Severine tried and failed for another smile, but it seemed the attempt was sufficient. Or perhaps the warmth that appeared in the girl’s eyes was from what Severine said next.
“I need to change my look. You seem…” Severine struggled for the words and then hoped that ready money would make up for inarticulate words. “Quite modern and…” Another awkward pause until Severine added, “Quite fashionable. Lovely. So many of the others I’ve been watching look as though they’re parroting the fashion, while you look as though you’re setting it.”
It was the right thing to say. The girl held out her hand and said, “Meline Boucher. Fashion is my passion. I hope to have my own shop with my own line someday.”
They considered dress after dress and then Meline’s head tilted as she said, “I think we need to embrace you as you are, cher. Putting you in a rose dress and bobbing your hair will make you look like a penguin wearing peacock feathers.”
Severine waited for Meline to explain, but instead the woman disappeared into the back. She returned with sketch papers and a pencil box. In moments, Meline was sketching in black pencil and Severine was watching with interest as her face and her form appeared on the paper.
Dress after dress filled the pages that followed. Some of the dresses were black on black. Some were dark gray with black embroidery. One was a black and red wine that reached from chest to the floor and even had something of a train. Severine, for the first time in her life, desperately wanted the dresses on those pages.
When Meline paused drawing, Severine asked, “How long?”
Meline paused and then offered a date that was too far away.
“Is it possible to have them in two weeks? Perhaps if you hire help?”
Meline paused and then nodded, a slow, excited grin crossing her face. “I’ll get fired for certain if Madam,” she said it like an insult, “realizes that I’ve taken on a job like this.”
“Then, let’s not tell her. Let’s find something that will do for now, and we’ll meet at my house for the rest. I’ll need sensible day dresses and skirts with pockets along with this look. Can you make that happen as well?”
Meline nodded quickly.
Severine wrote her address on a page with her name and left the shop. When she stepped back onto the bustling streets of New Orleans, she winced. There were people everywhere. Handsome, fashionable, hard-working. There was a scent in the air, and Severine flashed back to a random afternoon in her childhood when her father had brought her to a ramshackle place that served beignets and chicory coffee. He’d let her have both, though she’d been too young for coffee, and she’d dared to dunk her beignet in the coffee just as her father did.
He’d grinned wide and she’d seen a little of herself in his face. His sharp jawline perhaps, or those dark eyes that were almost black.
Maybe he hadn’t disliked her, but she’d never know. Her eyes burned with something that was more complicated than grief. Her parents had been murdered before she could know them, and it had changed her forever.
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Also by Beth Byers
The Violet Carlyle Cozy Historical Mysteries
Murder & the Heir
Murder at Kennington House
Murder at the Folly
A Merry Little Murder
Murder Among the Roses
Murder in the Shallows
Gin & Murder
Obsidian Murder
Murder at the Ladies Club
Weddings Vows & Murder
A Jazzy Little Murder
Murder by Chocolate
A Friendly Little Murder
Murder by the Sea
Murder On All Hallows
Murder in the Shadows
A Jolly Little Murder
Hijinks & Murder
Love & Murder
A Zestful Little Murder
A Murder Most Odd
Nearly A Murder
A Treasured Little Murder
A Cozy Little Murder
Masked Murderer
A Fabulous Little Murder
The Mysteries of Severine DuNoir
The Mystery at the Edge of Madness
The Mysterious Point of Deceit
Mystery in the Darkest Shadow
The Wicked Fringe of Mystery
The Poison Ink Mysteries
Death By the Book
Death Witnessed
Death by Blackmail
Death Misconstrued
Deathly Ever After
Death in the Mirror
A Merry Little Death
Death Between the Pages
Death in the Beginning
A Lonely Little Death
The 2nd Chance Diner Mysteries
(This series is complete.)
Spaghetti, Meatballs, & Murder
Cookies & Catastrophe
Poison & Pie
Double Mocha Murder
Cinnamon Rolls & Cyanide
Tea & Temptation
Donuts & Danger
Scones & Scandal
Lemonade & Loathing
Wedding Cake & Woe
Honeymoons & Honeydew
The Pumpkin Problem
The Hettie & Ro Adventures
cowritten with Bettie Jane
(This series is complete.)
Philanderer Gone
Adventurer Gone
Holiday Gone
Aeronaut Gone
Copyright © 2020 by Beth Byers, Amanda A. Allen
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