Curses & Cries ; Sebastian Sallow

chapter 14: The Flowers, the Dress & the Letters

"Well, if it were anyone else, I wouldn't care as much," she said.

"But that's not all." And, pulling out a leather-bound planner from his side, he said, "I've circled September 2nd on each one. That way, for the next five years, you'll always be thinking of the first day we met in the carriages."

"I think you like me a great deal too much, Sebastian." She thanked him over-dramatically and gave a quick, bright smile that filled him with warmth, and he kissed her forehead tenderly.

The next day was fine, and Letty and Sebastian's romance was to be had, for the household saw them together nearly every hour leading up to the big night.

When the time came to get ready for the ball and Ominis at last presented Letty with her silk dress, Poppy wandered into the room at the same moment, livid about her forgotten gloves at school.

"I must have gloves or I'll be miserable," said the girl.

"Then you'll have mine. My hands are not as quaint, but they're all yours. I'm clumsy with lace anyways," said Letty decidedly.

"My, that dress is as prim and without scrapes!" cried Amit from the doorway before coming into the room to play valet and aid. "Ominis, your taste is impeccable. May I get your tailor's name?"

When Ominis left, Amit became absorbed in the business of pampering Letty up for the party.

Samantha arrived that same morning coming from Irondale to help with her cousin's preparations, and so by lunch time there was a great deal of running up and down, laughing and talking, and at numerous times the girls shouting for Sebastian to stop peeking in the room. All were permitted inside besides him and Garreth, for the two gentlemen were the epitome of chaos, and therefore were restricted to only the first floor with Moloch to entertain arriving guests.

When Ominis came back, dressed in a dark ensemble, Poppy and Samantha had gone for a moment to tend to their own vanities, and Letty was alone. He glanced at her for the first time in the moire silk dress with its pleaded bodice, his own added touch, and her cheeks began to burn.

Her first instinct was to say, "I could be topless, you know."

To which Ominis replied, "Yes, well, light does bend differently through my eyes, however, I'm not completely blind. I see you. Though, I can only wish to see you clearly."

Neither of them said a word after that and were both feeling dizzy, when Moloch brought in a box of flowers.

Samantha and Poppy returned, exclaiming at the lovely assortment of gardenias and baby's-breath, which made them flutter about Letty in a mixed state.

"Wonder who they're from," Samantha said dryly.

"From Sebastian, of course. I mean, who else?" said Poppy.

"They are from Garreth Weasley," said Moloch, holding it to Letty.

Surprised, Poppy cried, "By jove!" at the same time Samantha said, "I thought Sebastian was your lover."

"He is. But I ought to thank Garreth later."

In a few minutes it really did seem as if kind spirits had been at work, as Amit and the girls arranged her hair, tinted her cheeks, handed her jewels, and applied perfume at the base of her throat, more of which was now exposed.

"LEE!" cried Samantha once her cousin set out from the chair and onto the bed. "Sit up! Shoulders straight! And take short steps in those heels. Your mother would have told you the same."

"Come, come," said Poppy, and she hooked arms with Letty. "Isn't that music just lovely?"

Down they went, feeling a trifle timid, for they seldom attended parties, and it would turn out a great event to them, to Letty most importantly, for when she reached the top of the stairs she saw the setting sun outside and Sebastian waiting at the bottom, guests and classmates milling by the ballroom.

Sebastian found it harder not to stare as she came nearer. He didn't seem to know where to begin, but Letty's eager questions soon set him going ("What do you think of it?" "Don't I look fashionable?") and he told her the same thing everybody else was saying, only his remark had meant a great deal more to her.

Garreth swelled with happiness at the sight of her, for the baby's-breath were dotted in her hair, which he liked best of all and to him was a flower that resembled her the most.

Ominis, if he had ever thought about her at all, might have said she was like silvermist in that silk. It was a strange beauty, one he longed to see. And he could only guess there was something round and doll-like about her face with its full, glistening lips. Perhaps he did like Letty. She wasn't his, that was clear, and would soon be gone to have a waltz with Sebastian.