The Wedding Dress by Mary Burchell

way home’, ” Lisette informed her contemptuously. “ That no one could have questioned. But me, I know quite well that you did not tell him ‘ all about’ anything when he returned to the box, for the curtain went up almost immediately, and you had time only to exchange half a dozen words. Therefore you did not tell him, but you would like to make out that the handsome guardian is in your confidence when in fact he is not. ”
    Loraine was struck dumb. Partly with the chagrin which descends on any truthful person caught out in the unfamiliar lie. Partly with sheer dismay at the discovery that she had been made to give an air of guilty concealment to something she greatly wished to pass off as natural and unimportant.
    Lisette, for her part, looked quite disproportionately pleased at having trapped a virtual stranger into what she evidently considered a damaging admission. That anyone should find satisfaction in such a pointless bit of spite was in itself so baffling to Loraine that she could find no words. And then, as she stared angrily at Lisette, wondering what on earth to say next, a summons came for her to go to Monsieur Florian himself.
    Almost running in her desire to get away from Lisette’s unwelcome company, she hastened to the top of the building, where Monsieur Florian had his own office and workroom. Here she found him and Madame Moisant in consultation.
    “ Come in, petite, ” Florian bade her indulgently.
    And Loraine — who did not yet know that the great designer ruled his subordinates by a clever mixture of kindness and brutality — thought how lucky she was to have such an employer and that, after all, Lisette and her spiteful ways were of little account.
    “ We were discussing where — or, indeed, if — we should place you in the present Collection, ” Florian informed her. “ It is a question of substituting you for one of my models who has — deserted. ” The faint pause before the last word conveyed the enormity of the erring Julie’s offence to Loraine more clearly than anything Clotilde had said. “ Some of her numbers we have already allotted to one or other of the girls. But perhaps ” — he turned to Madame Moisant abruptly and said, “ Try her in Number Fourteen. ”
    So Loraine was whisked off to a nearby dressing-room and, at great speed, arrayed in a deceptively simple little black suit, which somehow made her feel like a princess, slightly but charmingly disguised for the purpose of some wistfully romantic adventure. A white hat, which looked innocent in the hand but provocative on the head, completed the outfit and, still under Madame Moisant’s close surveillance, she was conducted back to Florian’s workroom and instructed to walk to the end of the room and back.
    She did as she was told, indescribably intrigued by the mood which the very wearing of the suit seemed to inspire in her.
    “ Now, if she really were a princess escaping from formality and ceremony for a day — perhaps only a precious hour — just so would she dress, thought Loraine. And then anything could happen! Particularly here in Paris. Why —
    “ Do that again, ” said Florian’s voice, with a curious note of amused attention in it.
    So she recalled where she was and obediently retraced her steps. But it was difficult not to revel still in the role of the little princess in disguise, and she only descended completely to earth again when she heard Madame Moisant exclaim, a trifle disparagingly:
    “ She does not wear it in the least as Julie wore it. ”
    “ No, ” said Florian softly, “ she wears it as only she herself would wear it. She gives it an entirely new identity. Strange. I have seen that happen only about three times before in my life. ” And then, to Loraine: “ Of what were you thinking, petite, as you walked up and down my workroom? ”
    “ Well ” — she glanced shyly at Florian and blushed — “ I was pretending — I mean ” — the blush deepened — “ oh, it