“Careful of what?” said Madame Koska.
“I am not sure, but if Gretchen is not what she seems to be, what do we know about the aunt and uncle? Perhaps they are part of this crime ring? Remember, I only know Mr. and Mrs. Howard socially. We are not close friends.”
“Yes… it could be a family affair,” said Madame Koska thoughtfully. She put a lump of sugar in her tea and picked up a spoon, but did not use it. “But why would Mrs. Howard invite me, then? They have no idea Mr. Korolenko said anything to me about Gretchen, why would they? Gretchen did not even remember him.”
“You might want to stir your tea, Vera, before you drink it,” said Madame Golitsyn. “Did you accept the invitation?”
Madame Koska stirred her tea obediently. “Yes, I did. At least I don’t have to miss our usual Christmas dinner together, Annushka, since we celebrate on January 7, in our way.”
“True, that is good. And this year Natalya and Vasily will join us, of course.”
“That will be lovely, but we have one small problem, Annushka. They will expect me to speak Russian.”
“I did not think of it,” said Madame Golitsyn. “But it is not a problem since Vasily will most likely bring his new, very English lady friend. We will speak English for her. But Vera, I am a little worried… please promise me to be very careful.”
“I promise to do nothing foolish,” said Madame Koska. “Just observe, look around, and try to see how they interact. There will be other guests there, it’s a real house party for three whole days, so I am sure I will be safe.”
“I’ll tell you what bothers me,” said Madame Golitsyn. “It is possible that they invited you so the atelier will be empty for three days. They may want to break in again, and with you gone, it would be easier.”
“I did not think of that,” said Madame Koska. “Perhaps I should mention my plan to the police officer?”
“It might be advisable,” said Madame Golitsyn. “Don’t tell him why you are going, only that you will be away for three days. He might wish to post a policeman there.”
“I should remove everything essential from the safe,” said Madame Koska. “If anyone breaks in, I may not be so lucky again and they might force the safe open.”
“Bring everything to me at the catering kitchen,” said Madame Golitsyn, “and put it in my safe. No one will ever guess.”
“Perfect!” said Madame Koska. “Thank you, Annushka. Now that we talked about it I can have some tea… this cake looks delicious.”
“It is,” said Madame Golitsyn, and cut two generous portions.
Early in the morning, Madame Koska sat at her drawing board, sketching a design for the Mistral Collection. Her drawing station overflowed with water colours, hard and soft pencils, erasers, quill pens with many different points, large paper sheets, cups holding water in various degrees of cleanliness and containers of many brushes with their wet bristles sticking up. It was the only place where she welcomed disorder or even chaos which somehow helped her creativity. Natalya, as usual earlier than everyone else, was embroidering in the sewing room, and all was peace and quiet until a light step and a cheery “Good morning, Miss Saltykov,” broke the silence as Gretchen entered the atelier.
“Good morning, Miss Van der Hoven,” said Natalya. Madame Koska noticed that Natalya was less nervous with Gretchen than with most of the other women. Gretchen was so simple, so easy to get along with, that her manner conquered even Natalya’s reticence.
“What is this beautiful thing you are working on, Miss Saltykov?”
“This is one of the two half-sheer panels for the bodice of Lady Victoria Ashton-Smith’s dress,” said Natalya. “Look, here is the finished one that I keep on hand for comparison as I work, to be sure that they are exactly the same. Do you like it?”
“Like it? I just love it. I want so much to wear it… These black and garnet beads, and the silver embroidery thread you put on the black lace… perfection, Miss Saltykov. I am experiencing severe envy.”
Natalya laughed. “You would look very nice in it, Miss Van der Hoven. The dress itself is dark crimson velvet, most becoming to you.”
“But more becoming to Lady Victoria with her very dark hair and pale skin, I have to admit…” said Gretchen. “I admired her when she came to be measured. I can appreciate great beauty in other women, I am not really jealous.”
“Of course not,” said Natalya. “Why should you be? And come to think of it, you would look better in gold embroidery rather than silver, because of your hair colour. I am sure you prepared some very nice clothes for your Christmas house party, anyway.”
“Oh, yes. I have some beautiful ensembles ready for it, and I made auntie buy me a few wonderful new hats and shoes. And Uncle Gerry bought Auntie and me a new piece of jewelry each for Christmas. It is a secret but I peeked and saw the packages as they arrived and Goldsmiths’ can only mean jewelry. I am so excited, I have no idea what he bought. Do you know that firm?”
“Oh, yes, of course,” said Natalya. “They are very famous and quite old. They started their firm in the eighteenth century. You will have a wonderful piece, I have no doubt of that; probably either intricately worked gold or a good gemstone.”
“Oh, how divine, I can’t wait! I did drop a hint or two recently about wanting a ruby solitaire ring that would fit my middle finger, it’s all the rage… not that I would object to a new gold bracelet… you know so much about jewelry, Miss Saltykov, I noticed that.”
“Naturally, after spending my youth at the Tsar’s court,” said Natalya, sighing. “I had seen so much good jewelry, both antique and modern. I think I can identify most jewelry houses by just looking at a piece they produced.”
“Don’t say such sad things… you are still so young and pretty, Miss Saltykov.”
“Pretty? Me? Oh no… thank you for the kind words but just look at me, so tall and awkward and thin… and I think I have started aging.”
“When I look at you, Miss Saltykov, I see how charming and elegant you could look in the right clothes.”
“But the right clothes cost so much money… which I don’t have. But we must not think sad thoughts, and I am so grateful I work here. Clothes and beauty aside, my life has become so much better since I came here, and of course we must look forward to Christmas and joy.”
“You would never guess what I did about Christmas,” said Gretchen, giggling. “I asked Auntie to invite Mr. Korolenko to the house party weekend! When I told her how he recognized me when he came over to give the English lesson to Madame Koska, she remembered him too and said she certainly would be happy to see him again and talk about old times. I believe she sent the invitation already. But don’t tell Madame Koska! I want her to be pleasantly surprised, finding her friend there.”
“How nice,” said Natalya. “I am sure she will be pleased. He is a very distinguished gentleman; he used to be a highly respected university professor in Russia, Madame Koska told me. He was not one of the Tsar’s entourage, so I do not know him myself.”
They stopped talking as the other women came in, and Gretchen went to sit by the front desk. Madame Koska, who had been listening to the entire conversation, began feeling very uncomfortable. Gretchen knew perfectly well that she could hear every word spoken in the sewing room. Did she want Madame Koska to know that Mr. Korolenko was coming, while pretending to surprise her? Can it be that for some reason Gretchen hoped that Madame Koska would cancel her own visit, just because Mr. Korolenko would be there? Did Gretchen suspect that Madame Koska wanted to investigate something? She sighed. Nothing made sense, and she decided that suspecting Gretchen of duplicity regarding the break-in was making her slightly paranoid about every word the poor girl uttered. She decided to pretend that she heard nothing and returned to her drawing. Perhaps the Christmas visit would relieve her from this anxiety, if it proved that Gretchen was quite the same empty-headed, sweet creature at home as well as at the atelier. Madame Koska certainly hoped for such an outcome.