She’d been so busy she’d completely forgotten that Nellie had been invited to the ball as well.
“Let me see the dress,” Terel whispered.
“Of course,” the dressmaker said, smiling as she stepped behind a curtain into her workroom. “I am very proud of it. I consider it one of my finest creations. I never knew Nellie had such excellent taste in clothes. Of course, the whole town is saying that there is a great deal that they never noticed about Nellie. I for one never realized she was a beauty.” She stepped back through the curtain, a gown of ice-blue satin across her arms. “Nellie looks lovely in the dress, really lovely.”
The gown was very simple, off the shoulder, low-cut, and Terel knew that Nellie would indeed look lovely in it.
The dressmaker looked at Terel’s stricken face. “Have I said something wrong? Perhaps Nellie meant this as a surprise, and now I’ve spoiled it.”
“Yes,” Terel said, trying to recover. “I think it was meant to be a surprise. I was hoping Nellie could go to the ball, but I wasn’t sure she’d be able to.”
“Nellie said something about that. Actually, what she said was quite odd. She said that since both you and your father were going to be out that evening, she didn’t think that her going to the ball would disturb your comfort. Wasn’t that strange? ‘Disturb your comfort.’ That’s just what she said.”
Terel turned away from Nellie’s beautiful gown. “Perhaps you’d better send the dresses separately, so when I see Nellie’s dress I can be properly surprised.”
“Yes, of course. That’s a good idea.”
Later, when Terel was on the street, she knew what she was going to do. She stopped at the five-and-dime and bought a large bag of children’s marbles.
Nellie smoothed the ball gown as it draped across her bed. There was a flutter of anticipation inside her as she touched the blue silk. She knew that tonight was going to be very special. For a moment she closed her eyes and imagined waltzing with Jace.
A knock on the door brought her back to reality. Her first thought was to hide her dress, but Terel entered before Nellie could move.
“Nellie, I wondered—” Terel began, but then she saw the gown. “How beautiful, how utterly beautiful.” She gave Nellie a look of surprise. “Why, it totally slipped my mind that you are going to the ball tonight, too.”
Nellie could feel her face turning red. “Mr. Montgomery invited me, and I thought that since both you and Father would be gone this evening that you wouldn’t mind if I went out. I wouldn’t stay for the whole ball. I…” She could feel her hopes for the evening fade as she saw anger on Terel’s face.
“Nellie, you act as though Father and I are monsters, or worse, jailers. I don’t like being thought of as an ogre.”
“No, of course not. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just didn’t want to interfere with your…your comfort. I don’t have to go to the ball. I can—”
Terel took a few steps across the room and kissed Nellie’s cheek. “How silly you are. My comfort, indeed. Your comfort is what’s important.” She picked up the gown from the bed. “This is beautiful, and when you’re wearing it you will be beautiful also. Oh, Nellie, we’ll be the two prettiest girls there.”
Nellie smiled. “Do you think so?”
“I’m sure of it.” She held the dress up to the light. “This really is the most exquisite silk, and the color is perfect for you. Did you choose it yourself?”
“Yes,” Nellie said, beginning to relax, and she wondered what she had been afraid of. She had purposely hidden the dress from Terel, had kept secret the fact that she was going to the ball.
Carefully, so as not to crease the dress, Terel put it across her arms. “We have to get dressed together. I’ll help you with your hair, and—Nellie, my opal necklace would look divine with this dress. Come on,” she said when she was at the door. “Don’t just stand there, we have work to do. Tomorrow everyone in town will be talking about the Grayson girls.”
Nellie felt so happy she wanted to cry. What in the world had she been worried about? Smiling, she followed Terel out of the room.
