Page 113 of The Seaside Homecoming
“First, a simple shift.” Claire helped her into the basic, rather shapeless, underdress. “Now the pair of stays you are dreading.”
She wrapped the quilted article around the woman’s midriff and began tying the laces in back. Sonali adjusted it so that it better supported her bosom and fit to her waist.
“Too tight?”
“Surprisingly, no.”
Claire finished lacing it, then picked up another garment. “Next, a petticoat.” Claire held one out and helped Sonali step into it.
“Perhaps stockings should be next. Do you wear stockings?”
“Only in winter.”
“Then we shall both forgo them for today’s exercise. And which gown will you choose?” Claire first held out her pale blue dinner dress. “I am afraid my wardrobe is limited, so I brought up one of Vanita’s as well.” She next held up Vanita’s ivory evening gown adorned with seed pearls.
Sonali’s eyes brightened. “I always admired this dress of hers.”
Claire helped her into it and did up the fastenings. It fit the slender woman and suited her well, flattering her coloring.
“Oh, I should pin up my hair in proper English style,” Sonali said. “And you should wear yours in one long plait. Perhaps tied with bright ribbon at the end.”
They helped each other with their hair. Almost, Claire realized, as sisters would.
Sonali said, “Sit here at my dressing table. You need a bit ofkajal, or kohl, around your eyes. Look up.” Claire did so and fought against blinking as Sonali feathered the stick along her lashes. Despite the light application, her eyes watered.
Then Sonali lifted a shiny necklace and bracelets from a case on the dressing chest. “And here—wear some of my jewelry.”
Claire sat obediently while the woman placed the necklace around her neck and fastened the clasp, then slid the bangles onto her wrists.
Claire rose. “And you must wear one of Vanita’s hats.” She settled it onto Sonali’s head, an ostrich plume rising from it at a jaunty angle.
When they were both fully dressed and coiffed, the two stood before the tall mirror on its wooden stand. They grinned at each other. Then, with a flourish, Sonali pulled off the fabric covering.
Claire stared, oddly breathless, at the strange vision of herself. She giggled like a schoolgirl. “Good heavens. What have you done to me?”
“I could ask the same of you. I look like a proper English miss, do I not?”
“Indeed you do. An English rose.”
“Although alittledarker,” Sonali added with another grin.
“Perhaps. But a diamond of the first water nonetheless.”
Standing side by side before the mirror, Claire impulsively grasped the woman’s hand, and the two smiled at each other’s reflections.
The door flew open wide, and Mira dashed in. “Here they are!”
In the passage behind the little girl stood her father and uncle.
Startled, Claire’s heart banged hard, and Sonali gasped. William Hammond and Armaan Sagar stared open-mouthedfrom one woman to the other. It was difficult to judge whose gaze lingered longer on which woman.
“What in the world...?” Mr. Hammond murmured.
Mira clapped. “Pretty!”
Claire pulled off the clinking bracelets and Sonali removed the hat. “We were only ... seeing what it would be like.”
“It’s quite astounding, the transformation.”
