She Walks in Beauty Read Online Free PDF Page B

shopgirl to work packaging up our purchase, Aunt pulled me around the store. She selected a dozen pairs of silk stockings and a season’s worth of muffs and parasols to match the wardrobe she had ordered from the dressmaker.
    I returned home worn from the noise of the city and fatigued by all the sights and sounds we had passed on our journey. But it was Thursday—today I would see Lizzie!

    As the appointed hour neared for our meeting, I tried to find some reason to wander to the garden. It would not have been difficult in spring or summer, but most of the flowers had fallen to the frosts of October and the birds had already fled for gentler climes. I finally decided to simply slip out. But deciding was one thing and doing it was another matter entirely. As I walked on light feet past Aunt’s room, I saw her sitting in a chair reading a newspaper.
    One of the dogs stood watch by her door. It seemed to eye me suspiciously as I passed and breathed a low growl.
    “Who’s there?” There came the sound of a teacup finding its saucer.
    If I lingered too long, Aunt might lower her newspaper and then she would discover me. And in truth, no one could answer if no one was there. I hurried on down the front stair, the thick carpet masking the sound of my steps.
    Once outside, I headed toward the hedge. It had grown since I had last sought its refuge. There had been no reason for meeting in such places once we had given up our dolls and once Miss Miller could provide an escort to and from my friend’s house. But how clever of Lizzie to think such a thought! To remember the way from her gate through the neighbor’s garden and into mine.
    “Lizzie?”
    “Clara!” A hand reached out, clutching at my elbow and pulling me straight into the shrubbery. “I’ve been sitting here for … for days !”
    “I’m sorry but . . .” I steeled my courage. “I have something that I must tell you.”
    “And I have something to tell you.”
    She did? That was good—it would delay me from telling her about the debut. “You first.”
    “No, you. You said so first.”
    I nibbled at my lip. I supposed the best thing to do was simply to say it. “Aunt has decided, in spite of everything I could think of to convince her otherwise, that I’m to debut. This season.”
    I had expected despair from Lizzie, but she gasped and then began to giggle. “But that’s wonderful. I’m to debut as well! That’s what I was going to tell you.”
    “You are? But—”
    “We’ll be together, then, just as we always planned.”
    Just as we always planned. For the first time since Aunt had announced my debut, I felt hope. Lizzie would make sure I didn’t fail. I began to smile. But then I remembered my other secret. I leaned close, not willing to disclose my shame to any ears but her own. “ And . . . I’m wearing a corset.”
    “Me too!”
    If I could have laughed in relief, I would have, but I didn’t have the breath to do it. “Do you find it … I mean … eating … ?” The problem wasn’t actually with eating. The trouble began afterward, once the food lay in my stomach. It simply stayed there for what seemed like hours after meals. I’d already given up eating green apples.
    Lizzie wrinkled her nose. “Eating? With the corset?” She shook her head. “It’s a pity one has to at all. But, here! Let me show you.” Lizzie began to unbutton her bodice.
    “Lizzie!”
    “You have to see it. It’s the most gorgeous thing.”
    With a roll of her shoulder, she cast back her garment, revealing the very same corset that I had coveted. The one with all the lace and cascades of ribbons. Then she pulled her bodice back up and buttoned it closed beneath her chin.
    “Now show me yours.”
    “You don’t want to see it.”
    “But I do—show me!” She was looking at me as if she might start to unbutton my bodice herself. “Did you pick satin or silk?”
    “I didn’t pick at all. Aunt picked.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “So is it …