'Do you think Madame Paul will be as sparrowlike as Mademoiselle Francine?' Allegra whispered to her cousin as they hurried back indoors and up the main staircase of the house to their shared bedchamber suite.
'I don't know,' Sirena whispered back. 'She is probably more formidable, for Mademoiselle was very deferential when she spoke of her.'
Madame Paul turned out to be a tall, gaunt woman with iron gray hair, black eyes, and a commanding nature. When the girls entered the room set aside for the fittings she immediately cried, 'Off with your gowns, mademoiselles.
Madame's two little assistants quickly stripped them down to their chemises. Madame, clucked and fussed with seemingly shapeless piles of material while Lady Abbott sat expectantly in a high-back tapestried chair.
'Mademoiselle Morgan,' Madame said, beckoning Allegra with a bony finger,
The garment, high waisted with a gently bouffant skirt, a gathered bodice, and short, tight sleeves with exquisite silver lace that hung just to above her elbow, was fitted on Allegra. The skirt's hemline came just off the ground, and had a delicate silver lace overskirt. The rounded neckline was lower than any gown she had ever worn, and seeing her young breasts swelling above the gown's fabric made Allegra blush. She struggled to pull the silk up.
Madame yanked it down with a severe look at her client. 'It is the fashion, mademoiselle,' she said in a stern voice.
'Even for such a young girl?' Lady Abbott ventured hesitantly.
'Madame,' the modiste said, 'you are offering a new product. Do you not wish it to be seen to its best advantage? Necklines are low this year. Your niece has a pretty bosom, unlike some my studio is dressing, who will need certain… um, aids to show their wares.'
'The gown is indeed lovely,' Lady Abbott said softly.
'Of course it is,' Madame Paul responded. 'No one takes the measurements like Francine. Come, mademoiselle, to the looking glass. I would have your opinion, for you are to wear the gown.'
Allegra stared at herself in the mirror. How grown-up she looked. The faintly cream-colored silk with its silver lace overskirt was certainly the most beautiful gown she had ever possessed. She turned her head this way and that, admiring the image reflected back at her. The color of the gown brought out the translucence in her skin. Her mahogany hair looked richer, her eyes more violet. 'Yes,' she said. Nothing more, but Madame Paul understood perfectly.
'You will have a shawl, silver and cream, woven as if by spiders themselves, cream kid gloves that will come to the elbow, a very small reticule made from cloth of silver, and silver kid dancing slippers. You must wear only pearls with this gown, Mademoiselle Morgan. The impression you will give is that of elegance and utmost purity.'
'Yes,' Allegra answered the modiste, unable to take her eyes off her image. What would Rupert think if he could see her in this gown, she wondered. Then, smiling, she turned to her aunt, questioningly.
Lady Abbott nodded her approval.
The gown was removed, and set aside to be returned to madame's studio for the final finishing. Now it was Sirena's turn. The dress for her cousin was equally wonderful. In the same style, it was of palest sky blue silk brocade with a narrow sapphire blue velvet ribbon belting the waist. The lace on the sleeves of Sirena's garment was cream color, but there was no overskirt, making the dress quite different. The bottom three inches of the hem were pleated tightly. Sirena squealed with delight when she saw herself in the glass.
'A cream lace shawl and elbow length gloves, a reticule and slippers the color of your belt, and for you also, pearls, Lady Sirena. The effect is delicate and fragile as is your blond beauty. Your mama will have to fend the gentlemen off, m'lady.'
Both girls laughed at this pronouncement, and even Lady Abbott could not restrain a smile.
'Ohh, Madame,' Sirena said, 'If the rest of the wardrobes are as wonderful as these two gowns, we shall be the envy of London!'
The modiste smiled archly. 'And they will be, and you will be,' she replied.
'What of the court gowns?' Lady Abbott asked.
'Cecile, bring the hoops,' Madame said. 'They are so awkward. I do not understand why your King George is so insistent upon them. Most young girls do not know how to wear hoops, and they certainly dare not sit in them.'
'It is his custom, and he is a man who doesn't move easily with change,' Lady Abbott said.
'Are not all men like that?' Madame Paul responded with a shrug of her narrow shoulders. 'Why should a king be any different? They bleed like any other as we discovered when they lopped poor King Louis's head off his shoulders.' She shuddered. 'Praise
'Surely a respectable modiste woman would not be harassed,' Allegra said.
'Mademoiselle, I created
'I am sorry, madame,' Allegra replied.
'As am I, Mademoiselle Morgan. I miss my sister.' Then the modiste was all business again.
'These gowns must be ready for the Bellingham ball,' Lady Abbott told the Frenchwoman again.
'Both wardrobes in their entirety will be ready two days before,' she promised Lady Abbott. 'Your young ladies can then put on their new day dresses and parade about the park with the other misses.'
'My daughter and my niece will not appear until the night of the ball,' Lady Abbott responded.
'Ahh, how clever!' Madame Paul chuckled, looking with new respect upon Lady Abbott. The dowager marchioness was obviously not such a fool as she might appear. She chuckled again.
True to her word, the girls' new collection of wearing apparel arrived exactly when madame had promised them. They were brought by Mademoiselle Francine, who, having directed the footmen in unloading her carriage and the accompanying cart, presented her bill to Mr. Trent. She was mightily surprised to be paid immediately, and in full. Usually it took the rest of the season, and sometimes months afterwards to collect all that was owed them. Often her aunt would withhold the court presentation dress from each collection in order to obtain at least something of what was owed her. Mademoiselle departed smiling, and was distinctly heard to be humming beneath her breath.
