gown with the black lace draped over her arms.

  “I thought all your dresses were unique,” Flossy said.

  Madame Poitiers laughed, the sound throaty. “I say similar, not the sam
e.” She plucked at the lace overlay on the bodice. “A different pattern, a change of base color, a bow at the shoulder, and voila! No one will recognize it. Mademoiselle Fox will be one of a kind.” She signaled to her assistant with a wave of her hand and the young woman hung up the gown. “First, we measure you.”

  She stood aside while her assistant took our measurements and wrote them in a book. The young woman had not been introduced to us nor had Madame Poitiers addressed her by name. The only words she spoke were directions to lift our arms, or turn, or be still, and she didn’t make eye contact. She couldn’t have been older than me, but she was the picture of an obedient shop girl. She was efficient, and needed no direction from Madame Poitiers.

  Indeed, the dressmaker took no notice of Flossy and me as she told Aunt Lilian all about the time she’d met Russian jeweler Peter Fabergé in Saint Petersburg and how his designs had influenced her more elaborate jeweled gowns.

  “It was a wonderful time for artists like us.” Her eyes became dreamy, her husky voice softening. “So many ideas! He adored my collection that year. So elegant, he would say, so modern and fresh.”

  “Which year was that?” Aunt Lilian asked.

  Madame Poitiers shrugged in a gesture both graceful and nonchalant. “I do not recall. I was young and life was amusing and exciting.” Her eyes shone and her secretive smile hinted at more stories that were quite possibly scandalous.

  The assistant completed our measurements then, after a nod from Madame Poitiers, disappeared through another door into a back room. I caught a fleeting glimpse of several seamstresses, some concentrating at sewing machines, others standing at the cutting table, and another pinning pieces of cloth over the wooden torso of a dress form.

  When the assistant re-emerged and the door closed behind her, the sounds of the whirring sewing machines was blocked out completely from the salon. The assistant walked carefully towards us, her vision obscured by fabric samples stacked in her arms.

  Madame Poitiers directed her to place them on the counter beside the large catalogue book. She flipped through the thick pages of hand painted designs until she came to the series she wanted.

  “Ici, these will look très elegant for Mademoiselle Bainbridge with her full bosom. This one is for her, I am certain, and in this shade of green.” She touched a bolt of delicate chiffon. “Feel it, Mademoiselle. It’s so soft, delicate. And the color is not of grass.” She pulled a face. “But pretty, soft.”

  Flossy pointed to one of three designs on the page. “With rosettes down the front like this.”

  Madame Poitiers squinted at the image then clasped her hands together as if in prayer. “You have such style, Mademoiselle! Are you sure you are not French?” She laughed that throaty, sensual laugh. “I knew a girl just like you in Paris. She was a model for Pierre Benoit, the designer who took me under his wing. Her hair was like spun gold too, and she had an adorable little puppy nose. Oh, the gentlemen did admire her, very much, as they will admire you when you enter the ballroom dressed in a Madame Poitiers gown.”

  We spent a long time choosing fabrics and designs. By the end of it, Aunt Lilian had begun to flag. She kept herself upright on the sofa while Flossy and I looked through the design book, but I suspected it took enormous effort. Her eyelids drooped, her shoulders sagged, and she hardly took any notice of the dressmaker and her assistant as they made a great fuss of Flossy and me.

  It wasn’t until the front door opened and a woman and her young charge entered that Aunt Lilian rallied. She smoothed her hand down her lap and smiled at the newcomers, although not the smile of recognition.

  “Ah, Madame and Mademoiselle Enderby, I do apologize but I will not be much longer.” Madame Poitiers briefly looked the young girl up and down and praised her on such a fine figure and pretty face before returning to the counter where the assistant was adding up the cost of our order with the same quiet efficiency she’d shown all morning.

  “You are wise to come to Maison de Poitiers early,” Madame Poitiers said to us as her assistant worked. “Every year I get busier and busier! So many favorite customers return to the humble designs of Madame Poitiers. You saw the old article in The Queen?”

  She indicated a page neatly cut from a magazine framed and positioned on a stand at the end of the counter. The paper had yellowed but the type was still clear. One of two photographs on the page depicted a younger Madame Poitiers smiling enigmatically at the camera. The other photograph was of the famous actress, Myrtle Langford, wearing an off-the-shoulder gown with pearls and either beads or jewels sewn across the bodice in a diamond pattern, and a hemline in a more flowing fabric. In black and white, it was impossible to tell the color or type of fabric, but the elegance of it was unmistakable, even though the gown was now out of date.

