“You need to. Fuming over your self-inflicted misery as a mistress is one thing, but sneering at their Aryan philosophy is another.”
“You don’t think it’s right. One race superior to another and all that.” Ellie’s pale reflection drooped in the window. “Eric tried convincing me, but I simply couldn’t buy it. I mean, the hatmaker back in Berkshire was an undesirable, but I never noticed her growing fangs. She picked out the loveliest ribbons for me.”
A patrol light skimmed up the sides of the Eiffel Tower, its form tall and ghostly in the misty night air. Goosebumps prickled over Kat’s skin. “No, I don’t think it’s right, but we’re in the minority here, so the less they know of our true feelings the better. And no human is an undesirable.” Unless it’s Eric.
“That’s my Kitty Kat. Always trying to do the right thing.”
“It’s exhausting.”
“So stop.”
“I can’t. It’s ingrained in me. Like teatime and the British flag.”
Ellie giggled. “I believe that’s the most English thing I have ever heard.” The smile slipped from her face. “Sometimes I think about home. All my friends, how I could understand what everyone was saying and could recognize all the food on my plate.”
Kat pushed down the bubbles of hope popping up. “Do you think about going back?”
“Sometimes. And then Mother’s and Father’s reprimands come flying at me like a hailstorm, and I remember why I left. I never wanted to fit the mold they had made for me, but now look at me.” She spread the pleats of her skirt. “Just like you said, I let myself become a ball of clay to someone else all over again. Under the misguidings of love. A glutton for repeated mistakes.”
“Going back doesn’t mean you need to live under their roof or fit any kind of mold but the one you create.”
“Where else am I going to stay? The only way I can afford my lifestyle here is because Eric foots the bill, and now that’s all about to change.”
The reminder smashed Kat’s bubbles of hope. She moved closer, but it still wasn’t close enough to block out the dark world pressing in all around them. “I wish you would tell me what it is. I hate seeing you mope around in misery day after day. Whatever he’s promised you can’t be good if it brings you so much agony.”
Ellie shook her head as a silvery tear slipped down her rouged cheek. “Doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t have many options here, and no good man will take me back in Berkshire.”
Kat brushed away the next tear trickling down Ellie’s chin. “We never have to go back to Berkshire again. We can rent a place in the city. We’ll be the two sisters who collect doilies and cats.”
“I hate cats.”
“So do I.”
“No, I’ve feathered my bed, and now it’s time to lie in it. Who knows. Maybe I’ll get a bigger flat out of the deal.” Ellie patted away another tear and smiled, but there was no light in her eyes. “Excuse me for a moment. Need to powder my nose before all these sauerkraut vapors give me a shine.”
“Ellie—” Kat’s hand reached out to grab her, but her sister disappeared around the corner before she could stop her.
So close. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to yank them free of the millstone Eric had thrown around them. What she wouldn’t give to tie a weight around him and knock him into the Seine. Atrocious man. Why must he always make things so difficult?
“Are you enjoying the gallery?”
Kat jumped, banging her elbow into the window. Pain screamed down her arm, but curbed to alarm as Eric grinned before her like a wolf cornering a lamb. She notched her chin up in the most unimpressed way her mother had taught her. “Architecture was never a passion of mine, though I appreciate the beauty and skill.”
“Did you see the new design plans?”
“I did.” His head inched forward, willing her to go on. “I admire each new artist putting his stamp on the world, but I believe the collection is complete as is. Anything new or added would take away from the original intent.”
“That’s what I like about you, Kathleen. Straightforward yet diplomatic. You should consider a career in politics.”
“If their on-goings didn’t prove so disgusting, I might consider it.”
He smiled, a valiant effort for one with no soul. “I hate to see you standing here alone. Might I introduce you to a friend of mine? He’s in