Her Lord's Desire (The Forbidden Saga #3) - Maggie Ryan Page 0,58
could practically see the dress in her mind and couldn’t wait to try it on and feel like a grown woman once again.
Lucy was very pleased when Anna nodded her approval for the new pattern. The seamstress took her final measurements, amazed that the girls were not only identical in appearance, but were also the exact same size.
“Though it is a very limited timeframe, Lord Wintercrest’s generosity has allowed me to hire an additional helper. I’ll return with the gowns for the first fitting in two days’ time. Even if alterations are necessary afterwards, we will have plenty of time before the ball. As her assistant gathered the supplies she’d brought, the seamstress hugged the twins.
“You will be the belles of the ball, girls,” Mrs. Palmer said. The twins smiled and thanked her, as Mrs. Bremmer led her from the house before sending her charges to the table for their luncheon.
“Don’t make a fuss,” she warned both as the three made their way upstairs after the last bite of the pudding Cook had prepared for dessert had been eaten. “You will both take a nap and be grateful for the rest. I swear if I didn’t have a million things to do, I’d be crawling into my own.”
Lucy laughed and realized that for the first time, any trepidation she’d felt when with the housekeeper had disappeared. She wasn’t foolish enough to think that the woman had miraculously changed her ways and would never again pull her tawse out of her pocket to lay it across Lucy’s bare bottom, but Lucy now saw her as a woman who truly cared for them and not just as a servant doing Edward’s bidding.
Chapter 13
Lucy stood at the top of the stairs. Her hair was piled on top of her head and secured with jewel headed pins. Molly had spent an inordinate amount of time choosing just the right tresses of hair to pull free to curl down her neck to frame her face.
“Go ahead, Miss Lucy,” Molly whispered from a few feet behind her. “You look so beautiful. Have a wonderful time at the ball.”
“Thank you, Molly,” Lucy said. She felt incredibly nervous as she placed one hand on the banister and lifted the heavy length of her gown with the other. Taking a deep breath, she took the first step and then another, carefully descending the long staircase. Seeing the people waiting at the bottom, she hesitated. As if sensing her presence, Lucas was the first to lift his eyes.
Lucy froze, one foot planted on a stair, the other hovering above the next tread. Suddenly she couldn’t breathe, much less move. Hair the color of winter wheat gleamed as if touched by the light of a full-moon and his blue eyes darkened to that of a cloudless midnight sky. But it was the slow curling of his lips that had her heart beating so hard in her chest she wondered how it didn’t break through her skin. She felt her cheeks heating as if he were touching her though he remained several feet away.
“I didn’t think it possible you could be more beautiful, but tonight you are absolutely stunning, Miss Furniss,” he said softly, bowing slightly.
At his voice, the other three people turned as one. Lucy’s eyes immediately found her sister. Louisa wore a gown of sapphire blue that enhanced her eyes which shone with happiness. Her blonde hair had been curled and flowed around her delicate shoulders like a curtain of gold. For a moment, the sisters had only eyes for each other.
“You look just like Mother,” they said in unison. Their smiles and giggles broke Lucy’s paralysis, though Lucy felt tears prick her eyes with the memory. Blinking rapidly to keep them at bay, she felt something pressed into her hand. Lucas had climbed the stairs to offer her his handkerchief.
“Don’t cry, little one. Your parents would be so very proud of you and your sister.”
“Thank you,” Lucy said softly, dabbing at the corners of her eyes before she finished descending the staircase, Lucas at her side. Seeing the tilt of her sister’s head and the confused look on her face as her gaze swept from the hem of her gown to the neckline, Lucy looked down to see what could possibly be causing the crinkle of Louisa’s nose. Seeing nothing out of place, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“What happened to the pearls? And the flounces?” Louisa asked, gesturing to Lucy’s neckline and wrists.