Page 21 of The Austen Escape
“Nathan, that guy at work, gave me a piece of amber the other day. It’s about the size of a small egg, unpolished, and you rub it to relieve stress.”
Isabel held the blue dress to her body and crossed to the full-length standing mirror. “That was nice of him. I haven’t heard his name in a while; I thought nothing was happening there.”
“Nothing is. He saw it in a shop, I guess.”
She turned back to me. “Put on the brown. You’ll be beautiful in it.”
Her lack of interest surprised me. She was constantly trying to set me up, console me after bad dates, or celebrate with me after great ones. I laid the dress on my bed to untie the laces.
“We’re not wearing them outside our room, right? Gertrude said dressing begins tomorrow.”
“We’re just having a little fun.” Isabel slipped on the blue dress.
The brown one dropped over my head and cascaded in a wave of silk to my feet. “Will you fix the back?”
I felt Isabel first work the eye hooks, then pull the ribbon at the neck tight. “No wonder we have our own Sonia,” she said. “If you came here alone, you’d never get yourself into these.”
“No one would come alone. That’d be embarrassing, wouldn’t it?” I twisted to catch her eye; after all, she was the expert.
“You’d be surprised. True escapism is not something people tend to do in groups. Like many addictions, it can be kept hidden.”
My back arched as she pulled and the bodice cinched into place. I did the same for her, and then we walked together to the standing mirror.
It was like stepping into a fairy tale. Better actually. The dress was formfitting, flattering, and the silk caught the light and shimmered. It danced around my hips, and the weight of theembroidery allowed for a good swish at the ankles. I gently twisted to enjoy its movement.
“Let’s do your hair. I’ll play Sonia and ‘arrange’ it for you.” Isabel pulled me into the bathroom and pushed me onto the small stool in front of the vanity. In minutes she had my hair piled high, twisted and secured with bobby pins. She even pulled a ribbon off the neck of another dress to weave through the coils.
I moved my head from side to side. “Whoa... Where’d you learn how to do this?”
“YouTube.”
A firm, and loud, knock silenced us.
“Miss Dwyer? Miss Davies?”
I froze.
“Yes?” Isabel managed a normal tone. She caught my eye in the mirror. “Oops... I rang the bell. I thought more tea might be nice.” She narrowed her eyes at something she saw in mine. “It’s why it’s there, Mary. It’s no big deal.”
“May I help you?” Sonia called again.
“Never mind. I completely forgot I pulled the cord. We’re fine.”
“Thank you,” I added to Isabel’s call.
I almost wilted with relief. I did not want Sonia to open the door. First, summoning her felt wrong. Second, as much as I loved the feel of this silk and thought I might enjoy dipping a toe into Austen’s world, the appearance of a witness terrified me.
True escapism is hidden.
Sonia called again. “Very well. If you are interested, drinks will be served soon in the front parlor. Or you can meet everyone at dinner this evening.”
“We’ll be right down.” Isabel owned the full reply this time.
“That’s it... What if she’d walked in? We look ridiculous.” I stood and yanked at the dress’s neck. “Get me out of this.”
“Slow down. Sit. There’s a knot.” Isabel worked at the ribbon, then used it to pull me back down. “And it’s not silly, Mary. This is a big deal to me.”
I dropped to the stool and watched her in the mirror. She kept her eyes on the knot.
