"Jody Lynn Nye - Everything to Order" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nye Jody Lynn)

Everything to Order




Everything to Order
Jody Lynn Nye
The bell rang precisely at the appointed hour of eleven. As the porter swung wide the door, Miss Violet
Carr peered out at the three well-dressed women standing on the steps half-clad in darkness. At first she
was cross with the porter for not lighting enough lamps, but she realized that the visitors were hanging
back in the folds of the thick fog that wrapped around the London night. Miss Carr curtsied and dipped
her beautifully coiffed head with the deferential half-bow she reserved for members of the titled class.
They all wore heavy coats of velvet lined with the most expensive sables, with more furs wrapping them
to the ears. Their hats were also black fur, from which depended thick black silk veils. The outfits must
have been sweltering on an August night. "Welcome to the House of Feldon, ladies," Miss Carr said,
with deference and cordiality. Silently, the shrouded figures slipped one by one over the threshold. Once
inside, they lifted their veils. Miss Carr scanned the faces and hesitated slightly, conscious of the
possibility of making a dreadful faux pas and starting the evening out on the wrong foot. "IтАж I beg your
pardon for askingтАФwhich of you is Countess Dracula?"
"We all are," the eldest said. She gave Miss Carr a smile as curiously undefinable as her accent. She
didn't seem to be very much older than the youngest, who seemed as though she could boast the same
number of years as Miss Carr herself, twenty-four.
Violet Carr was young for a vendeuse, but was grateful for the opportunity that the owner of the House
of Feldon had bestowed upon her, to oversee showings of the house line to clients, to take orders, and to
supervise fittings of the chosen garments. It was a position of trust, and she already had twoтАФtwo!тАФ
titled clients who asked particularly for her when they came to the House of Feldon. She hoped to
increase her status this very evening, if it meant she had to stay up until dawn.
"We must thank you for your indulgence in allowing us to come to you so very late," the eldest countess
said. "We keep late hours. It is not an English custom. All of your shops are closed before sunset. How
are we to make our purchases? Other houses of fashion of whom we made this little request were unable
to accommodate us. It is most inconvenient."
"We endeavor to please," Miss Carr said, pleased for Mrs. Feldon-Jacobs's sake. It surely would be
worthwhile having remained. These ladies were possessed of fabulous wealth. The necklace about the
neck of the youngest countess was composed of real diamonds, each stone the size of Miss Carr's thumb
tip. Such jewels had to be worth the value of a steamship. Those other couturiers would regret having

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refused, and Mrs. Feldon-Jacobs would have reason to be smug.
Her eagerness must have showed upon her face, because the eldest countess smiled. She had a most
interesting face. It spoke to Miss Carr of high breeding and quality. The cheekbones were particularly
beautiful, not too protruberant, yet with a piquant shadow beneath. Her nose was high-bridged, narrow
as a hawk's beak, and she had large, deep brown eyes that seemed to be a blend of black and red, and
black-brown hair swept up into sleek folds around her head. She wore black velvet sewn with jet beads
and fringe that swayed gently as she moved. The second lady was very much like her, the lineaments of
her dark-complected face spare as a sculpture, with large dark eyes. Her dress, also of velvet, was blood
red, trimmed in jet and garnets. The third lady, clad in heavy blue velvet, was equally striking, lovely in
a more English manner, with masses of blonde hair, fair skin, and large, luminously blue eyes. At least