At the end of the night when they assembled in his carriage, Miss Pankhurst turned to Annie. “Will you really accompany me to the dressmaker’s tomorrow?”
“Neither flood nor famine could keep me away,” Annie said.
“I shall be so very much in your debt. I know from reading the Bath Chronicle, you are one of the most fashionable women in the city.”
Appleton laughed. “You mustn’t believe everything you read in that rag! They’ll have you believing I am a most wicked man.” He shrugged. “Though I regret to say I can’t claim to be worthy of being in the same coach with a fine young lady like you.”
“Pray, do not listen to my brother. He is a good man. And, my dear Miss Pankhurst, don’t believe everything you read of him in the Chronicle, either. It can be a beastly silly publication.”
They delivered her to the house she and her father were letting on the Circus, and Appleton insisted on escorting her to the door where a servant in lime livery let her in.
“I am not going to see you again, my lord, until I have dresses in which I’ll be fit to be seen.”
“You couldn’t possibly look any more charming than you look tonight.” He bowed and returned to his carriage.
It was imperative that he offer for her as soon as possible. There was little doubt that Miss Pankhurst was soon to be Bath’s most courted lady.
Chapter 4
“My daughter will be the prettiest girl in all of Bath in her lovely new dresses,” Mr. Pankhurst said. He had insisted on accompanying her and Miss Appleton to Mrs. Gainsworth’s, Dressmaker to the Fashionable, who had been enthusiastically endorsed by Miss Appleton.
She was also the most expensive in Bath—a hearty endorsement for Mr. Pankhurst.
Mrs. Gainsworth herself had shown him to a plush velvet settee where he could sit and view Dot in the various creations pinned to her in a variety of fabrics as she paraded in front of her father for approval.
“Papa! How can you say such a thing in front of Miss Appleton? She’s far lovelier than I will ever be. And you’re embarrassing me excessively. I beg you stop boasting about me, or I will refuse to wear a single new gown.”
He looked contrite when he addressed his daughter’s companion. “You must forgive me, Miss Appleton. I pray you don’t fault me for being a doting father.”
“Who’s blind,” Dot added.
“Of course not,” Miss Appleton responded. “And I don’t think you’re blind at all. Your daughter is exasperatingly lovely.”
Dot sighed. “You must be tired, Papa. We’ve been here for more than three hours. Shall we go to the Pump Room? Perhaps a glass of the water will restore you.”
He wrinkled his nose in distaste and shook his head. “I’m a very wealthy man, and even though this effort will tax my delicate health, I’m determined that you be the most fashionably dressed young lady in Bath. When we leave Mrs. Gainsworth’s, we’ll go to the milliner’s and the glove maker’s and the cobbler’s and ensure that you are dressed as well as you would were your father a Royal Duke.” He chuckled and lowered his voice. “Though I daresay I’m wealthier than those spendthrifts sired by our king, poor old soul that he is.”
“But I’m afraid we’ll drain your strength,” Dot protested.
“What difference can it make whether I sit on a velvet settee here or in our house?” He effected a pained look. “I’ll take care to find at least a chair wherever we go.” He cast a glance at Mrs. Gainsworth. “Now tell me how many dresses will you be making for my gel?”
The matron, whose locks, a mixture of gold and silver, were shorn close to her head, began to count on her fingers. “There’s the white muslin, two sprigged for morning calls, the blue with a matching pelisse, and an ivory with ermine trim and muff, another of fine silk in green. That should be enough to launch her into Bath society.”
“I want each delivered to Number Five, The Circus, as each one’s completed. I shall pay you in sovereigns upon every delivery. And once you have her measure and know which style she prefers, we’ll want them duplicated in other colours. Nothing will do but that my daughter be the most fashionable girl in all of Bath.”
Though it was Dot’s natural inclination to be embarrassed over her father’s extravagance, she knew it was futile to protest.
Mrs. Gainsworth’s eyes rounded, and she favored him with a beaming smile. Dot had gathered from reading the Bath Chronicle that many of the fashionable ran up large accounts with trades people, and she feared those poor tradespersons did not always get paid for the services they rendered. Sadly, many figures of Society thought their patronage was payment enough for all the costly fabrics and skilled needlewomen’s and tailors’ time. Thankfully, her father would never be that kind of client.
“We will work around the clock to have the first gown to your lovely daughter by tomorrow afternoon,” Mrs. Gainsworth said.
Unaccountably, Dot had found herself, with each dress, wondering if Lord Appleton would think her attractive in it. More and more, she thought about him and wondered if it was truly possible that he could be attracted to her.
She most certainly was attracted to him.
By the time they made the rounds of all the other trades people whose skills would contrive to render Dot fashionable, they were too exhausted to go to the Pump Room.
“Are you certain you won’t receive callers until your new finery arrives?” Miss Appleton asked her.
“I’m certain, but it looks as if Mrs. Gainsworth will oblige us with the first dress late tomorrow.”
Miss Appleton nodded. “Your father’s terribly clever. He knows how to expedite matters. As soon as Mrs. Gainsworth learned she’d get paid by the piece upon delivery, she determined to work around the clock! You are most fortunate to have a father with such deep pockets.”
“To be truthful, I don’t think
