It’s over, Fiona thought, calming herself with a few deliberate breaths. Thank goodness she hadn’t done what she’d been tempted to do and ask Mrs. Bennett if they could start later. The cosmetics drape was removed from her neck, and as she stood from her seat, she received an adoring cry: “Oh, Sister, you’re so beautiful!”
“You look lovely, Fiona,” Olga agreed. Her eyes were lit up just like Cecilia’s. Mrs. Bennett gave a satisfied nod and thanked her assistant for making all the detailed adjustments.
“Thank you all so much,” Fiona said, feeling bashful from the praise. “This dress and the makeup are really doing all the work.”
“The dress is nothing without the lovely person wearing it,” Mrs. Bennett insisted. “You look a treat in it—better than I even imagined you would.”
Mrs. Bennett’s masterpiece from Maison de Michele was too gorgeous for words. It was a ball gown with a bodice that contoured perfectly to Fiona’s body and a full-length skirt that billowed down into a wide puff. It was a perfect dress for a royal ball. The decollete was quite open—it was meant for a nighttime function, after all—but the short sleeves, which lay just off the shoulders, kept it from exposing too much skin, so Fiona felt safe moving in it. The most notable element of the dress, however, had to be gradation of color. The light gold at the bust melted gradually into a smoky blue as the fabric traveled down Fiona’s body, evoking the image of a pool of water under a sunset.
Mrs. Bennett and the dress’s designer had both insisted upon that special bolt of fabric, and the deal had been sealed when Giles and Fiona visited Maison and Giles liked the fabric at first sight. The lustrous pale gold silk matched the tone of Fiona’s hair and eyes and brought out the color in her complexion, and the golden embroidery adorning the skirt’s hem beautifully accentuated the yellow diamond in Fiona’s ring.
The beautiful dress was, in design and composition, flawless—or it should have been. It’s beautiful, but now that I’m wearing it, I can’t ignore it, Fiona thought, looking down at the hem of her skirt in bewilderment.
Marianne returned to the room with Flora in her arms and a suggestive glimmer in her smile. “You know, Fiona, while I embroidered that skirt, I thought to myself, my, this blue does resemble Lord Lowell’s eyes.”
“Marianne, don’t remind me.”
“Aww, there’s no need to be shy!”
“Olga, please…”
That was the problem. The beautiful grayish-blue of the dress, which so resembled the twilit sky, made her think of Giles’s eyes. She knew that dressing to match her partner was the correct move for their charade, but it filled her with an inexplicable anxiety. How could it not? They were not lovers, nor were they promised to one another. Their relationship was a sham. She couldn’t help but feel wretched, wearing that beautiful gown.
Unable to stand the stares of the women around her, she looked in the mirror and realized something was missing: In the design she’d been shown, there was supposed to be a corsage at her chest. Touching her unadorned neckline, she turned to Mrs. Bennett. “Mrs. Bennett, wasn’t there supposed to be a corsage here?”
“Oh, the corsage is attached. Look.” Mrs. Bennett pointed at Fiona’s back in the mirror, and Fiona craned her neck and saw that there was indeed a corsage at her waist.
“Ah, so it is.” The skirt was gathered at the center in the back, with the corsage right at the spot where the folds started. It looked as if the dress had been designed that way all along. “So you moved it to the back. It’s very pretty there.”
“Well, I don’t like it when the embellishments copy each other.”
Copy each other?
Mrs. Bennett shot a secretive glance out the window, and Fiona surmised that Mrs. Bennett had some other, more legitimate reason for the change. Fiona didn’t know what that reason might be, but she was a fashion dunce, so she kept her mouth shut, figuring it best to leave fashion to the experts.
“Sister, give us a twirl!” Cecilia insisted.
“Yes, Flora wants to see it too,” said Marianne.
“Oh, you girls are so silly.” Fiona smirked and twirled obligingly so that Flora, who was giggling in Marianne’s arms, could see.
The merriment was interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Lady Fiona!” Hans breathed in wonder. “How beautiful you look! Oh, I am so happy to see how you’ve grown up!” He beamed proudly, clearly pleased to have been able to see her in the dress before his master had a chance.
“Oh, um, thank you, Hans,” Fiona said. She looked at the clock, panicked. “Father and Uncle must be impatient by now. I was just about to go downstairs.”
“Yes, of course,” Hans said. “But before you go, Lady Fiona, I must inform you that Lord Lowell has arrived.”
He made an apologetic gesture and swung the door behind him wide open. There stood Giles, immaculately adorned in his finest.
Oh… Wow…
His jet-black tailcoat made him look every inch the wealthy scion. Everyone in the room blushed at the sight of him, not just Fiona. His chiseled face was handsome as always, but Fiona’s eyes batted dumbly at the sight of his suit, which was far manlier than what he wore at the prince’s party where she first met him.
Giles had entered the room jovially, but as soon as he laid eyes on Fiona, he became just as speechless as her. They stood still, staring at each other. When they finally spoke, they did so in the same moment.
“You’re beautiful,” Giles said.
“You look beautiful,” Fiona blurted.
Their delayed confessions overlapped each other, and both of them looked away nervously.
“S-sorry,” Fiona stammered, pressing her hands to her red cheeks.
“Uh, likewise,” Giles replied. There was a softness in his voice.
Sensing this was not the Icy Scion they knew, the ladies jumped out of their seats.
“Well, we’d better leave you two alone.”
“Olga?” Fiona asked.
“Yes, time to retreat!” said Marianne.
Cecilia said, “See you later, Sister.”
“Huh? Wait a minute. Marianne, Cecelia?”
The three ladies scurried away with Hans, leaving Mrs. Bennett and her assistant behind with Giles and Fiona. Mrs. Bennett took a step forward and said, “So good to see you, Lord Lowell. You took so long we were beginning to worry.”
“Do forgive me. I just received it earlier today.”
What are they talking about? Fiona cocked her head curiously. She gleaned from the exchange that Mrs. Bennett and Giles had made some sort of arrangement, but she had no guess as to what it was.
All was revealed, however, when Giles produced a thin box and opened it before Fiona’s eyes. Atop the black velvet inside lay a gorgeous necklace.