“He wants to take you for a drive tomorrow afternoon, if you’re free.”
A strange sense of unreality washed over me, and I eyed her with disbelief. No one had ever invited me for a drive before, so why the dickens would Clarence Wilcox want to?
I voiced my question in slightly politer terms.
“He said he likes your company.”
I sputtered a laugh. There was no way Clarence had enjoyed my company. Sakes alive, he’d caught me eavesdropping!
Allison scowled. “Why’re you laughing? What’s wrong with—”
“It’s not that,” I interrupted. “I’m just surprised is all... but also delighted.” I grinned. It felt false, but Allison didn’t seem to notice.
Handsome Clarence asking me for a drive... It was rather surprising, yet my stomach fluttered at the prospect. And wait until Mama hears this news!
“So I’ll tell him you’ve accepted?” Allison asked.
“Yes, yes. Tell him to come at half past three.”
She squealed and bounced across the carriage to plop down beside me. “I wish young men would call on me! Clarence has some rather handsome chums, you know, but he says I’m not allowed to flirt with any of them. Of course, I haven’t seen them much lately....” Her words faded, and she gnawed her bottom lip.
“Is everything all right?”
She sighed dramatically. “Oh yes, it’s merely curious. They used to come every day because of the election, but I haven’t seen any of them in more than a week.” She paused and looked out the window. “Oh look!” Her face lit up and she pointed. “Just look at those crowds.”
I followed her gaze and saw the Continental Hotel towering over the wide, open intersection of Chestnut and Ninth Streets. The side that faced us was elegant, pale sandstone; and Allison was right: people were everywhere—standing on the sidewalks, meandering around the front columns, and gawking at the top floor.
“They all want to see the emperor too.” Allison flashed her eyebrows at me. “But they can’t get into the tearoom, and I can. It’s so wonderful to be rich, isn’t it?”
Allison and I entered the hotel’s lobby. Travelers marched past us, their poor footmen lumbering behind with trunks and bags. My heels clicked on the marble floor, and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. The last time I’d been here, Father had been alive and Elijah was still a boy. We were on our way to the library, and Father had stopped by for a quick business meeting. Elijah and I had stared, mouths agape, at the colorful, ornate frescoes on the ceiling, the dangling chandeliers, and the white, ionic columns. Then as soon as Father had left us (with orders to sit quietly while he ran up to a different floor), we’d leaped into action, pretending we were a prince and princess trapped in an enchanted palace.
My smile fell. Elijah was in trouble, yet I was here instead of out finding the Spirit-Hunters to help him. I had to get away from Allison as soon as possible, but without offending her in the process.
“Oh, don’t look so wretched,” Allison whined. She grabbed my arm and waved to a glass-windowed storefront. “Let’s shop while we wait.”
Allison had refused to take the stairs, and that meant waiting for the elevator to deposit its passengers above. So I followed her into Charles Oakford & Sons.
The Continental Hotel’s ground floor was filled with expensive shops to entice Philadelphia’s wealthiest and most powerful visitors. This particular store held some of the most dazzling products I’d ever seen. Long tables were covered in delicate straw bonnets, feminine top hats, dramatic wide brims—any hat a girl could ever want was for sale in this store.
For sale, and outrageously expensive.
A gray-haired clerk with muttonchops moved to help us, but Allison bypassed him without so much as a glance. Her eyes were locked on a blue silk bonnet that matched her dress.
“This is just divine.” She swooped the hat off its display. “Let’s each buy a new hat! Then we can wear them to tea and stun all the men with our beauty.”
I blanched. Buy a hat? Just like that with no thought to the cost? “But I already have one.” I waved vaguely at my head. “And I can’t buy things without my mother’s permission.”
Her excited expression froze. “What?”
“I-I’m not allowed to buy anything new without my mother to approve it.” It wasn’t true—not since I’d taken over our family’s finances. All the same, it was the best excuse I could conjure.
Her nose wrinkled. “That’s silly. I’m going to look stunning in something new, and you’ll just look drab in that old thing.”
Heat crept into my cheeks. “Well, if I’m drab, then that means you’ll look all the more beautiful.”