Page 42 of The Little Shop on Silver Linings Street
Daisy smiled back. It was hard not to like this charismatic woman. She nibbled the edge of the macaron, the outer shell crisp and crumbly in her mouth. It was nutty and she nibbled some more as the texture changed to one of gooey creaminess. It was not unlike the taste of the hot chocolate she’d had with Bertie and she stuffed the rest of the sweet treat in her mouth impulsively.
‘See?’ Monique grinned. ‘We will make an honorary French woman out of you yet.’ She paused. ‘Of course Ladurée are perfection, but you should learn to make the macaron at home, then you will always have a little bit of extravagance on hand. One must, every day, have one small extravagant thing and that is enough.’
She clasped her hands together. ‘Now then, I am interested to find out about you, Daisy. I have heard so much, from Beatrice and from Lawrence, but Monique always prefers to make up her own mind. That is what I do, why I am here.’
Daisy groaned. ‘Oh, I dread to think what Lawrence had to say about me.’
‘Nothing bad, I assure you… but very plain; the colour eyes, the colour hair, how tall. Nothing that is you. Nothing to tell Monique what fires your soul, what calms it, nor what type of heart beats within your breast.’ She tapped her own chest. ‘Is that not the most important thing of all?’
Daisy had never even thought about it before, but there was something very powerful about Monique’s words. ‘I wouldn’t even know how to answer that,’ she said. And it was true. What type of heart did she have?
‘A good one,’ replied Monique. ‘Of that I am assured.’ She tipped her head to one side. ‘But perhaps one that needs a little fun? A little joie de vivre,n’est-ce pas?’ She took up her teacup. ‘So today we will have the fun, yes?’
Daisy could only nod, although the thought was a little alarming.
‘And I shall get to know all the wonderful things that are Daisy beyond the colour of her eyes, and her hair, which looks like the silky fur of the otter. All these things are right in front of me, I do not need to know them.’ She tapped the side of her nose. ‘And when I have found out all these wonderful things, they will be just for us to know. I shall say nothing of them to the grown-up boy who thinks he can outwit Beatrice. Ha!’ Her face broke into a beaming smile.
Daisy smiled. ‘Do you mean Lawrence?’
‘Of course!’ Monique leaned a little closer, although there was no one else in the room to hear them. ‘It is what I said before. Beatrice and I, we are the very good friends since many years and she has told me all about her plans to run off with the delectable Charles. Oh, he is so handsome! And so she has the task of who is going to run her wonderful little business. But she is clever, you know that of course, and with the three brothers, it is not easy to choose. So she makes it that they will choose themselves.’ Monique sat back with a gleeful look on her face.
‘I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand.’
‘It is the one thing that Beatrice regrets, you see. When they were little it was so hard, to look after them all, and to make the business work, that she didn’t think about the money. Because the money has always been there, you know. Her husband was a very wealthy man. But now, she is older and wiser and she sees how it made the boys so they did not have to think, or find out what type of heart beat within their chests.’ She smiled. ‘And so Beatrice, she has the cunning plan, to help them find this out for themselves. And wonderful Daisy, you are helping, are you not?’
‘Am I?’
Monique picked up a macaron and brought it to her lips as if kissing it. ‘Oh yes, it is magic…’ She popped the fancy in her mouth and sighed. ‘Just the little extravagance.’
Daisy swallowed. ‘So what do we do now?’ she asked.
‘Ah, that is simple,’ said Monique. ‘We shop!’
Ten minutes later Daisy was virtually naked.
‘You English women,’ announced Monique. ‘Always the shy. Hiding themselves away behind the buttons and the collars. Let me get a proper look at you.’
Daisy didn’t think she had ever stood in front of anyone with so little clothes on, not even the local doctor.
‘And the underwear.Mon Dieu…’ Monique held her hands up as if weighing two melons and it didn’t take a genius to work out what she was referring to. ‘You have the pert bosom of the young and yet… ah, so sad, to be hidden behind such drabness, such meanness of fabric. Your clothes should be a part of you, they should speak of the person within, and your underwear, well of course that is for your lover. It should be the last layer of delight before kissing you, the unwrapping of the prize jewel.’
‘Heavens, I haven’t even got a boyfriend,’ Daisy said, blushing.
‘Non?Well then one day soon, and when the lucky man arrives, Daisy will be ready for him.’
‘Monique, you do know I won’t be buying anything today, don’t you?’
She sighed. ‘I know, I know, but I can dream, can’t I? And more to the point, so can you. Tell me, do you always wear clothes such as this? What other things do you have?’
Daisy shrugged. ‘They’re mostly like I’m wearing today.’ She didn’t want to admit that they were identical. ‘I think they suit me.’
‘Hmmm,comme ci, comme ça… But they could be so much better. The colours for example… the cut… and now that I have had the good look at you, I will decide. Here, slip this on, I will be no more than a few moments. Already I can see it.’ She handed Daisy a silk robe and disappeared through a mirrored door at the far end of the room.
Daisy pulled the robe around her and sat down with a bump. She felt rather like she’d been hit by an express train, but it was hard not to get swept along by Monique’s enthusiasm. Half an hour ago the thought of shopping had been one she hadn’t relished at all, now she was quite intrigued to see what would be chosen for her.
She was just nibbling at another macaron when the door opened again and Monique reappeared, almost hidden behind a pile of fabric. She crossed to the far wall and one by one hung up the selection of dresses she was carrying. Then she turned to Daisy with a beaming smile.
‘Now we are ready,’ she said. ‘For Daisy to reveal herself.’
