“I saw Todd today. He came in with Miss Selfridge.” Stella cleared her throat. “She tried on a few wedding dresses and picked out a bridesmaid design. I wrote everything down but… You’re sure it’s a hoax, right?”
“It hardly matters anymore, but yes, I’m sure.”
“They certainly convinced me they were a couple. Which I guess is a good thing because there were some paparazzi outside by the time they left. Just wanted to warn you in case any photos show up in the newsstands.”
“Thanks,” said Eliza in a rather flat voice.
“I also heard them talking about two tickets to Canada.”
“The other one’s probably for Christine.”
“Oh. Then they were probably just making it up about honeymooning at Niagara Falls.”
Eliza gulped. She honestly didn’t know. Maybe Todd had decided to leave town for a while too.
Stella said, “Oh, and he gave me a box of old dresses. Really nice ones, too. He said to do whatever I want with them.”
His mother’s dresses?
“Was there a lace wedding dress in the mix?”
“I think so. Vintage lace. That’ll be valuable. If I take it apart, do you want some for a hat or two?”
“Sure,” said Eliza, her mind racing back to that fateful day at the house in Oxford. “That would be nice.”
Stella tried to drag Eliza out for martinis but to no avail. It was all work and no play until after her deadline. And if she wasn’t working, she was trying to catch up on sleep. She’d not slept well since her night in Sheffield.
The next day, when Eliza got back from a meeting with the palace officials, she found Annabelle poking through several unfamiliar hatboxes. Actually, they weren’t totally unfamiliar. Eliza had seen some of them before… in a closet in Oxford.
“A fellow dropped these off—”
“—Todd was here?!” Eliza raced to the door to look down the street.
“It was this morning. An older fellow.”
Likely it had been Albert, not Todd, dropping of the hats.
“Do you mean to say these are Sir Montgomery’s hats?” said Annabelle, narrowing her eyes as she watched Eliza deflate.
“His father’s,” said Eliza absently.
“So you do know him,” said Annabelle. “The gossip’s true, isn’t it?”
Eliza stopped in her tracks. She’d given away too much, and Carmen wasn’t here to cover for her. And then suddenly she didn’t care. She ignored Annabelle and walked toward the back to work.
“There’s an envelope,” called Annabelle.
Eliza rushed back to the front of the shop. She grabbed the envelope and stormed back to the workshop again. Tearing open the envelope, she drew out a folded piece of paper. She held her breath. What did he have to say that he could only say in a letter?
The paper was blank. A key fell out of the folds and landed near her toe. It was the key to her flat.
Annabelle peeked through the door. “Well?”
“Send the boxes to goodwill,” said Eliza. “And close the door.”
Todd didn’t answer Eliza’s texts, phone calls or emails, though she still freely wrote to him—apologies, thoughts, feelings—maybe he’d delete them all before he read them. She had no control of that. But she had to express what was going on inside her. It meant she was a fool, of course, but she’d been a fool ever since she’d met him. What did she have to lose now?
The last week before the Royal Ascot was upon her and it was the hardest week of her life, emotionally and professionally. She was lucky if she got four hours of sleep each night.
By the end of the week, hundreds of hatboxes had been delivered to the best neighborhoods in London and dozens of well-heeled clients had dropped by to pick up their creations in person.
The Saturday before the event, a black Mercedes pulled up in front of Candied Locks. Carmen dashed to the back to rouse a sleepy Eliza who was putting the finishing touches on a couple of royal blue and black pillbox hats.
“I think it’s him,” said Carmen.
“Who?” said Annabelle, looking up from her work of binding silk flowers with velvet ribbon.
But Eliza knew what Carmen meant. She tucked her hair behind her ears and licked her lips.
“Go back to work,” said Carmen to Annabelle. Carmen blocked the door to the front of the shop after Eliza went through.
The outer door opened and a blushing face peeked in. “Oh good, you’re here!”
“Christine, it’s you,” said Eliza, feeling only a little disappointed.
