Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress (Matchmaker Trilogy) by Theresa Romain

Author:Theresa Romain [Romain, Theresa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2015-01-05T23:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

This troubling issue still on her mind, Augusta rushed up the stairs to the drawing room. With more force than grace, she flung open the door.

“Emily, Joss Everett said he wants to hold my hand all the time. All the time!”

As soon as she looked about, she realized her mistake: it is a truth universally acknowledged that when one bursts into a room shouting an item of a personal nature, the room will be populated with more people than one expects.

Fortunately, only one person was present beside Emily. Seated side by side on the long velvet settee were the countess and a slightly older woman with scraped-back black hair and apple-round cheeks. Dressed in deep blue serge of a beautiful cut, this unknown person held a stack of pattern books on her lap.

The lamps had been lit against the dim of late afternoon. One sat on a side table, casting its bright circle onto the pages of the topmost book. Emily reached over to turn a page, revealing a drawing of a woman in evening dress. “I like this gown too, Madame. Only perhaps you could make it up with a red gauze rather than a pink.”

Then she looked up at Augusta with a most aggravatingly calm smile. “Augusta, may I present Madame Rougier, a delightful designer of gowns? Madame, this is my dear friend Miss—ah, Mrs. Flowers. She is playing a game we enjoy, in which we each state facts that are mildly interesting but also completely obvious. You have stated that Mr. Everett wants to hold your hand all the time. Let me see… Gravity holds people onto the earth. Day is brighter than night. My husband’s favorite beverage is chocolate. Do you wish another turn, Mrs. Flowers?”

“You are incorrigible.” Augusta’s attempted frown flipped into a grin as she and the dressmaker nodded their greetings.

“Another point for you,” Emily said. “Well, my wandering, wayward friend, do you care for tea? Madame and I have nearly finished our discussion, and we were about to ring for a tray. Or maybe you would prefer a cold dinner?”

“No need; I already dined.”

Emily lifted her brows. Without further comment, she closed the volume and turned to the older woman. “Madame, I find that I have grown ambivalent about the best color for the trim. Let us continue our discussion at another time.”

Clearly curious, the dressmaker made a valiant effort to remain. In a low, accented voice, she said, “Your young friend would perhaps like to examine the patterns before I take leave, no? She too is in need of the new gown?”

Augusta looked down at her clothing and realized she was still swaddled in the voluminous cloak. Untying its strings, she dropped it on the hearthrug. The apple-cheeked woman let out a squeak of distress. “No! You must always hang the wool cloak!”

Emily coughed delicately. “Madame, please call again tomorrow and we shall choose all the trim. For the moment, it seems my dear friend is in some sort of distress, so you see that I must aid her.

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