at Louis. “Did the whole world know what you were planning?” she asked.
“More or less,” Louis said, shrugging apologetically.
“And are you?” Mrs. Alexander pressed her, still barring the doorway as if somehow their entry was dependent on Sophie’s answer.
“It seems that I am,” Sophie affirmed, feeling Louis’s armaround her waist. Worrying that she hadn’t seemed sufficiently happy, she added, “Louis and I are officially to be married. It’s very exciting.”
Mrs. Alexander beamed quite unexpectedly, which turned her habitually sour expression into one of pure delight. “I’m thrilled for you, darling,” she said, hugging Sophie with uncharacteristic fervor and releasing her just as swiftly. “I’ll need a month’s notice on the room if you’re going to want your deposit back.”
“Oh, I don’t expect I’ll be moving out for ages yet,” Sophie said, avoiding Louis’s gaze.
“Anyway, the girls have been waiting all morning for you. They’ve got a little show.” Mrs. Alexander stepped aside to allow them into the house, smiling at Louis. “I wanted to make sure everything was okay before I unleashed them just in case Sophie turned you down, love.” She fluttered her lashes at Louis, casting him her best come-hither glance, which if they hadn’t known Mrs. Alexander, most people would find quite intimidating.
“Okay, girls,” Mrs. Alexander shouted up the stairs. “Take it away!”
There was a burst of excited laughter from upstairs, the yowl of a very angry gray cat that whizzed past and out the front door with what looked suspiciously like a pink bow tied around its neck, then followed, in a much more sedate fashion, Bella and Izzy parading down the stairs humming a passable version of “Here Comes the Bride,” Bella hefting the much more submissive and lace-laden Tango under one arm.
The shower curtain had been detached with more force than care, as far as Sophie could tell by looking at the ripped holes where the rings should have fit through, and turned into a white-plastic shiny cape. Bella’s pink flowery bedroom curtain had been fashioned into a skirt worn over two or three fairy and Disney princess costumes, and what blooms of late summer that had been left inthe garden had been savagely hacked down and stuck into hair and behind ears. The girls had finished off their bridal look with a generous helping of Sophie’s second-best makeup. (She had learned long ago never to leave her best stuff lying around.)
“We are your bridesmaids, Aunty Sophie!” Izzy shrieked as they finally reached the bottom of the stairs in one piece, which was a minor miracle in itself given that their trains contravened most health and safety laws. “We are, aren’t we? We ARE your bridesmaids?”
“Aren’t we?” Bella reiterated, her expression a good deal more solemn and just a bit more threatening than Izzy’s despite the two rosy dots she had lipsticked onto either cheek. Sophie knelt down and put an arm around each of them, glancing over her shoulder at Louis, who was leaning on the banister at the bottom of the stairs.
“Do you think it’s a good idea for me to marry your daddy?” Sophie asked them, aware a beat too late that she didn’t really have a contingency plan if either of them said no.
“I do,” Izzy said, nodding as she spoke. “Because there will be a big party and a wedding cake and I’ve seen a picture of a wedding cake and it was big . And you love cake, Aunty Sophie, so getting married will make you really, really …”
“Massive?” Mrs. Alexander offered.
“No, happy, silly!” Izzy giggled and kissed Sophie on the cheek. “You will be happy.”
“Excellent,” Sophie said, looking at Bella and raising a hopeful eyebrow.
Bella twisted her mouth into the sideways knot Sophie had come to learn often preceded a difficult question. She braced herself.
“I do think it is a good idea for you to marry Daddy,” she said slowly, as if she were
“More or less,” Louis said, shrugging apologetically.
“And are you?” Mrs. Alexander pressed her, still barring the doorway as if somehow their entry was dependent on Sophie’s answer.
“It seems that I am,” Sophie affirmed, feeling Louis’s armaround her waist. Worrying that she hadn’t seemed sufficiently happy, she added, “Louis and I are officially to be married. It’s very exciting.”
Mrs. Alexander beamed quite unexpectedly, which turned her habitually sour expression into one of pure delight. “I’m thrilled for you, darling,” she said, hugging Sophie with uncharacteristic fervor and releasing her just as swiftly. “I’ll need a month’s notice on the room if you’re going to want your deposit back.”
“Oh, I don’t expect I’ll be moving out for ages yet,” Sophie said, avoiding Louis’s gaze.
“Anyway, the girls have been waiting all morning for you. They’ve got a little show.” Mrs. Alexander stepped aside to allow them into the house, smiling at Louis. “I wanted to make sure everything was okay before I unleashed them just in case Sophie turned you down, love.” She fluttered her lashes at Louis, casting him her best come-hither glance, which if they hadn’t known Mrs. Alexander, most people would find quite intimidating.
“Okay, girls,” Mrs. Alexander shouted up the stairs. “Take it away!”
There was a burst of excited laughter from upstairs, the yowl of a very angry gray cat that whizzed past and out the front door with what looked suspiciously like a pink bow tied around its neck, then followed, in a much more sedate fashion, Bella and Izzy parading down the stairs humming a passable version of “Here Comes the Bride,” Bella hefting the much more submissive and lace-laden Tango under one arm.
The shower curtain had been detached with more force than care, as far as Sophie could tell by looking at the ripped holes where the rings should have fit through, and turned into a white-plastic shiny cape. Bella’s pink flowery bedroom curtain had been fashioned into a skirt worn over two or three fairy and Disney princess costumes, and what blooms of late summer that had been left inthe garden had been savagely hacked down and stuck into hair and behind ears. The girls had finished off their bridal look with a generous helping of Sophie’s second-best makeup. (She had learned long ago never to leave her best stuff lying around.)
“We are your bridesmaids, Aunty Sophie!” Izzy shrieked as they finally reached the bottom of the stairs in one piece, which was a minor miracle in itself given that their trains contravened most health and safety laws. “We are, aren’t we? We ARE your bridesmaids?”
“Aren’t we?” Bella reiterated, her expression a good deal more solemn and just a bit more threatening than Izzy’s despite the two rosy dots she had lipsticked onto either cheek. Sophie knelt down and put an arm around each of them, glancing over her shoulder at Louis, who was leaning on the banister at the bottom of the stairs.
“Do you think it’s a good idea for me to marry your daddy?” Sophie asked them, aware a beat too late that she didn’t really have a contingency plan if either of them said no.
“I do,” Izzy said, nodding as she spoke. “Because there will be a big party and a wedding cake and I’ve seen a picture of a wedding cake and it was big . And you love cake, Aunty Sophie, so getting married will make you really, really …”
“Massive?” Mrs. Alexander offered.
“No, happy, silly!” Izzy giggled and kissed Sophie on the cheek. “You will be happy.”
“Excellent,” Sophie said, looking at Bella and raising a hopeful eyebrow.
Bella twisted her mouth into the sideways knot Sophie had come to learn often preceded a difficult question. She braced herself.
“I do think it is a good idea for you to marry Daddy,” she said slowly, as if she were
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