Page 33 of The Trouble with Anna

The Dowager shook her head. “Charlotte has arranged for you two to pay some calls here, provided her maid accompanies you. The making of a London wardrobe doesn’t happen overnight, you know.”

“A wardrobe?” Anna’s heart dropped to her toes and began to dig. “For me?”

Charlotte grinned as wide as a crocodile. “Of course for you. Do you like my trap? Are you astonished by my cunning? There’s no way you can wiggle out of this!”

“Watch me! I’ll fight my way out of here if I have to!”

Charlotte only smiled wider. “I don’t believe you will. You see, I have a powerful ally on my side.”

“I’d like to see who you think can force me to—”

“I can,” said the Dowager calmly. “You must have an entirely new wardrobe for London. I insist upon it.”

Anna slumped into the squabs with a moan of despair.

Moments later, Anna found herself in what she could only describe as a desperately elegant drawing room. The walls were papered in a pattern of blue and white cherry blossoms with branches thatarched across the room and petals painted in such detail that Anna could almost believe they fluttered. The chairs were impossibly slim and pretty, each upholstered in a different sherbet color and their legs gilded in a warm, coppery gold. They seemed to titter, perhaps in French,Are you worthy to sit on me?

Anna was afraid she knew the answer.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” she whispered anxiously.

“I’mquitesure I know Josephine’s.” Charlotte tossed herself into an apricot chair and kicked off her slippers, as her maid, Ivy, perched on the blush-pink chaise. “Get comfortable. We’ll be here awhile.”

Before Anna could reply, the far door opened and out came a slim woman in a dress of pale green. Her only ornamentations were the white frills at her neck and sleeves that set off her dark-brown skin perfectly, and a celadon ribbon winding through her close-cropped hair. The woman looked both stylish and brisk, as if wrinkles and stains took one glance at her and repented of all evil, and yet she gave off an aura of genuine, almost conspiratorial warmth. “I’ve cleared the shop as requested, Lady Charlotte. What project have you brought me today?”

“Ha!” Anna gave a dark laugh. “I’ve never been referred to as a project before.”

Charlotte patted her. “Not to your face. Josephine, may I present Lady Anna Reston?”

“How do you do?” Instead of waiting for an answer, Josephine walked around Anna in slow, measured circles.

“All the parts are there, I assure you!” Anna cried, when the examination showed no signs of stopping. “Nothing’s missing!”

Josephine emerged from her thoughts with a half-smile. “I beg your pardon, my lady. Shall we have a look in the mirror together?”

Anna allowed herself to be led over to a massive looking glass. To her left stood Josephine, neat as a pin, while to her rightstood Charlotte, with hair corkscrewing out in a terrible tangle, yet somehow they both had the same gloss. It was as if they were two different species of swan, with Anna dull as a sparrow between them.

Oh god. Would Julian think she was buying new clothes forhim?

Anna sneaked a peek at the door and calculated her chances, but it was no use—not when Charlotte had her elbow in a death grip.

“What does my lady need?” asked Josephine.

Anna sighed. “I suppose I could do with one new riding habit.”

Charlotte ignored her. “Lady Anna requires a complete new wardrobe. Walking dresses, tea dresses, ball gowns, riding habits, and everything in between.”

“I won’t be in London long enough to need such a big wardrobe!”

“Anna,” Charlotte said firmly, “you have years to make up for. Years!”

“What do you have in mind, Lady Anna?” asked Josephine.

Anna stared at her blankly.

“How would you like to look?” Josephine prompted.

“Invisible!” Anna intended the remark to be flip, but it came out tumbled and rushed, like a secret that had sneaked past her teeth.

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