Three hours later Nellie stood before the long mirror in Terel’s room. Her dress looked even better than she’d hoped it would, and the opal necklace was perfect with it. Her hair was fuller on one side than the other, and the curls over her forehead were scorched from the curling iron and a little odd-looking, but Terel admitted she wasn’t very good with hair. Nellie didn’t mind. For the first time Nellie thought the reflection staring back at her was pretty, and, along with feeling that she looked good, Nellie felt warm inside because of the pleasant three hours she had spent with her sister. This afternoon it had seemed like they really were sisters, rather than, as Nellie often felt, mother and daughter. They had arranged each other’s hair, pulled each other’s corset strings, and profusely admired each other’s gowns.
“You’ll have to choose fabrics for me,” Terel said, looking at Nellie in her cool blue gown. “Maybe you would have chosen a different ball gown for me.”
Feeling almost lightheaded with joy over the coming evening and for once not feeling old and frumpy, Nellie spoke before she thought. “Fewer roses and not that shade of pink.”
Terel’s smile left her face. “Oh?”
Some of Nellie’s joy fled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I just meant that…” She couldn’t think what to say.
Terel smiled again and sat down at her dressing table. “Perhaps you’re right. Next time I want you to choose my dresses for me. Oh my, look at the time! The men will be here soon.”
Nellie’s breath quickened at just the thought of seeing Jace again.
“Oh, heavens,” Terel said, “I’ve done it again. I’ve left the cap off the bottle of ink. I was writing thank-you notes and forgot the cap. Nellie, would you hand me the bottle? And be careful, don’t spill it.”
Smiling, still thinking of Jace, Nellie went to the table by the bed and picked up the bottle of India ink. She did not see Terel open the bag of marbles and dump them on the floor. As they began to roll across the floor Terel covered the noise by going into a coughing fit. Nellie, concerned, ran to her sister. She had not taken three steps before she stepped on a marble and slipped, falling sideways against Terel’s bed.
“Nellie!” Terel exclaimed. “Look at you!”
To her horror, Nellie looked down at her beautiful gown, at the ink saturating the skirt. The dress was ruined beyond repair.
“Quick, get it off. We’ll soak the ink out and—”
“It’s ruined,” Nellie whispered, standing, then bending to pick up two marbles.
“Where did they come from?” Terel asked.
“They were on the floor.”
Terel put her hand to her mouth in horror. “Oh, no, Nellie, is that what caused you to slip? I bought the marbles to take to the Taggert children. I thought it might help the Taggerts to forgive me for what happened last year. I never thought—”
Terel said more, but Nellie wasn’t listening. Part of her was telling herself that she should have known that something would happen to ruin this evening. She had wanted it too much for it to have come about. Another part of her was enraged. How could Terel have done this to her?
“It was an accident,” she muttered to herself.
“Of course it was an accident,” Terel said, indignant. “You don’t think that I—that I could have…” She put her hands over her face. “Nellie, how could you hate me so much as to think that I could have wanted to ruin your dress? Why would I have wanted to hurt you?”
Nellie’s anger left her as she hugged Terel. “I’m sorry. Of course it was an accident. Of course you wouldn’t have done something like this.” She looked down at her dress. Now she wouldn’t be able to go to the ball, for she had no other dress at all suitable.
Terel pushed away from Nellie. “We must hurry and find you something else to wear. The men will be here soon.”
“I have nothing else,” Nellie said tiredly.
br /> “Then you’ll have to wear something of mine. You can wear my green gown. The color will look good on you.”
Nellie was trying to keep her dignity. “I could not possibly wear one of your dresses. I’m too…I’m not your size.”
“Oh,” Terel said, looking at Nellie. “I don’t guess we can even let out the seams enough. We’ll just have to borrow a dress. Now, who in town is your size?”
“No one is my size,” Nellie said, fighting tears. “No one at all.”
“Mrs. Hutchinson,” Terel said thoughtfully. “Yes, that’s it, we’ll go to Mrs. Hutchinson and—”
Mrs. Hutchinson was a horrid old woman who lived on the edge of town. She was three hundred pounds if she was an ounce, and she dressed like a man and smelled like the pigs she raised. It was rumored that in her younger days she had been a mule skinner.
“No,” Terel said, “Mrs. Hutchinson would never have a ball gown. But who else in town is as large as you?”
