Page 64 of Bookshop Cinderella

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The moment Evie entered the suite, she knew Delia had arrived, for there was a pile of trunks and suitcases in the sitting room and the delicate scent of Delia’s distinctive perfume was in the air.

“Delia?” she called.

“In here, Evie.”

She followed the sound into Delia’s bedroom, where more luggage lay scattered about, clothing and hats were strewn across the bed, and bottles and jars cluttered the dressing table. Amid this chaos, Delia, clad in an exquisite kimono of orange, gold, and black, was bent over an open trunk, rooting through piles of filmy lingerie and lacy undergarments, as a stout, middle-aged maid attempted to clean up the mess her mistress was making.

“It must be in the alligator suitcase,” Delia was muttering as Evie paused in the doorway. “I wonder if they’ve found the blasted thing yet?” Straightening up, she spied Evie in the doorway. “Ah, Evie, darling. Come in, come in.”

Beckoning her forward, Delia turned to the maid. “Chapman, go down and see if they’ve found that other case, will you? If so, have them send it up. And take the blue velvet with you so the laundry can press it. Then go into the restaurant and make a reservation for Miss Harlow and me. Then you can come back and help me dress.” She broke off, turning to Evie. “You haven’t dined yet, have you? Excellent,” she added as Evie shook her head. “We can have a nice long visit over dinner and make some plans.”

She waved Chapman out of the room, and as the maid glided away with a blue velvet gown draped over her arm, Delia turned to give Evie a kiss on each cheek.

“Dearest Evie,” she said with affection, “I wish I had been the one to force you to take a holiday, and I’m slapping myself for not having thought of it ages ago. But come,” she added, sitting down in front of her dressing table and gesturing for Evie to take the closest nearby chair. “Sit with me while I fix my face, and you can tell me all the ways my wretched cousin has been wreaking havoc in your life while I’ve been away.”

Evie complied, though she was careful to leave out the one truly havoc-inducing thing Max had done. A kiss, after all, wasn’t the sort of thing you could tell just anyone about.

In a way, Evie wished she and Delia were close enough for such intimate confidences, for that kiss and all the bewildering sensations it evoked were still vivid in her mind. She’d lain awake all last night, reliving it with shock, wonder, and a delicious, shivering pleasure that was not at all appropriate under the circumstances. And even now, after she and Max had agreed it was a moment of madness that was best forgotten, she knew there was no forgetting it, ever. Not for her.

Talking with a friend about the episode and all the bewildering emotions it had evoked, especially one with a wider knowledge of men than she possessed, would have been such a relief. And she couldn’t very well discuss it with Anna, not after dismissing her friend’s cautions on the subject.

Still, though she regarded Delia as a friend, they were not close enough for secrets like that.

“Men are such children,” Delia declared, her voice bringing Evie back to the topic at hand. “To think that a bet over a woman’s attractiveness would be amusing. Honestly, I could wring all their necks.”

“The thought of doing that did cross my mind at the time,” Evie confessed.

“I’ll bet it did,” Delia muttered, opening one of the jars before her and scooping out some sort of cream with two fingers. “And I applaud your restraint. You mustn’t take what Freddie and his friends said to heart. Idiots, all three of them—trust me.”

“I didn’t care what they thought of me,” Evie assured her. “At least, not too much,” she added.

“Good, because they haven’t the sense God gave a rabbit. Max has his faults,” she added as she began dabbing cream on her face, “but at least he knows an attractive woman when he sees one.”

When you smile that adorable crooked smile you’ve got, it makes me rather lose my head.

As she remembered his words from a short time ago, a warm little glow started in Evie’s midsection. Her smile was crooked, no doubt about it—one side tipped up higher than the other, abolishing any notions of symmetry, and she had both an overbite and a tiny little gap between her two front teeth—and even now, she didn’t see how a smile like that could have impelled a man to kiss her. Quite the opposite, she’d have thought.

I admit that carnal thoughts of you have crossed my mind, because I am a man, Evie, God knows, as weak as any other...

How could she ever have inspired him to such thoughts? she wondered, and with that question, the pleasurable glow inside her deepened and spread, making her blush with both delight and embarrassment. Delia, thankfully, was too occupied with dabbing cream on her face to notice.

“Still, their silly game did accomplish one good thing,” the other woman said as she capped the jar and turned in her chair. “It gives me the chance to bring you into society, which someone ought to have done ages ago.”

“My cousin wanted her stepfather to do it when she came out after we finished school. We’re the same age, and she’s fond of me, in her way. But I had no interest in giving up the shop to become a debutante, especially since if I didn’t marry, it meant I’d have no means of providing for myself and I’d be dependent on Merrivale. As for him, he hates that I am in trade, and he bristles with disapproval about it every Christmas when he’s obliged to invite me to dinner. He’s never much cared for his wife’s middle-class background, in any case.”

“Believe it or not, I understand, in a very small way, how that sort of disapproval feels. I am fortunate enough not to have to earn my living, but I enjoy my work for the hotel, even though it has earned me disapproval from some within my family. Fortunately, though, the ones I love the most have been surprisingly tolerant.”

“Perhaps because they consider it an amusement rather than a job?”

Delia laughed. “You may have something there,” she agreed. “But nonetheless, Evie, as you move in society, you may find that while many will feel as your step-uncle does, not everyone will share that opinion.”

Evie considered, but it was a hard thing to believe. Disapproval of her birthplace, background, and career by those higher on the social ladder was an ingrained part of her life experience and not easy to dismiss. “I’m not so sure,” she said. “Colonel Anstruther didn’t think much of it.”

“Yes, Max mentioned you had met the Anstruthers. But don’t worry about the colonel. He’s a stuffy old bird. What did you think of Ronald?”

Evie hesitated, striving for a tactful reply. “Well...” she said at last, the long, drawn-out word making Delia laugh. “He’s very nice.”

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