The Might of Evil Dreams (A Novel of the Elemental Chronicles)

Thirteen - Treachery Exposed

Thomas

I was off to Taunton the following day. I knew Emmeline's measurements well enough by now that I could give them to the tailor without much hesitation. The last time I was here I'd seen a dress in the window, made of shimmering dark green silk. It would obviously have to be modified to allow for the child, but the moment I'd laid eyes on it, I knew it had to be hers.

And, in a stroke of luck, it was still there. I hitched Thor to the fencepost and then entered, the bell on the door tinkling. The tailor, behind the counter, was already dealing with another customer — a well-dressed woman in a large hat. She took a glance over her shoulder, and I recognised her face instantly.

"Lady Violet?" I took my own hat off and stepped forward. "Fancy seeing you here."

She turned fully towards me and gave me a dazzling smile. "Captain Haywood. What a pleasant surprise this is."

"Considering Mr Blake is the only master tailor from here to Bristol, I should think neither of us would be surprised." I gave the back of her hand a kiss.

"What brings you here, Captain? No doubt you've heard of Sir William's New Year's masked ball by now." She let out a heavy exhale as she turned back to the length of light blue silk laid out before her. "He expects nothing but the best, I'm afraid."

"That is the reason, as a matter of fact." I leaned towards Mr Blake. "How much is the dress in the window, Mr Blake? I believe it would suit my wife perfectly."

"Hundred pounds, Captain Haywood. That's without alterations." He didn't look up from the silk.

"Would it fit a woman with child? Say, four, nearly five months along?"

"Hundred twenty," said Mr Blake, and that made Lady Violet spin around again, her expression wavering somewhere between happiness and interest.

"A child?" Her eyes were bright and eager. "Captain, that's wonderful!"

"Emmeline does not quite believe it herself," I said, even as Lady Violet gave both my cheeks a kiss. "You mustn't tell her that you know."

"You will find I am quite good at replicating my reaction." She took both my hands in hers. "My sincerest congratulations to you both. I know the both of you will be wonderful parents."

"I appreciate the faith you put in us." I did not have the same kind of confidence. My father had been absent most of my childhood, and my mother was hardly the kind to shower us with affection. We'd been raised by a series of nannies. And as for Emmeline's upbringing, it seemed to me that she had no past at all.

In the end, I paid the full hundred-twenty for the dress, and an extra charge to have it delivered. When it came to my wife, I didn't mind the extravagance in the least. She deserved every happiness.

||

"Oh, Tom..." she said when she opened it two days later, arriving in a sturdy wooden box padded with velvet. "You didn't..."

"I did, my dear." I stood and kissed her forehead. "From the moment I saw it, I knew it was yours."

"I've never worn something this beautiful." She ran her fingers over the silk, brow furrowing. "How did you know...for me...?"

"Because green contrasts red, does it not? And I believe you already have the red."

She smiled and blushed. "Tom, honestly."

Still, the day of, I knew I had made the right choice. When I saw her descending the stairs — her hair pinned, curled, and woven with a ribbon and a string of pearls, a pendant on a ribbon at her throat, her dress shifting like water — I had to remind myself once again that this was my wife. She had an elegance and a grace about her that I hadn't seen before.