Page 40 of The Tailor's Treasure

Aline scoffed."Your husband won't have money for silk, he'll be a butcher or a carpenter.No wealthy man wants a second daughter, especially one with a pointy nose and a squint."

"I've the same nose as you, and I don't squint!"

"Mine looks better because my face isn't so round," Aline said, a smug smile playing about her lips."And youdosquint, and have small eyes besides.You look like a shrew in a hedgerow."

Petronilla balled up her fists."Wellyoulook like a horse with all its teeth sticking out."It was a weak insult, not least which because everyone in the room knew it wasn't true."And Flanders is all filled with coarse people anyhow.I suppose you'll fit in amongst them all, in your ugly dress with its silly sleeves."

"Flanders is where all the cleverest people live, so you'd have a dreadful time there," Aline shot back."But it won't matter anyhow, because the only man Mother and Father will be able to find for you will be an old widower with no teeth and ten children who needs a nursemaid for them.It's the only reason he'd look past your face."

"Enough, both of you," Isabel said wearily, just as Petronilla drew breath to lob an insult back – what sort of insult, Isabel didn't care to contemplate.Both girls were very red in the face.A childish quarrel, the sort to be expected from girls of their age.And in a few years, they would be brides.

"What are you doing?"At the sound of Hilda's voice, Isabel sat up straight in her chair, and the girls did likewise.Hilda was standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips."And where's Walter?I keep you on to take care of him, and you can't even keep him close to hand?"

"He's in the nursery, asleep," Isabel said.Though it was likely he'd be awake by now – he never napped for more than an hour at a time."Do you have need of him?"

"Don't talk nonsense, of course I don't," Hilda snapped."I've need of you to go to market and fetch fresh beef for supper tonight.You ought to have been on your way already, but I suppose it's too much to expect that you carry out your duties without me always at your shoulder.As if I haven't responsibilities enough already."

Isabel felt it prudent not to point out that this was the first she was hearing of the need for a trip to the market, or that she was sitting with the girls on Hilda's own instructions.She got to her feet, laying her work – which she had, unfortunately, not managed to finish that morning; she'd have to sit up with it after supper to make sure it was done on time – in its basket."I'll fetch Walter and dress him, then," she said, "and we'll be on our way."If Hilda wished to offer her an excuse to escape the house – whatever her motivations – Isabel was certainly not going to gainsay her.

# # #

"Oh, it's wonderful!"Leah spun in a circle, her arms flung wide.Her skirts - which Isabel had cut wide, the better to suit the train - swung out around her, the embroidery catching the early afternoon light as she did so.But even the gold thread did not shine so brightly as Leah's smile: she was beaming so widely, Isabel was almost surprised her face did not split in two.Her mother stood by, watching her with a fond expression tinged faintly with sadness.Isabel could not blame her: to see one's child happy was a blessing, but her happiness also occasioned her marrying and leaving home.Isabel could well imagine the grief she would feel when Walter was grown and had no further need of her; she couldnotimagine how the same grief would redouble at the loss of a daughter, who would face such peril as a wife.Leah was not Isabel - she seemed, from all that Isabel had seen and heard, to be marrying a young man who loved her.But Isabel looked at her mother and saw her own fears echoed: not that something would go wrong, but that if itdid, she would be powerless to protect her child.

Beside her, Constance cleared her throat, and Isabel shook herself out of her reverie."The wearer makes the dress," she murmured.Leah - who did not appear to have noticed her woolgathering - had stopped spinning, and was now hugging herself in delight.In spite of what the dress portended, it was difficult for Isabel not to feel her joy catching.She was so obviously and effusively happy, it made everyone in the room smile just to look at her."My work would be a paltry thing without anyone to wear it."

"You make too little of yourself."Constance was leaning on the tabletop, giving Isabel a sidelong look even as she smiled at Leah."Your work is exquisite, I've told you a dozen times.It's a piece of luck that you've been paired with such a happy bride."Isabel blushed and looked down, and Constance addressed herself next to Leah."When your intended sees you, he'll think you a princess."

"He already does," Leah's mother said dryly."If Baruch made any more of you, it would turn your head entirely.Come here, your veil needs fixing."

Leah went, apparently unconcerned with her mother's mild reproach.Her mother - Belia, Constance had called her - straightened Leah's veil where it had begun to droop on one side, then pinned it in place and patted her cheek, her face softening."You look very well."

