Anio Szado Read Online Free PDF Page A

fee. Neither could I, for that matter—but my relationship with the Alliance ran deeper than money could reach. She wanted to use my connections as she had used my designs. This from the professor who had driven me to work the skin of my fingers to bleeding, to perfect the details, to never compromise. She hadn’t even let her students backstitch to lock the thread at the end of a run; she had insisted we pull both threads to the same side and knot them by hand.
    “I thought you didn’t go in for shortcuts, Madame.”
    “And yet I offer you this one.”
    That wasn’t what I meant.
    She said, “I suppose I am a sentimentalist. You have so much potential, yet no future in this industry. Your family name won’t bring you success on its own; it will take you years to build a fledgling reputation such as I already enjoy. Even if you can afford a workspace and supplies, much of the fabric I have here can’t be purchased anymore; just try to find European wools and Oriental silks. It could be years before the shelves are restocked. But shall I tell you why I really pity you? It is because you don’t have the character to make it in fashion on your own.”
    “You’re wrong,” I said, but I could not hold Madame’s gaze. How could she be anything but right? The proof was in the outcome of my portfolio critique: I had let myself be tricked and used. I had been prepared to fail.
    “Then perhaps you are too proud to earn your keep?”
    “I work very hard, and you know it.”
    “You used to. I offer you the chance to do so again.”
    “For pay.”
    “
Mon Dieu
. You are so pedantic. Naturally there is little salary until we have an established clientele. I expect you to proveyour value.” She paused. “I will give to you a weekly stipend to start, as a gesture of goodwill, plus a percentage of sales. Not all underlings could hope for as much. Naturally, you must bring in commissions.”
    “Me?”
    “You are expecting to be rewarded for simply showing up?”
    The old nervous shaking started up in my knees, but I took a deep breath. Madame might be able to find someone who matched my skills, but none who was a Lachapelle. If she really wanted me, if she needed me in order to gain a foothold with the wealthy expatriates, I wasn’t powerless.
    I lifted my chin. “I’ll prove myself. And when I do, you’ll make me a partner in the studio. Promise it.”
    “But of course,” Madame said lightly, as easily as if I had asked her to pass a box of pins.
    Leo didn’t come home that night—he seemed to have more on the go than just building rides and rails—so I left him a note the next morning: “I got a job. I’m starting today. I’ll tell you about it when I get home.”
    At the studio, I had hardly put down my purse when Madame Fiche handed me a sheet of paper and pointed to a haphazard pile of pattern pieces. “Redraft the pattern to these measurements and sew up a muslin for fitting. My new client, Mrs. Brossard, had her former couturier drop off her measurements so we can get under way immediately. The client is in a terrific rush, a crisis. You’ll need to confirm or correct the size tomorrow when we see her. Leave a good degree of selvage on the muslin. In fact, construct a second muslin at least a size larger all around; when we see her we will know which one to work with.”
    “Wouldn’t it be better to take the client’s measurements ourselves?”
    “She is away until tomorrow; even I have not yet met her.Shall we proceed immediately, or do you prefer that we render it impossible to meet her deadline? The lady demands speed. She shall have it—if you will deign to apply yourself to that which you have been hired to do. Tomorrow we will go with the two muslins and fit the most appropriate one directly on her. The next day, we deliver the finished coat. It will be fun to work so quickly, don’t you think?”
    Maybe not, but I felt the exhilaration of having finally returned to the work I was meant to