Page 67 of Doxy for the Ton
Lily nodded. “Y-yes. Thank you, Mrs.…?”
“Call me Mimi. We’re all friends here.”
A slow smile crept across Lily’s lips, and Mrs. Briggs whispered another “well done” before cutting herself a slice of cake.
Anna and Mary began to chatter—inanities about sewing and the weather, but the benign conversation served its purpose. The stiffness in Lily’s body disappeared as she leaned back and finished her cake. Her gaze continually wandered across the parlor as Mimi kept Sam occupied with a piece of rag from the mending basket, showing him how to tie it into a bow.
“Perhaps next time I come, Sam, I’ll bring some paper to make you a toy boat with,” Mimi said. “How about that?” The boy grinned as Mimi tickled him under the chin. “We can even set sail with it,” she said. “Launch it in the water, like a real ship.”
“No!” Lily cried. “Not outside—please!”
“Careful, darlin’,” Mrs. Briggs said, placing a hand on Lily’s arm. “You don’t have to go outside if you don’t want to.”
“We can set sail in the kitchen,” Mimi said, “make a lake out of a bucket with water.”
“See?” Mrs. Briggs said, taking Lily’s hand.
Lily nodded, then set her teacup aside and glanced toward the door. “Perhaps I ought to…”
“Why don’t you stay with us while we’re mending?” Mrs. Briggs said. “You can show Mimi here how to embroider a flower. I’m sure she’d appreciate it.” She glanced at Mimi, a plea in her eyes.
“Oh yes,” Mimi said. “I must improve my skills. You’d be helping me a great deal.”
“Would I?” Lily asked, her eyes widening further.
“Here,” Anna said. “Let me take Sammy while you help Mimi. I can’t think how we managed with this sewing before you came here, Lily.” She plucked the boy from Mimi’s arms and gave her a nod.
So much could be said without saying it! But unlike those ladies at Madame Deliet’s, whose carefully worded phrases were intended to insult Mimi, the women here, in Mrs. Briggs’s safe little corner of the world, sought to reassure Lily that she was valued, appreciated, and—above all—safe.
After a whispered word from Mrs. Briggs, Lily moved across to sit beside Mimi. Then she took the dress and began to embroider the bodice. At length, her body relaxed as she focused on her work, and Mimi glanced up to see Mrs. Briggs smiling, her eyes shining with moisture, as if Mimi had worked a miracle.
But it was Mrs. Briggs who had given Lily a purpose.
And, as she watched Lily’s needle fly in and out and the image of a flower take form, Mimi’s dream began to take shape. Imagine what exquisite creations Lily could make were she given the means—such as the beautiful silks at Eleanor’s disposal! And Eleanor had expressed an interest in helping Mimi’s cause—though Lily would doubtless faint at the prospect of being in the company of a duchess.
Mrs. Briggs had enabled these young women to survive. But, with the fortune from her arrangement with Sawbridge, Mimi could help them tothrive.
When the sun had almost disappeared beneath the horizon, Mimi stretched her limbs then tidied up her work and bade goodbye to her friends. Her back ached, but the walk to Grosvenor Square would ease the stiffness. By the time she turned into the square, the ache had all but gone.
Her heart soaring with newfound purpose, she almost skipped along the pavement toward her house. Then she glanced at the door and froze.
A huge male form stood in the doorway.
“Y-Your Grace,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting you today.”
Alexander arched an eyebrow, then cast his gaze over her form, taking in the rough woolen cloak, the plain gown, and the thick boots with the scuff on the toes. His nostrils flared, and he set his mouth into a thin line.
“Evidently not.”
“Have I done anything to offend you?”
He let out a bark of laughter. “She asks if she’s done anything to offend me?” he sneered. “What kind of fool do you take me for?”
“I don’t take you for a fool,” she said. “I—”
“Spare me the pretense!” he snarled. “I alreadyknowwhat kind of fool I am. But no more, madam. No more. I know exactly who—and what—you are.”
He stepped closer, and her senses were almost overpowered by his male scent—woodsy and spicy. But as she lifted her gaze to his eyes, her blood froze. Though they glittered in the moonlight, there was not a trace of desire in them.
