An Unsinkable Love(15)
An Unsinkable Love
by Terri Benson
books, but reading is the one thing I do a lot. It's Eldon everyone wants to see. He's very amusing and clever. And handsome. Some of the women, even married ones, are so forward with him I can't believe it. I really don't think anyone even notices if I'm sitting there or not."
Bree expelled the breath she hadn't realized she held. This was too familiar. Having escaped the atmosphere she'd grown up in, she was shocked to find it existed in the thin air of the elite as well. Her own mother, a gentlewoman, had been surrounded by her husband's coarse and often drunken friends—people with whom she had nothing in common. They had followed Bree's father's lead, making his wife miserable in every way possible.
Bree determined to help this time. "I guess we'll have to make you so lovely everyone, including Eldon, will be too busy staring to make silly small talk."
Elizabeth gazed down at her hands and sighed. "I don't know why Eldon married me. I'm lucky he even noticed me with all the beautiful women who flutter around him. I'm so boring and he's so exciting. He has everyone on the edge of their seats, waiting for his next word."
Bree looked closely. The older woman had a great beauty under the lines of sadness. Only a few faint streaks of gray showed in the fine, white-blonde hair. Elizabeth's huge gray eyes were deeply sunken above sculpted cheekbones, her skin flawless. A straight nose perched above wide, full lips.
Her graceful neck had yet to show folds of loose skin. Her type of beauty only improved with age.
54
An Unsinkable Love
by Terri Benson
Bree knew she was a total opposite with her mop of auburn hair and spattering of faint freckles, which proclaimed her Irish ancestry.
"We'll just see about that," she said. "When we get done, he'll have eyes for no one but you." Bree hadn't been able to help her own mother. If she aided this woman, perhaps it would help make up for it in some way.
Time slipped away. After assisting Elizabeth to lie down until it was time to dress, Bree set about altering the gown.
She worked feverishly, her fingers flying over the fabric. The big round windows were just beginning to show stars as, with a heavy sigh of relief, Bree tugged a thread to tighten the final knot and clipped the silk with her scissors. She quickly took a few measurements to help her with alterations on the other gowns and laid the dress over her arm. From the bedroom doorway, she peeked in and found Elizabeth awake, her expression dreamy.
"Is it done already? I almost hoped it wouldn't be, but I suppose I mustn't disappoint Eldon."
"Does it matter so much, ma'am?" Bree asked.
Elizabeth nodded and struggled out of bed. Bree hurried to help her. As Bree held the dress up, the older woman seemed to shrink within herself, then sighed and removed her robe.
Bree carefully slipped the dress over her head and did up the line of frog fasteners at the back. She helped Elizabeth into the matching emerald green heeled shoes with jeweled buckles and they stepped over to the large standing mirror.
Elizabeth's gray eyes widened in shock. Where before the dress had made a mockery of her figure, it now enhanced her 55
An Unsinkable Love
by Terri Benson
slight curves. The tucked bodice pushed her bosom up to show creamy cleavage above the neckline. Billowing fabric fell in graceful folds to skim the floor, the toes of her shoes peeping out.
"Oh, my!" was all Elizabeth said.
Bree gently urged her over to the dressing table and pulled the woman's long hair from the loose knot at the base of her neck. With a sterling-handled brush, she smoothed the flaxen hair back from her high forehead and pulled it into a sleek chignon. She slid in diamond-encrusted combs, which had been lying casually on the table. As she admired the effect in the mirror, Bree considered the simple, elegant style more becoming for Elizabeth's fine, straight hair than the currently popular Gibson up-do.
"Have you any other jewelry to wear?"
"The blue case." Elizabeth gestured to a large, carved burlwood box.
Bree lifted the lid and pulled out a thin enameled case. She flipped it open and gasped at the glistening necklace and matching earrings nestled on white satin. "They're beautiful.
Just like you."
Elizabeth tittered softly as she clipped the earrings on and Bree fastened the necklace's lobster-claw clasp. A triple strand of pearls interspersed with teardrop emeralds and diamonds glowed above the shimmering green silk. The large table-cut emerald pendant ringed by shimmering diamonds and emerald hung heavily between the swell of her breasts.