The House of Lyall by Doris Davidson Read Free Book Online Page B

lips. ‘Good night, my dear Marianne,’ he murmured.
    â€˜Good night, Andrew.’ She closed the door and leaned against it. She couldn’t be falling in love with him? She couldn’t be! She certainly hadn’t counted on anything like that! The rich man of her dreams still hadn’t materialized … but he would!
    When she went back to the parlour, Miss Esther said, ‘Shall we go to your room now?’ and at Marianne’s nod, they all trooped upstairs.
    When she saw the array of shimmering loveliness spread across her bed, she gasped with awe and glanced helplessly from one to the other of the elderly ladies. ‘I’ll never be able to choose one.’
    â€˜We will leave you to try them on,’ Miss Edith said, in the brisk manner she used in the shop, pushing her sisters towards the door.
    â€˜Yes, take your time, dear,’ Miss Esther smiled. ‘Move around and see how you feel in them. Nothing is worse than spending a whole evening in something uncomfortable.’
    Miss Emily nodded. ‘When you’ve picked the one you feel happiest with, Esther will do any alterations it needs.’
    Ignoring the smell of camphor emanating from the gowns, Marianne tried to judge, while she tried them on in an imaginative euphoria, which suited her best. First, she wriggled into Esther’s soft peach – tulle underlined with stiff taffeta – with layers of ruffles looped round the hem of the huge skirt, and so narrow in the waist that she would have to be laced in very tightly before the buttons down the back would fasten; Miss Esther must have been much slimmer when she was young. Holding the back together as she twirled in front of the long cheval mirror, she gasped at the way the yards and yards of material moulded into her body instead of looking bulky as she had believed they would. She had never given a thought to her figure before, but her curvacious reflection elated her – this was the one!
    In case Miss Esther’s sisters would be offended, she decided to try on theirs too, and so, lifting the deep rose which had been Miss Emily’s, she slipped it over her head and turned back to the mirror. It was not a girl she saw this time, but a tall, elegant woman, the décolletage displaying every inch of her neck and shoulders … and most of her bosom.The front of the skirt flowed to the floor, but the back was padded out by a bustle, not big, but enough to be a talking point these days. She considered for a short time and came to the conclusion that she didn’t have the nerve – nor the figure, if it came to that – to wear this gown. Maybe when she was older …?
    The ice-blue creation that was Miss Edith’s seemed at first glance to be too cold a colour, not what Marion had thought would appeal to her, but as soon as she put it on and pirouetted to get an idea of how it looked from behind, she knew that this really was the one. There was just a shadow of cleavage showing at the bust, much more demure, though the bodice was constructed so as to make the most of small breasts. From the waist, which was not quite so small as the peach, the skirt billowed out over a wide crinoline. It was … oh, perfect didn’t do it justice, but it was the best word she could come up with.
    A quiet tap at her door made her call, ‘Come in.’
    Miss Edith opened the door and asked, ‘Have you decided yet? Please don’t laugh at my haste, but I had to find out.’
    â€˜I’m not laughing. They’re all lovely, but I’m going for yours.’ Although Marianne had told Andrew she would give up the idea of going to the ball if any of his aunts seemed distressed, she knew now that she wasn’t so self-sacrificing. Whatever happened, she would be there as his partner.
    Miss Edith, however, did not appear at all distressed. ‘Do you not think it too old-fashioned?’ she asked, as she began to fasten the