The shopgirl swallowed, her eyes going even wider.
“Now, I would like to see some of those blouses over there, and when you’re done with that, I want to see all of your latest gowns from Paris and beyond.” It was her turn to bat her eyelashes at the woman with the same catty intensity that had been dished out to her.
“Right away, miss,” the shopgirl said, moving so fast Ellen would have believed someone poked her with a cattle prod.
She turned to follow the shopgirl, only to find Joseph, Lady Vegas, and Lady Dorrington staring at her. They’d come closer and had overheard the entire interaction.
Ellen’s smile widened. “It’s all a matter of providing proper motivation to convince people to do things for you,” she said. “Some people just need reminding that Americans have money too.”
Joseph’s mouth twitched once more, as if he didn’t think he should smile or laugh but wanted to, and Ellen was sorely tempted to wink at him. Lady Vegas and Lady Dorrington actually looked impressed.
“Well done, my dear,” Lady Vegas said with a knowing grin. “Perhaps you have the makings of a lady of quality after all.”
Ellen had no idea if that was a compliment or not, but she would take what praise she could when she could. Lady Vegas gestured for her to follow her over to the gowns she’d been looking at before so that she could point out which ones she thought would do for her.
“If you will excuse me,” Joseph said before she left, “I think I will leave you ladies to this while I seek out menswear.”
“I’ll find you when we’re finished here,” Ellen told him. She wished she could give him a kiss goodbye, but there were some things even she wasn’t bold enough to try.
She spent the next half hour with Lady Vegas and Lady Dorrington, selecting several gowns that were elegant, conservative, and utterly boring, as far as Ellen was concerned. But Lady Vegas seemed to like them, and the shopgirls insisted that they were fashionable and that Ellen would be the envy of her friends when she wore them in public. Ellen didn’t have the heart to tell the girls that she didn’t exactly have friends.
Every one of the shopgirls in that part of the store rushed to help them after it was made known she had money to spend. And spend it she did. To a degree where Lady Vegas and Lady Dorrington ran out of sly comments to make and merely stared at her with wide eyes when she opened her purse to pay for her purchases in cash. Ellen had never seen such astonishment in the eyes of such fine ladies.
She was surprised at how quickly shopping lost its appeal, though. Lady Vegas and Lady Dorrington spotted friends of theirs near the small café close to the ladies’ department, and as soon as she made certain they were settled and engaged in conversation with their friends, Ellen herself went off in search of Joseph.
She found him standing in front of a mirror in the very back of the men’s department, turning this way and that as he surveyed the new suit he was trying on.
“I think you look quite handsome,” she said, sneaking up to him and grinning at him through the mirror.
Joseph jumped at her sudden appearance. Ellen laughed. He did have a tendency to jump when she was around.
He recovered quickly, however, and went back to looking at his reflection with a frown.
“I like it,” he said. “At least, I believe I do.”
Ellen frowned at his reflection, then turned to survey him directly. “What don’t you like about it?” she said, brushing her hand over the lapel, then along his arm.
A splash of color came to his cheeks at her touch.
He cleared his throat, then said, “The fit isn’t quite right.”
Ellen took another look. “You’re right. It isn’t.” She studied him in the mirror again, then said, “Is there another one you like better?”
Of all things, he looked embarrassed. “Yes, there was,” he admitted. “But I’m afraid…I’m afraid it is a bit too dear for me.”
Ellen pursed her lips. That was a sweet way of admitting he couldn’t afford what he truly wanted. Knowing that pinched at her heart a little. Joseph was a proud man. His entire family was proud, and they had the heritage to back that up. But Montrose truly had damaged them. To the point where Joseph couldn’t even purchase the suit he wanted.
She made up her mind right then and there that, even though it was highly improper, she was going to help the man she was probably going to marry in the way she knew best.
“Where is the suit you liked more?” she asked, glancing around as if it would leap out at her.
“I left it in the changing room,” he said with a defeated sigh.
“Come on,” she said, taking his arm. “Show me where that is. I want to look at this other suit.”
“It is just through this way,” Joseph said, leading her across the corner of the department to a narrow hallway.
Ellen noted that, as had been the case with her at first, none of the store’s staff had been helping Joseph. She spotted a man at the other side of the room, behind a counter, folding shirts, but he was firmly ignoring Joseph.