"I look well because I'm happy," Leah said, laughing, and threw her arms around her mother."I'll look better on my wedding day."

"Will you be happy then?"The question from Margery - who Isabel had entirely forgotten was in the room - prompted her to turn and look at the girl.She was sitting on a stool beside the work table; she'd been in the shop, helping them with a new order, when Leah and her mother had arrived.She'd subsided quickly into a corner then, which had taken Isabel by surprise - Margery did not strike her as shy by nature - but now she was leaning forward, watching Leah and Belia with a furrowed brow."When you're married?"

"Of course!"Leah turned to face Margery fully, her face still lit with a smile.It struck Isabel then, how few years there were between the two of them - Margery was nearly fifteen, and Leah no older than nineteen at her reckoning.Five years, and a world of difference.They were consequential years, of course - but Isabel suspected that the difference in their ages was not the sole reason for their diverging outlooks."Baruch and I have been waiting to wed for nearly two years.Papa wouldn't allow it until he was established in his trade."She hugged herself again."I promised him I'd wait as long as it took, and I prayed every day for God to bless us.And Hedid."

Margery did not look convinced."But you'll have to keep his house from now on, and have his children.Won't you be bored?"

"Margery," Constance said, gentle but unyielding."That's enough."

"What else would I do?"Leah looked genuinely baffled at Margery's line of questioning."Iwantto have his children.I've always wanted that.We've already decided we'll call a boy Vives, and a girl Ester.I want four children altogether, so they'll all have someone to play with.I was so lonely when I was small."She caught her mother's eye and smiled apologetically."Though I had my cousins to play with, of course.Anyhow, Baruch will go into business with another goldsmith, and we'll build a fine house of our own out of oak, with paintings on all the walls.I love to paint.And he says he'll have a chain made for me all studded with pearls, but I don't care so much about the pearls.I just want him."She looked at Margery, her head cocked to one side."Haven't you a sweetheart of your own?You'd understand if you did."

Margery's answering look was blank."I don't want one."

"Perhaps you don't now," Belia said with a gentle smile that Isabel knew Margery would bristle at."You're bound to change your mind when you're grown."She patted her daughter's shoulder."Leah and Baruch met when they were small, so it was all settled long ago.But not all women are so lucky.Besides, you'll have your own household when you wed - surely that will be a great blessing for you, to oversee matters as you see fit.I know I was pleased to be out from under my mother's eye, when the time came."

Margery pursed her lips, but said nothing.Isabel stepped around the table and laid a gentle hand on her arm."Will you go into the bedroom?"she said."I've left my purse in there, and I've a sampling of threads to show Leah before she goes."She no longer feared an eruption of ill-chosen words from Margery - she'd held her tongue far better than Isabel would have anticipated, given their prior conversations - but she still thought it best to send her out of the room to settle awhile.The fact that her purse was not, after all, in the bedroom - it was under the workbench, where she'd left it when last she visited - would keep her occupied for a good while.Margery went, still looking pensive.

"I can hardly credit it, that a girl would not wish for a husband of her own," Belia said once Margery was gone."I was desperate to be wed, at her age."

"Margery has always known her own mind," Constance said.She picked up Leah's second dress where it lay on the table."Will you try this one next, Leah?The embroidery is not finished yet, but we must be certain of the fit."

The rest of the afternoon passed in relative peace; Margery returned empty-handed after a quarter hour, but voiced no further objections to Leah's plans, so Isabel counted her gambit successful.After Leah and Belia had left for home - the second dress was, indeed, to Leah's liking, which left Isabel with only the sleeve embroidery to finish - and Margery had been dispatched back to her mother, Constance shut and bolted the front door, leaning back against it with a sigh."I've no quarrel with any of them, but God knows Leah, Belia, and Margery all at once are a stronger taste than I'm fitted for."

Isabel went to her and took her hand, leaning against her until their shoulders bumped.More than that still felt tremulous, out of reach - but she wanted that point of contact."They're all certain of themselves, to be sure."

"One way of putting it."Constance turned to the side so that she could take Isabel in her arms, leaning up to press a kiss to her cheek."Though I suppose it serves them better than if they were weak-willed.No one will ever force Leah into a match she doesn't want."