Page 36 of Storm of Bells
‘You…’ Her eyes went wide. ‘You don’t meanalcoholic beverages?’
‘Well, yes.’
‘Lilly! I’m a lady! How could you think Iwould ever touch a drop of such illicit substances?’
‘Well…’
There was really no way to diplomaticallyreply to that.
‘It must have been something else. Maybesomething we ate?’
Eve nodded—then winced. ‘Yes. Food poisoning.But what could the two of us possibly have eaten that could havethis kind of effect?’
Clearing my throat, I started retreatingtowards the door, my ears turning red. ‘Um. Err…no idea. I’ll leaveyou to consider it and recuperate, shall I?’
‘Yes, please—no!’ Suddenly, Ella held up herhand. ‘I totally forgot, we have to tell you something.’
‘You do?’
Cautiously, my hand slid into my pocket tocheck if the damning evidence was still there—and my fingers cameinto contact with a certain paper bag. Crap!
‘Yes.’ Ella beamed through the pain. ‘Wefinally agreed what would be the ideal wedding for you.’
If I had been any other prospective bride inthe world, I’d probably have found something to object to in thatsentence. But, as it was, the only thing that happened was myshoulders sagging in relief. Hurriedly, I tugged my hand from mypocket and magicked a beaming smile onto my face.
‘You have?’
‘Oh yes!’ Forcing open her bleary eyes, Evemanaged to give me a grin. ‘It’ll be huge! The royal wedding timesten! We’ll rent out Westminster Abbey, of course—’
My eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets.‘Westminster Abbey?’
‘Yes.’
‘Um…the same Westminster Abbey where themonarchs of England traditionally get hitched? That giant, hugelyexpensive place?’
‘Yes, why do you ask?’
‘No particular reason. Do go on.’
‘Well, as I said, the whole thing will happenin Westminster Abbey. For flowers we’ve agreed on red roses—’
‘—and your dress will be white!’ Ella cut in,beaming. ‘We’ll celebrate for three days, with an extended weddingparty after the main event, and invite at least five hundredpeople! All of England should know how happy you are. I’ll makesure of it, I promise! There will be a marching band and anorchestra and a three-course menu and, oh, your dress! You shouldsee the design Eve and I have picked out for you! All the otherladies will be green with envy. This will be the biggest societyevent of the year!’
She beamed at me.
I cleared my throat. ‘That sounds, um,wonderful. But, just as a suggestion…’
‘Yes?’
‘Before starting to place the orders, youmight want to have a word with the man who will be footing the billfor the whole thing.’
Ella blinked, as if this were the first timeshe had considered this insignificant detail. Knowing Ella, itprobably was.
‘And who might that be?’
I smiled evilly, closing my eyes for a momentin bliss. Time for payback. ‘My fiancé.’
Ella beamed. ‘Oh, that won’t be a problemthen, will it? After all, if he loves you, he’ll want you to havethe most beautiful wedding possible, never mind a few measlythousand pounds.’