  Madame Poitiers picked up the frame and studied the article. “They called me an ‘extraordinary designer’. Isn’t that amusing? Such high praise for a humble dressmaker. Of course, my creations have graced beautiful women all over the world, not just Miss Langford. Actresses, singers, dancers, duchesses and even princesses!” She sighed, deeply satisfied. “They wrote about my past as an opera singer, too. They say I could have sung with Dame Nellie Melba herself if the injury to my throat had not cut my career short.”

  The assistant discreetly cleared her throat and closed the order book without showing Madame Poitiers or my aunt the final cost. I suspected that was how these sorts of places worked, unlike the larger department stores. The final bill would be sent to my uncle at the hotel and he would pay after our purchases were delivered. It was all very discreet.

  “Ah, we are finished. Bon.” Madame Poitiers smiled at Aunt Lilian as she rose. “It has been a pleasure, as always, Lady Bainbridge. You grace my little shop with your elegance and style, as do your daughter and niece.” She smiled as she opened the door for us and bade us goodbye.

  Flossy was the first to comment on our morning as the carriage set off for the Mayfair Hotel. “Good lord, she hasn’t changed from last year. If I have to listen to the story about Peter Fabergé one more time, I’ll cover my ears and scream.”

  “Such a trying woman,” Aunt Lilian agreed. “How she prattles on and on. I always leave her salon with a headache.” Aunt Lilian’s headaches had more to do with her medicinal tonic wearing off than Madame Poitiers, but neither Flossy nor I pointed that out.

  “She is quite a unique character,” I said. “Her designs are truly beautiful though. She’s extremely talented. It’s no wonder they’re so sought after.”

  “We were fortunate to get an appointment,” Aunt Lilian said. “It was only because of a cancelation that we could. Everyone wants to wear a Poitiers design.”

  Flossy smirked. “As she so helpfully pointed out.”

  “She’s simply proud of her achievements, as she has a right to be. Although I doubt she’s French.”

  “Do you speak French, Aunt?” I asked.

  “A little.” She bestowed a wistful, sad smile on me. “Your mother took to her French lessons better than I did. I did try to speak to Madame Poitiers in her native tongue once, and she refused to answer me in that same language. She insisted we speak English, claiming it wasn’t fair on her assistant. It was the most attention she paid the poor girl during our entire appointment.”

  Flossy clicked her tongue as she stared out of the window at the shops along New Bond Street. “Is anybody who claims to be French actually from that country? Lady’s maids, chefs, artists, dressmakers…all say they trained in Paris. I don’t believe them, personally.”

  “I do believe our last chef was a genuine Frenchman,” Aunt Lilian said. “And his replacement doesn’t claim to be anything other than English born and bred.”

  “Father knew her when she was younger,” Flossy pointed out. “It’s too late to pretend a French heritage.”

  I watched Aunt Lilian carefully for any sign that it bothered her that the hotel’s new chef de cuisine knew Uncle Ronald many years ago. But she seemed as se
renely distant as always as she too turned to peer out of the window at the passing shops and traffic.

  The hotel’s coachman deposited us at the front door of the Mayfair Hotel where Frank assisted each of us down the carriage steps, all smiles and warm greetings. The friendly doorman act didn’t fool me, but Flossy and Aunt Lilian were taken in by it. As soon as their backs were turned, however, he scowled at the workman exiting the building next door, pushing a wheelbarrow laden with rubble. He called out to his colleagues standing on the back of a cart, waiting to toss the wheelbarrow’s contents onto the growing pile of bricks.

  “Is something the matter?” I asked Frank.

  “I’ve asked them time and again to keep their voices down. We’ve got distinguished guests staying here and they don’t want to listen to those idiots all day.”

  “You can’t hear them from inside the hotel.”

  My reasoning didn’t wipe the scowl from Frank’s face. Nothing I could say would cheer him, so I left him to join Flossy and Aunt Lilian who hadn’t waited for me.

  Guests and staff couldn’t hear the workmen talking from inside the hotel, but they could hear muffled sounds of sledgehammers knocking down internal walls. The building next door was being converted from three shops into one large restaurant for the hotel. There was bound to be some disruption for the next few months, and I suspected it would get much worse before it got better. Uncle Ronald had hoped to have the restaurant opened by the height of the social season, but I doubted it would be ready in time.

  Society was already beginning to trickle back into the city, although many stayed in their own houses where they would remain throughout spring and part of the summer before returning to their country manors. Those who didn’t come from quite the same heights, or who’d had to sell off their London houses as the cost of keeping them rose, stayed at hotels like the Mayfair when they visited the city. They didn’t stay as long, but came and went as required. A lady and her daughters might stay for a few days to shop and have dress fittings, while her husband attended to business matters. They would return for a ball here and there, but wouldn’t stay for the duration of the social season.