Lucy Wickshire

"Are you here for a fitting or a new dress?" the attendant asked. She did not seem to recognize the ladies, so she just curtsied and asked politely. If she knew that this was the recently infamous Lady Steinhouse, she would have not believed it. The lady before her was very beautiful, her face was clean and her dress; though made from expensive cotton, was simple. Lady Steinhouse they knew, was one who knew nothing about fashion.

Madame D"huile was a slender woman in her mid thirties with G.o.dly skills in the craft of dresses. She walked out of the inner room and paused at the sight of Lady Steinhouse. She seemed almost gleeful at the sight of her; this was a person worthy of wearing her creations. She approached Lady Steinhouse in haste. Pushing to the side the attendant, she took over in attending to the guests.

"I am Madame D"huile. You, my dear, are a sight to behold. Care to introduce yourself?" she asked.

"Lady Steinhouse." Lady Steinhouse answered and the woman paused. Looking at her simple dress and the glow in her eyes, she nodded. This was a woman in love. Probably this new found love has cleared her eyes, allowing her tastes in fashion to transcend to the mortal world.

"I don"t remember giving you a token dear, but never mind. Let"s deal with that later. First, I need to take your measurements." Madam D"huile said.

"Oh. I do have a token." she handed her token to the woman and the woman looked at it before calling for the records. She saw the token was registered under a man"s name and smiled.

"I see. This gentleman specifically got this recently. I never thought it would land in your hands." Madame D"huile said and Lady Steinhouse blushed a deep red. Her shy appearance, if nothing, confirmed the rumours that had taken over the entire capital. The few women listening by the side almost had their eyes pop from their sockets at the thought.

The rumour has been confirmed!

The days that pa.s.sed were in itself, terribly quiet. One would not know that a storm was brewing. Even skilled noses could not smell it in the air. Everyone went on as usual. Walter barely left home, except for times he helped Lady Steinhouse with her plot. He and the lady, who always seemed to blush at the slightest look he threw her way, had gotten everything prepared. The minister of finance had found a way to have the minister of trade involved. The trade minister agreed, in hopes to have his name removed from the list to be attacked, when the evidence is presented before the king.

As Lady Steinhouse stood by Walter"s side when he handled matters, Walter"s form seemed to shine more before her eyes. Walter"s idea was brilliant. Instead of taking down three officials, they might as well try and take down as much as possible. Looking at the evidence presented to him by the minister about the other three, he understood that the minister for trade had a few more relationships that they could exploit. The minister for trade suffered the same confrontation as the minster of finance, but he gave up much faster than the other and presented his evidence the next day. Everything was ready. They but only had to move. Lady Steinhouse never attempted to bring home all these evidence, as she understood she now had snakes under her roof. So, she let Walter keep it. As everything was ready, she was in a good mood. It was only a matter of time before the queen is disposed.

She dressed fast in one of her new Madame D"huile dresses and a simple midday wear necklace she had gotten from Swan jewellery, to visit the king. She came across her in-law mother and daughter duo waiting at the entry for their carriage to be prepared, but ignored them. The carriage arrived and she made an attempt to enter, only to be blocked.

"That"s ours. We have waited quite a while for it to be prepared." The Steinhouse spinster said. She had wanted to come closer this sister-in-law of hers, but their trip to Madame D"huile had changed it all. Not only did Lady Steinhouse leave her waiting without inviting her into the inner room with her, she bought several dresses without care of offering one to her. She was her sister-in-law, yet the lady ignored etiquette. When she thought of the lady"s response when she asked for a dress, she almost felt like she should strangle this woman in her sleep.

"Why should I get a dress for you?" Lady Steinhouse had answered.

"Your sister-in-law accompanies you to shop and you do no offer her even a handkerchief? Society would think you rude." she had said out loud for many to hear. In an ideal circ.u.mstance, she would have been right. Girls going shopping together in society always seemed to follow these trend. She a.s.sumed even though it was a known fact that lady Steinhouse and herself did not like each other, Lady Steinhouse would still follow this trend. She did not notice that she was already blinded by the beautiful dresses and had lost all logic.

"The owner of this token pays for my expenses. Why should he pay for you too?" Lady Steinhouse asked loudly. Only then did she flush in embarra.s.sment. Not long ago, when the lady had indirectly confirmed she had a lover and he was the one paying for her to be there, she had loudly scolded her as being disrespectful to her late brother. Now she wanted that same lover to pay for her dress? The look on the surrounding ladies" faces were undeniable; Mockery.

Blocking the Lady"s path to enter the carriage, her eyes expressed undeniable hatred.

"Calm down, Lily, you are sisters. Lady Dockstorm"s luncheon is our destination; I would a.s.sume she is going the same way. We can all share." Old Lady Steinhouse said with a smile. If one looked well, one would see mockery in her eyes.

"How can you get an invite? After all, every one knows you are not friends with any acquainted with Her Majesty." The Steinhouse spinster said with a smirk. As society went, Lady Dockstorm was only a baroness, but she held great standing with the queen, shooting her to the top of the food chain. As every one knew, even though Lady Steinhouse was the king"s niece, the queen was the highest standing woman. It was her standard that is used to decide the basis for social ethics. With her feud with the queen, she was respected as the king"s niece, but avoided by most.

"Get this thing out of my face." she said and the guard pushed The Steinhouse spinster away.

In anger, Old Lady Steinhouse asked out loud, "Why would you go that far? Even though you were not invited, we can always take you with us. This carriage is big enough for all of us."

"If you have time to go have tea, then do so, don"t think everybody is as free as you. We are not going the same way, so stop shouting like a mad woman." Lady Steinhouse said very slowly. She was in a good mood and could not seem to muster anger towards these women.

"Where are you going then? Your peers are having a gathering and you are going somewhere else?" Old Lady Steinhouse asked loudly. This ungrateful girl! She was going to deal with her whether she liked it or not.

"Probably to see that lover of hers." The Steinhouse spinster sneered.

"You go out at night to meet this person no matter how we reprimand you. Shameless woman! As you have learnt nothing from us at all since joining our family, did you bring this att.i.tude with you when marrying my son? Meeting a lover in day time? No matter where you are going, we will see today! If you are not going to meet him, then you have no reason to not let us tag along!" Old Lady Steinhouse said and stormed into the carriage with her daughter in tow.

Lady Steinhouse smiled coldly and stopped the guards from blocking them. With a smile, she entered the carriage.