That Would Be a Fairy Tale - By Amanda Grange Page 0,42

Alex’s attention to her! It had meant nothing at all; perhaps it had even been a blind, to disguise his relationship with Eugenie.

Cicely took a firm grip on herself. Whatever the reason, she must not allow herself to think about it. Alex’s private life was his own affair, and if she had read anything into his attentions, then more fool her. He had never said anything to her of his feelings, and that was surely proof that the electrical connection they shared was ultimately unimportant to him.

She fought down an urge to go to her own room, where she had the inexplicable feeling that her spirits would sink still further, and she went instead to Alice’s room, where Alice and Mrs Babbage were hard at work altering the dresses they had worn the evening before.

‘Cicely,’ said Alice, looking up. ‘You’re just in time! We were wondering what you would think of adding a lace frill to your pink chiffon.’

Cicely made an effort to take an interest. She looked at the dress critically as Alice held a band of lace around its neckline.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I think that would be a good idea. It doesn’t seem out of place, and makes the dress look quite different.’

Pulling out her hatpin and putting it on the dressing-table, Cicely laid her hat beside it and then set to work.

The three ladies spent the next hour cutting and sewing, adding frills, removing flounces and attaching silk flowers, until the dresses they had already worn had been altered in some slight but noticeable way.

‘There,’ said Cicely, looking at her pale pink gown when she had finished. It now had a wide flounce of lace around its neckline and a similar trimming round its hem.

‘It looks quite different,’ said Alice, pleased. She held up her own delicate primrose gown, which had been adorned with silk flowers.

‘Very good,’ said Mrs Babbage looking closely. ‘It will not fool someone who has been looking at your clothes closely, of course, but to the casual observer your gowns will appear to be new, particularly as you will be swapping them between you, and wearing them three or four days apart.’

Mrs Babbage, too, had altered her gown. She had removed the train, which had been attached at the shoulder, and had removed the sleeves. It would not pass close inspection, but with luck it would be taken for a new outfit.

‘And now I suggest we go out and watch the cricket,’ she said.

Cicely and Alice agreed. By this time Cicely had regained control of her emotions, and she was determined not to let her foolishness spoil the joys of the party for Alice and Mrs Babbage. She would have to spend the next five days in Alex’s company, it was true, but given his interest in Miss Postlethwaite it was unlikely she would see very much of him.

But that prospect, so satisfactory to her head, made her spirits sink.

The succeeding days quickly fell into a regular pattern. In the mornings the ladies kept to their rooms, writing letters or gossiping, or - in the case of Cicely’s party - altering their evening gowns. In the afternoons the guests, both ladies and gentlemen, played croquet or tennis, or sat beneath the spreading chestnut trees that dotted the lawn, enjoying the shade. And in the evenings they met for dinner, and afterwards whiled away the time by playing bridge.

Cicely saw little of Alex. He was a courteous host and enquired after her welfare several times, but his manner was preoccupied and he spent most of his time with Miss Postlethwaite, so that Cicely was relieved when her week at the Manor drew to an end. She had only to endure the ball, she told herself on the Friday morning, and then it would all be over. On the following morning she could go back to the Lodge, which had now been repaired, and forget all about Alex - at least, until Monday morning, when she would have to take up her duties again.

‘I’m so glad we saved our best gowns for this evening,’ said Alice as she wafted into Cicely’s room, dressed in a beautiful dress of lavender tulle with a delectably swishing train. ‘I would not have liked to wear an altered gown tonight.’

Both women had saved their best dresses for the festivity. Cicely was already dressed in a most beautiful gown. Cut off the shoulder with narrow ribbon straps to hold it in place, it was the height of elegance. It was