The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: India Holton
- Language: English
- Genre: Victorian Historical Romance
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
EXTREME EXPECTATIONS—MISS DEARLOVE ATTEMPTS AN
OPINION— NOT AN EXPLOSION—A HOLDUP—BIXBY TO THE
RESCUE— A PROFESSIONAL DISAGREEMENT—MESS
t was the best of dress shops, it was the worst of dress shops. It sold the
most beautiful garments, it sold the ugliest scraps, and Miss Primula
Tewkes fell in love and despair as she walked amongst its displays. Her maid,
Alice Dearlove, followed like a shadow, black-garbed and silent, arms full of
hatboxes. Primula declared herself to be in Heaven, but Alice privately
wished the lady would go direct the other way.
“I cannot attend Lady Hessop’s soiree in anything but the most exquisite
ensemble,” Primula averred. “The most exquisite!”
“Yes miss,” Alice said.
“You wouldn’t want me to be ridiculed for wearing something outmoded,
would you, Dearlove? Would you? Well?”
The lady’s eyes widened. Alice guessed from this that alarm was required
at the prospect of the Honorable Miss Tewkes drinking mimosas and making
nice conversation while garbed in anything less than a fashion masterpiece.
Unfortunately, she felt such little alarm that she did not even blink as she
looked at her mistress from behind the load of hatboxes. Her own eyes, dark,
cool, remained their normal size. Her countenance was so deadpan it ought to
have been given the Last Rites.
“No miss,” she said, glancing at the glass-paneled door, which offered the
only escape from the shop.
“You are tedious, Dearlove. Tedious! Surely even a lady’s maid has
enough imagination to appreciate my dire circumstance?!”
Alice hesitated, unsure which of yes miss and no miss was required here.
No would have been accurate, for although she possessed a sterling
imagination for such things as secret libraries, lost libraries, and indeed any
type of library possible, she could not imagine what was so dire about not
being able to choose a dress.
On the other hand, yes was also accurate, for even Alice felt obliged to
describe herself as tedious. For example, at this very moment all she wanted
was to put down the hatboxes, take off her shoes, and lose herself in a really
good dictionary.
“Yes miss?” she hazarded.
Primula huffed, turning to flip her hand through a rack of frothing pastel
dresses. “I am wasting my time here! Wasting it! I don’t know why you even
suggested this boutique. We should have gone to Harrods.”
“Yes miss,” Alice said, blowing a loose strand of fine brown hair from her
face. The hatboxes swayed and she swayed with them, only just managing to
keep them balanced. She glanced at a clock on the wall, then again at the
door, before turning back to Primula. “Perhaps that purple lace dress would
—”
A delicate chime interrupted her as someone entered the shop. Looking
around at once, Alice saw only a servant, his expression bored as he held the
door ajar despite carrying half a dozen bags.
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