The muscles in Nellie’s throat were working as she tried to keep from crying. Was she as fat as Mrs. Hutchinson?
Terel put her shoulders back. “I shan’t go. If my sister can’t go, then I won’t either.”
Nellie wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “That’s ridiculous. Of course you’ll go.”
Terel began picking up marbles from the floor. “No, I won’t. What kind of sister would I be if I let you stay here all alone, and besides it was my ink, and I’m the one who bought the marbles. And it was my coughing that must have knocked them off the table. I shouldn’t have coughed. I don’t know why I’ve been coughing lately. I must go see Dr. Westfield. I should probably stay home tonight and rest anyway. You and I will make cookies, and you can eat all of them. Yes, Nellie, that’s what we’ll do. Now, will you help me out of my dress? Anyway, you said it was an ugly dress.”
Terel’s words made Nellie stop thinking of herself. “Your dress is beautiful, and you are beautiful, and you must go to the ball.”
“Not without you.”
It took Nellie forty-five minutes to persuade Terel to go to the ball without her. Her escort came and had to wait in the parlor for thirty minutes while Nellie tried to persuade Terel to go without her. But at last Terel left with her escort in a swirl of roses and lace and pink silk, and Nellie closed the door behind them.
She was still wearing her blue dress, the ink stain now over most of the skirt. Hunger attacked her, deep, gnawing hunger. She pushed away from the door and started for the kitchen, but a knock on the door halted her. She opened it to see Jace standing there. He wore dark evening clothes, and he looked as handsome as a prince in a fairy tale.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said, “but there were cows on the railroad track, and the train was delayed, and—Nellie, what’s wrong?”
Even as he said it he pulled her into his arms, and her tears, held back for over an hour now, came pouring out. Jace could hardly understand what she was saying. He pulled her head off his shoulder and put his fingers under her chin. “What is this about your not being able to go?”
“My gown is ruined.”
He stepped back to look at her skirt. “Your little sister been at it again?”
“Terel didn’t do this. She was coughing, and the marbles fell, and I—”
“Uh-huh. Sure.” He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped Nellie’s eyes. “Now, sweetheart, blow your nose, because I have a surprise for you.” He stepped back to reveal two people behind him, a man and a woman. The man’s arms were full of boxes, and the woman carried a little leather case. Nellie looked at Jace questioningly.
“This is Houston’s maid, and she’s come to do your hair.” He looked at the curls on Nellie’s head. “Did Terel burn yours?”
“She didn’t mean to, she—”
“And the man has a few pieces of clothing for you.”
“Clothing? I don’t understand.”
“Go upstairs and let Elsie get you dressed. I can explain everything later. Your sister is gone, isn’t she? I don’t want ink on this dress, and I don’t want her burning your hair off.”
“Terel didn’t—”
“Scoot!” he ordered, and Nellie obeyed him, hurrying up the stairs, the two servants behind her.
Houston’s maid was quick, efficient, and very good with hair. “Such beautiful, thick hair,” she said as she coiled Nellie’s hair expertly and pinned it into place. “And what perfect skin!”
Nellie felt herself blushing under the woman’s compliments. It was when she saw the dress that Nellie was speechless.
“We must remove your ruined gown and—”
“I can’t wear that,” Nellie gasped. “It’s too beautiful for me.” The dress was of a heavenly silver satin and it was embroidered all over the skirt with seed pearls. The low, square-cut bodice had sleeves of silver lace. It was the most exquisite, divinely beautiful dress Nellie had ever seen.
Houston’s maid didn’t put up with Nellie’s hesitations. Within minutes she had Nellie out of her ruined dress and into the silver one. Nellie stood before the mirror looking at herself. She could not believe that the reflection she was seeing was her own.
“And now for the jewels,” Elsie said. She fastened a necklace of three tiers of diamonds around Nellie’s neck, and then more diamonds in her ears. Three diamond clusters went into Nellie’s hair.
“Is that me?” Nellie whispered at the mirror.
