he owes us much, to the very last coin in his treasury! Plucking us up from our native soil, and making us endure this arduous and dull journey into a foreign land… you must forgive me,” she said, charmingly apologetic. “I mean no disrespect to your homeland, and you have been the most welcoming of hostesses.”
“Not at all,” Miss Carr murmured, embarrassed to overhear such private arguments between husband and wives. “It is difficult to travel such distances, although the summer is the best time in which to do it. How was your journey to England?”
“Abominable,” said the middle one. “On the terrible little boat upon which we embarked from our beloved Rumania we sailed through a horrendous storm. All of our trunks were washed overboard. We barely came ashore with the vitals for existence still in our grasp.”
“Your lives?” Miss Carr asked, gasping with excitement. There was an indefinable pause before the eldest broke the silence that had fallen.
“So to speak. And Magda retained our jewel box,” she said, with an approving nod to the second-eldest wife. “She is always one to hold on to opportunity. Luckily our bankers had already received our letter of credit. If our lord had only followed our advice we might have saved the vessel—but he never does listen.”
“We smelled the storm, but he enjoys such things,” said Countess Magda. “Never mind that we have lost our whole wardrobes and everything we held dear.”
He wrecked the ship on purpose? Miss Carr wanted to ask, but didn’t dare.
“But, he will pay,” said the eldest avidly, licking her red, red lips. “He will pay dearly. This is only the beginning of the price.”
“Oh,” Miss Carr said, uncomfortably, wishing to change the subject away from such personal issues. “Well. Did you land at Southampton?”
“No,” said the youngest, sulkily. “Whitby.”
“My goodness,” said Miss Carr, with great excitement, “then you must have heard of the shipwreck there! It was in all the newspapers. A ship called the
Miss Carr thought the event sounded like a romantic and strange play that sent a frisson up her back when she’d heard. It was not gossip, but news, so it was a fair subject to broach, by Mrs. Feldon-Jacobs’s rules. But it failed to intrigue her guests.
“How very… interesting,” said the eldest countess, after another pause. “No. We had not heard of such a shipwreck.”
The last mannequin curtsied lightly as she did her final turn, and slipped from the room.
“Well, Countesses,” Miss Carr said, nervously. This was the moment when they would either make an order or find an excuse to leave. “Have we shown you anything that would suit you?”
“Oh, yes,” the eldest countess said, with a lift of her dark brows. “We have seen many things that we wish to have. As you may guess, price is no object.”
“Then, if you permit,” Miss Carr said, “allow us to take measurements at this time, so that when you give your order, we may start at once tomorrow upon your choices.”
The senior countess looked at the other two. “Yes, this would be acceptable to us.”
With the assistance of three of the seamstresses, Miss Carr helped the countesses out of their gowns. Their velvet dresses, oddly heavy for the climate and the season, had a musty air about them, as though they had been hanging in a closet or folded into a chest for a very long time. Their undergarments were also curious, being extremely old-fashioned, albeit of the best fabrics and lace. One of the seamstresses prepared to wrap a tape measure around the bosom of the Countess Magda, when she jumped back in surprise.
“Oh!” she cried. Miss Carr hurried over to see what was the matter.
Spinning down along its own thread from a web just under the lady’s decolletage was a large black spider, very much alive. Miss Carr looked at the countess in puzzlement. The creature was so large she could not possibly have missed knowing it was there. Perhaps she had
“Oh,” the countess said, glancing down at the object of their curiosity. She seized a feather from the display in the vase on the side table, and whisked it to the floor. The spider promptly ran underneath a chair. Miss Carr made a mental note to send one of the page boys in to hunt it down and kill it as soon as the visitors were gone. When the ladies’ measurements were complete, the seamstresses offered them dressing gowns and assisted them to sit down.
“And now we will show the line again,” Miss Carr said. “You may stop any of the mannequins if you wish to try on her costume. Please let me know which you wish to order, or to add to the list for later consideration.”
In the end the Countesses Dracula amassed an enormous order. Hardly a mannequin came and went without one of the three insisting that she must have the costume, with all the appropriate accessories and underthings.
“And when may we expect to have the first fitting?” the eldest countess asked, as the eighth model put in her appearance. Miss Carr glanced up from her notebook.
“I believe that Mrs. Feldon-Jacobs will say that it can be a week hence, er, also at night if you require.”
“We do. You can do all this in a week?”
“Indeed, yes, madam,” Miss Carr said with pride. “We have the best staffed and most efficient workrooms in London. I trust you will be satisfied not only with our workmanship, but with our promptness.”
“That is most satisfactory. Ah! Here she is again.”
Miss Stimson had returned for her second appearance in the perfect, pearl-white satin dress.
“Enchanting,” said the youngest countess, her blue eyes wide. “We must have one of those.”
“Two,” said Countess Magda.
“Would you care to try it on?” Miss Carr offered politely, jotting the style number into each of the two younger ladies’ measurement charts.
“Perhaps not now,” said the eldest wife. “There is so much else to see.”
“But, she must stay,” the youngest wife insisted. Miss Stimson received her silent instructions from Miss Carr, and took up a languid-seeming stance against the wall near the vase of feathers, with one arm resting lightly on the table top. It was actually a restful posture, designed to ease the back when one of the mannequins must remain standing for a long time. Another girl swirled into the room in a walking costume of leaf green with sage trim. The countesses chattered to one another with delight, though their eyes kept returning to Miss Stimson.
Miss Carr was quite dizzy with delight by the time she finished writing up the order. Mrs. Feldon-Jacobs would have to put the workrooms on full alert, but it would be worthwhile. This order would be the talk of the industry. The last model was displayed and retired. The eldest countess clapped her hands.
“Brava,” she said. “This is all very good. And now, we are feeling rather famished. Perhaps you may furnish us with that little refreshment?”
Their red mouths looked almost predatory, their white teeth sharp as an animal’s. At once Miss Carr was horrified at herself for even thinking of such a comparison. “Of course!” she said. “Forgive me for not offering again.” She nodded to one of the seamstresses, who left the room and sent in the page boy. Miss Carr gave the order for tea, sandwiches, and cakes. She risked a discreet look at her watch. The hour was long after midnight. She hoped the day’s bread would still answer. Knowing that they would have night visitors who might require sustenance, they had wrapped a fresh loaf as well as they could.
The final group of mannequins began to withdraw. Miss Stimson, seeing release at hand, crossed the room to join her companions.
“Oh, no, don’t go,” the youngest countess said, catching Miss Stimson by the arm. “You must join us for our meal.”
She drew the girl beside her and held her quite close. Miss Stimson looked unhappy, but she was afraid to refuse. She knew what it meant to them all if she should displease the customers.
She smiled tremulously, looking to Miss Carr for rescue. Miss Carr was uncertain what to do, and wished the owner was there. She knew no respectable Englishwoman would touch another person so familiarly, but these were foreigners. She fancied that she saw their mouths open as if they would eat the girl right there.
What to do? The gown was lovely, and the girl did look lovely in it. Perhaps the countesses just wanted to have it there under their eyes while they discussed the final details of their order. Since the financial arrangements
