"In the dark?" Entering, he blinked. "Why in blazes have you closed the draperies?" He strode toward one of the windows.
"No!" Juliana cried. "We must see the fabrics by candlelight."
"Whose bacon-brained idea was that?" Griffin turned to the mantua-maker.
Madame Rodale laid a plump hand on her ample bosom. "Not mine, my lord, I assure you," she said in her fake French accent.
"It was A Lady of Distinction's idea," Corinna informed him.
"A lady of what?"
"A Lady of Distinction. The author of The Mirror of the Graces."
"The book you bought for all of us," Juliana reminded him as she pawed through a box of lace. "To help us catch husbands. A Lady of Distinction says we must choose our dress fabrics by candlelight, because otherwise we might select a pale yellow in daylight that appears black by night."
"A pale yellow look black? Can the woman be serious? I cannot believe I bought a book written by a woman who's so obviously such a—"
Griffin broke off, apparently unable to come up with a word to describe her that was acceptable in mixed company.
"Twit?" Corinna suggested.
"A twit, yes. Perhaps you girls shouldn't read that book, after all."
"Oh, thank heavens," Alexandra breathed.
Juliana nodded. "That twittish Lady of Distinction also says we should never paint our faces, and we should wear only modest clothing at all times."
"Does she?" Griffin smiled. "Keep reading, then."
All three sisters groaned.
"What do you think of this yellow?" Corinna held a square of fabric to her cheek.
"Pretty, but bright," Alexandra said. "A Lady of Distinction favors pastels."
"It's called jonquille," the mantua-maker put in. "And it's très fashionable."
Corinna gave a happy sigh. "I shall have it, then."
"How can you even see it?" Griffin complained loudly.
"Griffin?" Tris barged into the drawing room. "We must leave soon, if I'm to—" Locking gazes with Alexandra, he cut off. "Pardon me," he said quickly and turned to leave, much to her relief.
Grabbing him by the upper arm, Griffin pulled him back into the room. "Do sit down. You, too, can help my sisters choose their new evening dresses."
"Choose dresses?" Tris echoed dubiously. But he sat, arranging his rangy form on a sofa.
Alexandra would have sighed if she wasn't afraid it would draw too much attention. In the past week, for her own comfort and to mollify her brother, she'd done her best to avoid Tris. Happily, that had proved a simple matter, since he'd been feverishly working to solve Griffin's problem.
Tris had taken to rising at dawn and breakfasting before Alexandra, an early riser herself, even ventured forth from her room. He spent most of his daylight hours in the temporary workshop Griffin had set up for him off the quadrangle between the laundry and the dairy, effectively hidden from where her family lived on the two upper floors. And when he wasn't in the workshop building the pump, he was visiting the foundry that was casting the parts, or out in the fields directing the construction of the pump's housing and pipeline. Alexandra rarely saw him except at dinner.
Though all of that made things a little easier, she was impatient for him to finish and return to Hawkridge. For now, she decided, she would simply ignore him.
At least he was focused on Griffin at the moment, rather than her. "Damn, it's dark in here," he said.
A twinkle in Griffin's eye was apparent even in the dimness. "Did you not know," he drawled, "that dress material is best selected by candlelight, lest something pale yellow in the daytime appear black by night?"
"Black?" Tris crossed his arms. "What sort of addlepated—"
"We can open the curtains now," Juliana interrupted. "We've all chosen our fabrics. Look at mine." While Griffin went to pull back the draperies, she held up a swatch of the palest pink. "It's called blush."
"It's lovely," Tris said. Although Alexandra was ignoring him, she couldn't help but notice he looked amused at the goings-on.
"And Alexandra," Corinna announced with a long pause for dramatic effect, "will be wearing amaranthus."
"Amaranthus?" If anything, Tris appeared even more entertained.
"A bright shade of purple with a pinkish tint." As a painter, Corinna was good at describing colors. "Show him, Alexandra."
Alexandra didn't want to show Tris anything. She wanted to smack her sister, but she supposed A Lady of Distinction wouldn't approve. Instead she reluctantly held forth a piece of the silk, which shimmered in the newly admitted sunlight.
"Hmm," Tris said.
Corinna grinned at her sister while addressing the room in general. "Can you believe it?"
"Believe what?" Griffin asked.
"That she would wear such a color. She always wears blue."
"Does she?"
"Her room is blue, the ribbons on her bonnets are blue, her shoes are blue—"
"Are they?" Griffin asked, looking perplexed. He stared at Alexandra's blue shoes where they peeked out from beneath her blue skirts. "I hadn't noticed."
"Oh, he's such a man," Juliana said to no one in particular.
Corinna shrugged. "Madame Rodale showed Alexandra a stunning swatch of bishop's blue—"
"I'm weary of wearing blue," Alexandra interrupted. "I wish to wear a different color. Many different colors," she amended. "A new color every day."
The old Alexandra would have opted for blue, but then the old Alexandra would have spent weeks or months languishing after Tris as well. And she was quite over him.
She just wished he'd go home.
"You all made lovely choices," Tris said. "But, Griffin, we really must be off."
"Tristan has finished the pump," Griffin explained. "We spent the morning overseeing its installation. A perfect installation, I might add."
"We hope." Tris didn't look quite as confident as her brother. "Now that it's been running a few hours, I'd like to inspect it once again before I leave."
"You're leaving?" The words tumbled out of Alexandra's mouth before she had a chance to think.
"This afternoon, assuming everything continues well."
"Oh," she said. He was leaving. Her wish was coming true.
So why did she feel as though all the air had quite suddenly been sucked right out of her?
Juliana slanted her a glance. "The pump must be very impressive," she said to Tris. "May we
