Chapter 13 #2
After a substantial cut and half an hour of hot irons and hair oil, the hairdresser was finished. He held out a hand mirror. “Here we are. What do you think?”
“Gorgeous.” Evalyn clapped in glee. “She’s just gorgeous, Randy. Thank you.”
I gaped at the person in the mirror. I hardly looked like myself. In fact, I looked a little like—
“You two almost look alike with her hair like this,” Randy said. “And her dress, too.”
Evalyn laughed. “We do, don’t we! And isn’t that great fun? You should wear your hair like this all the time, Lizzie.”
Stunned by my reflection, I didn’t reply.
Who was this pretty and elegant woman, out about town?
I was utterly transformed. I was no longer a plain-faced young woman with flyaway hair, wearing plain dresses or trousers and a smock.
My dark hair waved softly around my face.
The makeup Randy had applied accentuated my large dark eyes that turned down at the corners, a feature Henry had admired.
I wondered what he would say now. Surprised he should still come to mind so easily, I quickly looked away.
“Well?” Randy said. “What do you think?”
“I don’t recognize myself.”
Evalyn giggled. “Isn’t it marvelous! Let’s go to lunch with your new ’do. What do you say? I’m famished.”
I pictured the kind of restaurant Evalyn would like, the enormous bill I couldn’t afford and also couldn’t allow her to pick up, yet again, as well as the time I’d lose in my workshop and shook my head. “As lovely as the morning has been, I’m afraid I need to get back to work.”
“Oh, pooh,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. “We need to celebrate your new look! Besides, I have a reservation. They’re already expecting us at the Café St. Marks.”
We gathered the many packages and gave them to the chauffeur, who swept them up and stored them in the car.
“This has been so generous of you, Evalyn. I can’t thank you enough.”
“My little Lizzie, let’s get something straight. For the rest of our time together, you won’t be paying for a thing. You’re my employee, and my employees have certain perks. This is one of them. Now, let’s go.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I simply reached for her hand and squeezed. “Thank you.”
She flashed me her big pearly smile. “There now. Is that so hard? We’d better move along, or we’ll be late for our reservation.”
At the restaurant, she treated me to an elegant lunch, including enough champagne to drown a horse.
“May as well finish this up,” she said, tipping the rest of the second champagne bottle into each of our glasses.
Despite my initial reticence to drink alcohol like Evalyn and her friends, I was beginning to like it, especially champagne.
It calmed my nerves, and with more than one glass, the room became soft around the edges, my vision fuzzy and the light golden.
A welcome respite from my thoughts. Through the haze of my inebriated state, I watched Evalyn: how beautiful and full of life she was, how easy her manner.
She was perfectly self-possessed, as if she had all the confidence in the world and not a single doubt about herself.
I also marveled at her nonchalance as the large bill was added to her tab.
How did she live like this, day to day? How did I not?
As the thought came quickly, I realized there were aspects I liked about this world of beauty, of fine clothes and food and champagne lunches.
It was easy to be swept up in the fantasy of Evalyn’s world and forget the real reasons I was here.
“Can you believe they’re talking about banning alcohol?
” Evalyn said, her cheeks rosy and her tone gay.
We climbed into the back seat of her car, and the driver pulled away from the curb into traffic.
“Those barbarians. What would we do without champagne or a stiff whiskey? Sometimes a girl needs a drink.”
“Do you think they’ll be able to pass it?” I asked. “I don’t know how they’d stop people from making their own liquor.”
“They couldn’t,” she agreed, her tone pensive. “I can’t imagine where Ned would be without his whiskey. He’d probably behave better. Or perhaps he’d drive himself right off a cliff.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her but didn’t ask her what she’d meant by her comment.
It seemed like a sore topic between husband and wife, and I didn’t want to intrude, even if I was curious.
My eyes wandered back to the focal point, the lodestone that I couldn’t stop thinking about.
All the misfortunes the staff had suffered and the intimidating letters Evalyn received almost daily.
Eager to encourage her to talk about the diamond, I blurted, “Your necklace is so spectacular with your blue dress.” The magnificent Hope twinkled in the late-afternoon sunlight that filtered through the car windows.
“This old thing?”
We laughed as she fingered the Hope Diamond, and I realized I liked this uninhibited version of Evalyn, without the others around.
Even if she never asked me anything about my interests or my work.
I supposed that was only natural, given she was my employer.
I also realized I’d laughed—for the first time in seven months.