“Come on. She’s here,” said Christine glancing over her shoulder. A grinning Melissa followed her in. They both hugged Eliza.
“I have your hats, as promised.” Eliza reached behind the counter for the two boxes. “I hope you like them.”
Melissa’s was a delicate pink cap with rounded edges, a touch of white lace, fresh water pearls, and a tiny, layered veil.
“Divine!” she said, beaming.
Christine looked surprised when Eliza handed her a box. “Really?” She took the hat out and tried it on. The jagged lines of the red felt fedora looked terribly elegant on her and effectively enhanced her angular cheekbones.
“Very sexy,” said Melissa appraisingly.
The band of the fedora was made of red lace interwoven with black pearls, adding a strong feminine touch.
“The lace is from your grandmother’s wedding dress,” said Eliza.
Stella had given her a few pieces and she had dyed one piece red for Christine’s hat. “So even if you two can’t be at the Ascot as a couple, your hats are connected through the lace and the pearls.”
Christine grabbed Melissa’s hand. It looked like Melissa had tears in her eyes.
Christine said to Eliza, “Todd won’t talk to me about what happened between you two but Lissy is worried is has to do with her and this ridiculous drama she’s dragged us all into.”
“I’m so sorry, Eliza,” snuffled Melissa.
“Oh, it’s not you, Melissa.” Eliza hugged her. “It was all me, girls. I ruined everything. Singlehandedly. Honestly. He gave me umpteen chances and I messed them all up. Don’t blame yourselves. Just promise me one thing. When all this blows over, go off and enjoy your lives. Don’t waste the love between you.”
Eliza thought she might start crying if she said anymore about wasting love so she bit her lip and hugged both girls again.
“I’ve still got a ton of work to do. I’m glad you stopped by in person.”
“Eliza,” said Christine. “Would you forgive Todd? Would you have him back?”
Eliza felt a lump in her throat. “There’s nothing I need to forgive Todd for. It’s myself I have to forgive. For being a prisoner to my past, and for treating Todd as if he were a prisoner to his. I learned the hard way that if you can’t forgive yourself for your flaws and mistakes then you can’t really love someone.”
“But you do really love him, don’t you?” Christine searched Eliza’s glistening eyes. Eliza just smiled. It hurt too much to say yes.
“Don’t forget to write when you get to Canada.”
“We won’t,” said Melissa and Christine in unison.
When the last of the hats were delivered and picked up, Eliza closed up the shop and sent Annabelle home. She and Carmen had decided to take the following week off. While everyone was enjoying the Ascot, Eliza planned to get out of town. She had arranged to take her mother to the Lake District for a few days.
Still in the habit of salting her wounds, she followed the media reports on the Ascot events while she and her mother toured up north. On Wednesday afternoon, the day they were traveling home—her mother to Sheffield and Eliza back to London—Eliza got a call from a palace official. One of the princesses’ hats had blown off in the wind and been stepped on. All the pearls had come unstrung and they needed a quick repair.
When she picked up the hat later that evening, she found a note and a pass attached to it.
Pleas
e bring the hat to the royal enclosure tomorrow at noon.
So she would be attending Ladies Day at the Royal Ascot after all.
RACE OF HEARTS
Eliza repaired the damaged hat, packed it up in a box, and then put her mind to getting herself dressed. There was a particular dress code for the royal enclosure. She had an idea of what she wanted to wear. Though it was quite possible that she would arrive, deliver the hat, and not run into anyone she knew. Like Todd. She gulped. She really did want to run into him, though he probably didn’t want to see her.
She sent a brief text to Tori and to Christine to tell them to look out for her.
After arriving, going through security and a dress code check, Eliza was ushered up to the royal enclosure.
Everywhere Eliza looked she saw her hat creations. Not all were hers, of course, but even some that weren’t were clearly knock offs. She beamed with pride.
Because Ladies Day was such a fashion show, dozens of reporters were authorized to attend and they wove between the race-goers snapping photos.