“Stunning,” Elsie said, smiling. “You will be the most beautiful girl there.”
Nellie looked away from the mirror. “I am not a girl, and, at this size, I am not beautiful.”
“Mr. Montgomery doesn’t seem to believe anything is wrong with your size.”
“He doesn’t, does he?” Nellie said in wonder, looking back at the mirror. Tonight she could almost believe that she wasn’t an old maid, wasn’t a fat woman past her prime.
“That’s better,” Elsie said, laughing. “I hope you have a wonderful time tonight.”
“I do, too.” Nellie smiled and thought of Terel. Now Terel wouldn’t have to feel bad about the accident with the ink.
Downstairs, any doubts she had about the way she looked vanished when she saw Jace. For the first time in her life Nellie experienced how beautiful a woman can feel when her beauty is reflected in a man’s eyes. Jace looked at her with some awe, and Nellie felt herself change. She swept down the stairs, basking in Jace’s admiration.
“Are those flowers for me?” she asked when she was standing before him. He was gaping at her, unable to say a word.
Nellie laughed and took the flowers from his hand as Elsie slipped a mink cape about Nellie’s shoulders.
“Go on,” Elsie said, urging them out the door.
In the carriage, driving up to the Taggerts’ house, Jace kept looking at her as though he’d never seen her before. By the time they reached the ball, Nellie was feeling as though maybe Elsie had been right—as though she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
They were the last ones to arrive at the ball, and when a footman started to help Nellie off with her cloak Jace possessively pushed him away.
“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life,” Jace whispered. “I’m not sure I want any other men to look at you.”
Nellie smiled at him. “I’m sure you’re the only man here who will think a fat old maid like me is pretty,” she said, but for the first time she didn’t believe the words. Tonight, in this dress, she didn’t feel fat or old.
Inside the ballroom, other men looked at Nellie in much the same way that Jace had.
“Is that Nellie Grayson?” one man asked.
“That is Terel’s sister?”
“Terel who?”
Laughing, the men descended on Nellie and Jace.
“Well?” Houston asked her husband Kane as he stared at Nellie. “What was it you said about ‘fat ladies’?”
Kane grinned. “There’s fat and there’s fat. She looks like a peach, as plump and as ri
pe as a peach.”
Houston slipped her arm through her husband’s. “Knowing your love for peaches, I think I’d as soon you stayed away from Nellie.”
He smiled down at his wife. “I’ll bet that little sister of hers ain’t gonna like Nellie’s looks.”
“I fear not,” Houston said softly.
It took Terel a while to realize that her audience of adoring men was leaving her. Since she’d arrived, she’d been the most popular girl in the room. She had been swamped with invitations for dances, and for social events in the coming weeks. She had sat on a lovely gilt chair and held court with all the condescension of a princess talking to her subjects. Louisa, Charlene, and Mae had stood together in a corner and given Terel looks of rage. Each look had made Terel feel even better.
Six men had left before she realized the numbers were dwindling. She saw one very handsome man punch another and motion with his head. Both men disappeared into the crowd. Terel looked at Charlene and saw that she, too, was looking toward the center of the room.
Terel stopped fluttering her fan and, as the music stopped and the dancers drew aside, she saw what everyone was looking at. In the center of the room, wearing a dress that any woman would sell her soul for, was Nellie. Only this Nellie, with her head up, with diamonds flashing off her body, with a smile of happiness on her beautiful face, was not the Nellie who washed and ironed clothes. This Nellie was altogether different.
She was looking up at Jace Montgomery, and Terel saw that he was even better-looking than usual, and he was looking at Nellie as no man had ever looked at Terel.
Terel clenched her fists so hard, her nails cut into her palms.
“Who would have thought,” Charlene whispered, “that your competition would come from your own sister?” She was very angry at Terel’s recent and inexplicable popularity.
“Doesn’t Nellie look nice?” Mae said. “I’ve never seen her look so pretty. Where do you think she got that dress?”
Terel began to realize that people were looking at her. She forced a smile, then stood and made her way toward Nellie.