She grinned. “Well now, I think we’ve done enough damage for one day. Shall we go home?”
“Let’s.”
Though the day had been pleasant, I was relieved when we pulled into the drive of Friendship.
“Before you go,” she said, “I have something else for you, but you’ll have to come inside.”
“But you’ve already been far too generous,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know a single woman alive except you who wouldn’t jump at the chance for some of my clothes.” She took my hand and led me inside to her bedroom.
I followed willingly, secretly pleased by her touch and at the fact that she seemed to be so comfortable with me.
“I asked Tillie to pull out some of my older things for you,” she said, motioning to a pile of dresses on her bed.
“I know we’ve just bought you a few dresses, but that simply isn’t enough.
Besides, I’d planned to donate these. I’d rather you have them than give them away to strangers.
” She held up a mint-green dress to my body.
“This will be darling on you. Do you like it?”
I fingered the chiffon and lace, intricate and light as air, and like before was stunned by her generosity. “It’s beautiful.”
“Try it on,” she commanded.
I didn’t argue, and for the first time, it occurred to me that was probably why she enjoyed my company—my easy acquiescence to all her suggestions. I slipped out of my dress, baring my very plain and ratty chemise beneath it.
“Oh goodness, that won’t do at all,” she said, touching the faded cotton fabric at my waist. She sifted through her dresser drawers and returned with a cream-colored silk undergarment. “Try this instead.”
I removed my slip and pulled Evalyn’s luxurious silk over my head. I ran my hands over the slippery fabric, enjoying the way it felt against my skin. “It’s so soft.”
“Isn’t it? Now let’s see the dress on you.”
As I reached for the green dress, the bedroom door swung open.
“Evie, are you in here?” Ned poked his head inside the room.
I scrambled to pull the garment over my head.
“Ned!” Evalyn shrieked. “Knock before you come barging in here! Poor Lizzie isn’t decent.”
“I apologize, Poor Lizzie,” he said with a grin, and before withdrawing from the room, he said, “That dress is beautiful on you.”
I burned with embarrassment. I couldn’t be certain about what he’d seen, but judging by the smile, he’d seen more than he should.
I’d never been half-naked in front of a man except in bathing clothes with Julien and Henry, and though I was a little drunk and mostly covered, I blushed deeply. “Thank you, sir.”
“Stop calling me ‘sir,’” he insisted. “We’re friends now, aren’t we?”
“We are friends,” Evalyn agreed as she straightened the collar on the dress.
“Ned it is,” I replied, my cheeks still hot.
“I’m meeting John, so I’ll be out late,” Ned said. “Don’t wait up.”
Evalyn pressed her lips into a line, and I wondered what it was about John that displeased her. She was normally so agreeable, so the sudden shift in her demeanor unsettled me.
After she’d firmly closed the door in his face and locked it, she turned to me with a strained smile. “The dress looks wonderful. What do you think?” She led me to a full-length mirror.
The pale-green silk transformed me as the others had. “It’s lovely.” What I didn’t say aloud was the dress might complement my complexion and figure, but I felt strangely foreign, as if I were trying to be someone else, and perhaps I was. Perhaps that was precisely what I needed to be.
“That’s settled then,” she said. “I’d like for you to keep all these dresses, if you like them.” She motioned to the small pile on the end of her bed.
“Evalyn”—I shook my head—“I couldn’t. It’s too much, especially after today. I could never repay you for your generosity.”
“You do repay me, silly girl,” she said. “You repay me by coming when I need you. I’ve already told you I dress my staff.” She took my hand in hers. “Besides, you’re also my new friend, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my friends.”
I felt the smallest thrill that she wanted my company.
I didn’t know why she’d taken me into her fold with open arms so easily and comfortably—perhaps she felt some guilt about Julien’s death—but I wasn’t certain I cared to know the answer.
I liked spending time with the McLeans. The sense of belonging was like air in my lungs, a newness that felt good, better than anything I’d felt in a long time.
For the first time in months, the urge to touch someone and to be touched overwhelmed me. I threw my arms around her.
“Thank you. Thank you so much, for everything.” I swallowed hard against the lump of emotion in my throat.
She laughed and patted my back, assured me it wasn’t anything to get worked up over, and continued to prattle on happily. I lost track of time, barely heard her, but as I stood to leave and embraced her again, I felt the reminder of why I was here—the real reason.
The sharp prongs of the Hope Diamond necklace scraped against my skin.