Eliza was taken to the Royal Box to deliver the hat. The princess swapped out a purple-veiled number that must have been a back up. From a distance, a reporter snapped a shot of the princess smiling at Eliza as she donned her pearly creation. It would be nice if that one ended up in the society pages.
Her task complete, Eliza meandered through the crowds to see if she could find anyone she knew. Over the loudspeaker she heard the announcer list off the runners for the next race. When she heard the name, Dante’s Fire, she almost squealed with joy. Todd must be so proud today. As quickly as Eliza’s heart had soared it floundered to think she wasn’t sharing this moment with him.
But she couldn’t hear the announcer well anymore; some noise was coming from near the railing overlooking the track. Someone was yelling and pushing. Eliza moved closer to find out what was happening.
She overheard an aggressive female voice through the crowd.
“We’ve had a report that you have a female lover. Is that true?’”
Eliza drew nearer and saw Melissa cornered by a reporter who was looking for more than a fashion scoop. Oh no, thought Eliza.
“Is it true you have a female lover?” pressed the reporter pushing her microphone forward.
“What?” Melissa had turned a pretty shade of scarlet. “Who said that?”
“Your milliner at Candied Locks confirmed it. Do you deny that Christine Montgomery is your lesbian lover?”
Melissa paled and looked as if she might faint. Eliza noticed Christine now and walked over to her.
"I didn't say anything, Christine."
Christine's whole body was tense. It probably took all her discipline to not run over and protect Melissa.
“Back off and leave her alone,” said Todd, rushing to her side. He put his arm around Melissa. “Those rumors aren’t true. She’s my fiancé.” Melissa leaned into his chest. Eliza thought her heart might break. She didn’t know how anyone could doubt they were a couple in love.
“What’s all this fuss?” said a white-haired well-to-do matron.
“Nothing, Grandmamma,” said Melissa.
“What are these busy bodies saying about my granddaughter?”
“Do you support same sex marriage, Dame Selfridge?”
“Excuse me?! Get out of my way, you ne’er-do-well!” She batted her fan at a male reporter joining in on the ambush.
“Now that’s sinking to the depths,” said a snotty voice next to Eliza. She turned and saw Lady Jocelyn Elliot. “Did you leak that story just to get back at Todd for dumping you?”
“No…I…” stuttered Eliza. She hadn’t said anything. And Carmen never would have betrayed her like that…
“That’s got to be the tackiest, most low class thing I’ve ever heard of.”
“It wasn’t me!” Then it hit her. Annabelle! She must have overheard Christine and Melissa when they picked up their hats.
Jocelyn sneered, “Well, they say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
“Shut your trap, Jo Jo,” said a furious Christine.
Lady Elliot looked like she’d been slapped. “Well, I never…”
“Yeah, and you never will,” said Christine shouldering her way between Jocelyn and Eliza.
“I can’t stand this,” Christine hissed in Eliza’s ear. “Hey, you’re shaking.”
She touched Eliza’s arm. It was seeing Todd that made her go all wobbly. Of course, he looked dashingly handsome in his morning tails and vintage top hat. She’d expected that. It was seeing him wrap his arms around Melissa and remembering him wrapping his arms around her, at a different racetrack, that made her go all weak-kneed and sick in her stomach. He looked so fierce and determined to get Melissa way from the reporters, and she admired him for that.
At that moment, Todd shot a glance over at Christine. His fierceness seemed to melt into a ‘help me’ plea to his little sister. Then he caught Eliza’s eye and he blinked. He seemed to freeze for a moment. His brow furrowed as he stared at her across the mayhem. Eliza felt everything around them fade away as he held her gaze.
That gaze flicked to her neckline—the emerald— and then his eyes raked over her head to toe, as much as was possible through the crowd. Did he recognize the green dress she was wearing? Did he see the tiny white rosebuds nestled against the Devonshire green background of her felt cloche hat? Did he see the three roses in full bloom wrapping around the right side? Would he understand what she was trying to tell him?
Tori and Tatum had joined the crowd that surrounded Melissa and Todd. Tatum was taking over guiding a tearful Melissa away from the chaos.
