Page 8 of The Tailor's Treasure

"Father!"Leah blushed pink."You needn't spend so much, when I'll only need a day dress."

"And a wedding dress," he reminded her, "and one to spare, just in case."He reached out and tweaked one of her curls, which had worked its way out from underneath her veil."If I'm to see my only daughter wed, I'll not skimp on the expense.Allow me a fatherly indulgence."

"Three would be seventy-five pence altogether," Constance said.She could hardly believe it even as the words left her mouth.Seventy-five pence was six shillings, more than enough to pay off her remaining debts with a little left over.It would keep her on her feet until she was able to find further custom.It would, quite effectively, save her life and Peter's.And it was being dropped in her lap like manna from heaven, with the only condition being that she -

The thought stopped her cold in her tracks.If she agreed to the deal, that meant she would have to actually produce the dresses, a skill which she had singularly failed to demonstrate in the past eight months of frantically attempting to retain customers.And she would have to do it quickly, with no time for errors or going back to start over.What would happen if she agreed and then failed to hold up her end of the bargain?Penury, almost certainly.She couldn't afford to agree to this.

But she couldn't afford not to, either.

"Seventy-five for three dresses."Avram nodded."The price is acceptable.To be paid half to begin, and half once the dresses are finished?"

Constance nodded, her jaw clenched.If taking on the job committed her to succeeding, taking the money up frontreallycommitted her to it.It would be fraud if she didn't, and there would be no excuse to offer if she failed: she could hardly tell Avram and Leah after the fact that she'd taken on the task knowing that she was incapable.God help her, she would have to find some way of accomplishing the impossible.The only way out was through.

"I will have to take her measurements, of course," she said, and was pleased to find that her voice held steady.She'd always prided herself on keeping a calm head in a crisis, and the current situation was no different."If you've a moment now -"

"Oh, we can't," Leah said, her face falling."We're to meet with the rabbi before noon, to make arrangements for the ceremony."

"That's perfectly fine."Better than fine, in fact; it would give her at least half a day to plan.She could speak with Peter, and with Jack - possibly even with Matilda, depending on what she decided to do next.Having an idea of what she would do next would work wonders on her unsteady nerves."Would tomorrow be suitable?After noon?"

"I hardly see why not," Avram said."Leah, tell your mother not to invite anyone to dinner tomorrow, for we'll not be here to greet them.Along with you, then."He made a gentle shooing motion at her, and she turned to leave, sketching a little half-curtsy and beaming at Constance as she went.Constance inclined her head in return, feeling her heart give a tug at Leah's obvious excitement.Money troubles aside, she would feel dreadfully guilty if she let her down.

"Thank you," she said to Avram, "for your generosity, and your - your assistance.I hardly know what to say."

"Business is no charity," he said mildly."I have offered you my services, and now you offer yours in turn.And may we both have cause to be glad of it, hey?"

Constance nodded, thinking,may we indeed.

CHAPTER THREE

As matters transpired, it took Isabel a week to finish the embroidery.It wasn't owing to the difficulty of the design - she'd embroidered vines before, and could have done so again in her sleep - but to Hilda, who seemed to have an unerring sense for when Isabel desperately wanted a moment to herself and a will to ensure her wishes would be denied.She kept Isabel run off her feet with errands, chores, and lessons for the girls, and Isabel was only able to snatch a quarter-hour at a time to work on the dress.She was fortunate in that she finished it on a feast day; the whole family had gone to dine at a neighbour's house and left her home alone with Walter.They wouldn't be back until nightfall, and so would not be around to take notice of the fact that she meant to abscond for the rest of the afternoon.

Lacking anyone to watch Walter - she might have left him with her sister-in-law, but the day was chilly and she didn't wish to prolong the time she spent walking outdoors - she took him with her to Constance's.The cold hardly seemed to bother him, for he refused to wear his mittens no matter how she coaxed, and took little notice of the fact that his hands were red and chapped by the time they arrived.He also managed to find several puddles along the way and darted away from her to jump in each one, splashing himself up to the knees with freezing water.How he could possibly be enjoying himself, Isabel didn't know, but the grin on his face was proof enough that he was.

She scooped him up when they got to the shop, not wanting him to track muddy footprints all over Constance's clean floor."Hello?"she called, pushing the door open."C- that is, Mistress Rykener?"She was more than a little surprised that she'd managed to recall Constance's family name, but it had somehow stuck in her thoughts.A great deal of that afternoon had, in truth: the warmth of Constance's hearth and the ease of her smile, Walter's delight over the cat and the toy Constance had offered him, the overwhelming relief she had felt when she burst through the crowd to see Walter safe and sitting at Constance's feet.She hadn't realized how much she needed an easeful hour or two until she finally got one.

"Mistress Rykener?"she called again, tugging off Walter's shoes before she set him down to wander.The main room of the shop was dark, but not cold - the shutters were all closed up, but a fire was clearly still burning somewhere in the house.Perhaps Constance had just stepped out, then.Isabel could simply leave the dress on Constance's table and take her leave - but she felt she ought to explain the embroidery which had not been there when Constance had loaned it to her.Besides, she needed to reclaim her dress and shift as well, and she didn't wish to go rooting about in Constance's things to find them.Better to sit and wait for her to return.Besides, it wasn't as if she were anxious to return home.