An Heiress to Remember (The Gilded Age Girls Club #3) - Maya Rodale Page 0,86
when she saw the most striking advertisement that had her heart racing.
There was no way not to see it. A full blank page with just a few little words. She knew like she knew her own name that these words were meant for her and her alone.
“Mother!” Beatrice shouted. “Mother!”
Estella rushed in, obviously fearing The Worst, as mothers tended to do.
“What is it?”
“Look.” Beatrice thrust the newspaper at her.
“Oh, my God, Beatrice, I thought something was actually wrong,” her mother said, pressing her hand to her heart. “But you only wished to show me something in the newspaper.”
“Not just something. Everything. Well, almost everything. Look.”
She did.
The advertisement read:
FOR SALE: ONE RETAIL EMPIRE
DALTON’S IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
BEST OFFER
“Well I’ll be damned,” Estella said softly.
“I know.”
“I thought the store, and success, were all he ever wanted.”
“Me, too.”
“With Goodwin’s gone, he has no real competitor. Yet the merchant prince is giving up the throne.”
“I thought the store was all I ever wanted. But now I am not so sure,” she said. Her voice cracked as she said, “Love complicates things, I suppose.”
Her mother sat down beside her and clasped her hands.
“Beatrice—I’m so sorry. As a mother, you try to do what is best for your children. I thought he was just a fortune hunter like all the others, but one who would break your heart and leave you penniless. I was only trying to protect you. I was only trying to do what was best.”
“I didn’t believe enough then, either. And neither did he. But now . . .”
His intentions could not be any clearer.
There would be no more competition.
“He obviously meant for you to see this,” Estella said.
“I know. But what does he want to happen because of it?”
“It’s time for you to stop thinking about what he wants. Or what you should do. Or what I or anyone else expects. You have nothing holding you down or holding you back now, Beatrice. You have a blank slate to create the life you want. This time, I’ll help.”
What did she want? The same thing she’d always wanted. Purpose-filled days and passion-filled nights. But now she saw a new way of making that dream become real and it seemed Dalton saw it, too.
They weren’t competitors after all and they were meant to be together.
“I know exactly what we need to do,” Beatrice said in the confident voice she’d learned to project from somewhere deep inside. “Mother, can you please go down to Dalton’s and buy all the pink silk they have in stock?”
“Happily. Especially if it means you’ll stop wearing these ghastly floral dresses. But I daresay they’d be lovely on the upholstery . . .”
“We can discuss redecorating later. I’m about to create my own happy-ever-after. But first, I need the right dress.”
Chapter Thirty-four
The House of Adeline
Beatrice’s heart hadn’t stopped racing since she saw the advertisement. Dalton selling Dalton’s was the last thing she ever expected and yet it made perfect sense all the same. And as for that best offer? She knew him, body and mind, heart and soul. She had an idea of an offer he couldn’t refuse and one that would beat all the others he was sure to get.
As soon as her mother returned with sufficient quantities of pink silk, Beatrice took it all to The House of Adeline.
“I need you to make me a dress,” Beatrice said to Adeline as soon as they were alone in the fitting area. “Out of this.”
“This” was yards and yards of the Wild Rose silk, carefully wrapped and folded and waiting to be crafted into something exquisite. It was begging to be touched, to be loved, to be proudly displayed. Between this fabric and Adeline’s gowns, Beatrice was going to be dressed to conquer the world.
Thank goodness—she was nervous about what she intended to do.
“Oooh,” Adeline sighed. “I’ve been dying to create gowns out of this. Of course I would never, because of our crusade. What changed?”
“I presume you saw the advertisement in the newspaper?”
“Of course. I’m sure someone on some farm out West has yet to see it, but it’s only a matter of time. But everyone in Manhattan has certainly been made aware that the great wonderland that is Dalton’s is for sale. I assume you’re going to make an offer.”
“Of course.”
Adeline’s eyes lit up. “How much?”
“Oh, he doesn’t want just money. Anyone can give him that. He wants something more, and I intend to give it to him.”
“So you need the perfect dress, made in the fabric that