“I’ve had just about enough of this,” muttered Christine.
“Stop!” Someone cried out. “All of you. Stop this!”
It was Melissa.
“My word!” said Grandmamma. “What has happened to the breeding of proper ladies and gentlemen? Young ladies do not raise their voices like that. Certainly not my granddaughter, Melissa. What are you—"
“Stop, Grandmamma! I may be your granddaughter but I’m not the lady you think I am.”
“Uh oh,” said Christine.
The crowd had quieted to hear what the pretty, tearful young lady had to say.
Eliza saw Todd whisper something in Melissa’s ear but she pushed him away.
“I’m in love,” said Melissa loudly.
“Of course you are. You’re getting married after all,” said Grandmamma.
“But not to this man.” Melissa laid a hand on Todd’s chest.
Questioning murmurs rippled through the royal enclosure.
Todd squeezed his eyes shut for a brief second.
Christine murmured, “Oh, honey. We just had to wait a few more days.”
“I’m marrying his sister.” Melissa looked over at Christine.
For a moment: dead silence. And then an eruption of questions and the instant deflating of Grandmamma, who collapsed in faint and was caught by Tatum.
Melissa pushed through the crowd to stand by Christine. Eliza smiled at her, utterly impressed by her courage and daring, by her risk for love. Christine picked her up and swung her around. “I love you!”
They were smiling and crying and spinning. Everyone except the reporters gave them the space to embrace.
Grandmamma came to and blanched again when she registered what was going on around her. Then her cheeks pinked and in a very unladylike tone, she raised her voice above the din.
“Melissa Selfridge! Get your hands off that harlot!”
The girls stopped their spinning. Melissa suddenly looked crestfallen.
“There will be no daughters of Sappho in my family!” barked Grandmamma.
There was shuffling in the crowd and several people moved to the side.
A high-pitched quavering yet authoritative voice said,
“Dame Selfridge? What appears to be the trouble?”
Grandmamma instantly bowed her head. “Your majesty.”
&
nbsp; Everyone dipped in a slight bow or curtsey as the Queen assessed the situation. She said to those assembled,
“One thing We’ve come to learn after these many decades of life is that love arises in so many forms. We can spend our energy judging or spend our energy loving. We choose love. We highly recommend it.”
More flashes went off as reporters vied for reaction shots. Dame Selfridge fainted again. The Queen and her entourage moved toward the exit of the royal enclosure. Passing Eliza, the Queen tipped her indigo, feathered hat and gave her a nod. “Nice work.”
Eliza smiled and quickly curtseyed again. “Thank you, Ma'am.”
Todd wove his way through the excited crowd and stood in front of Eliza. He didn’t touch her though. He just looked at her, his cool blue eyes beginning to warm as he stared.
“I didn’t spill their secret, I swear,” said Eliza.
He shook his head and touched a finger to her lips.
“Don’t say anything.”
But she couldn’t help it. “I’m so sorry, Todd. For everything. For—”
“—Please. Let me speak.”
She bit her lip and held her tongue.
He said, “You threw our love away because you couldn’t let go of your past.”
She shook her head. “But I—”
“—Let me finish, Miss Keating. I forced our love to grow before I had properly dealt with my own past. We’re both to blame. I expected you to put your past behind you to be with me. I thought if you loved me enough, you could do that. But I forgot something vitally important. Who you are now, the woman I am in love with, has grown out of the girl you once were, with a past, with pain, with fears. If letting go of your past changes who you are, I don’t want that. At some point in the future, this moment might be our past, and I would never want either of us to let go of this.”
He bent over her tear-streaked face and kissed her. The warmth of his lips, soft and tender yet firm and commanding, soothed the ache in her heart. His arms held her tight to his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let her body mold into his—his body that knew hers so well yet still offered so much treasure to discover. She felt an electric current of energy spark and flow between them. Beyond closed eyes she sensed flashes. When the kiss ended, she was vaguely aware of reporters snapping photos around them, but she was utterly focused on Todd’s eyes.
London Lace, Series Complete Set Page 26