Chapter 71

"I've never seen such beautiful dresses as these, Miss. You will look terrific in them. Why don't you try them on?"

Mary's cheerful voice snapped Marguerite from her sad musings. She turned to see her maid picking a muslin dress in her favorite color and showed it to her with a wide expectant grin. Any woman would leap in joy, but Marguerite just shook her head. As her maid turned to put the dress back in place, Marguerite glanced listlessly at the colorful stack of thirty brand new dresses inside her closet. Today her order from Madame Le Veaux had just shipped and Mary had just done storing them in her closet, but even a wardrobe full of beautiful dresses could do little to dispel the gloom in her heart.

Mary's brows furrowed with concern as she watched Marguerite, then she tried again,

"How about I ask Cook to make your favorite strawberry cheese tart?"

"I don't feel like eating."

Her maid cast a pitiful look at her and left her alone. Wrapped in her shabby old shawl, she reclin