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"Nothing needs to be changed," she said to the production assistant who followed her "Treat each dusty corner and gauche display as an asset Pretend you’re an explorer stu on a mysterious if tacky Transylvanian castle"

Then she said into the recorder, "Time is more precious than blood on this particular project It’s all a hted and dressed Reliquary’s front s Katya appeared outside shortly afterwards, towering in dark, rough leather platfor when you stared She herded a couple of long-necked professional htwalker kids whoraphy crew did shots of them on the sidewalk "They’ll be in here shortly," Katya assured Lilia when she popped into the shop She also insisted on having Scarlet Jones and Bret in the promotional shots

"We’ll have the They exhibit the proper mix of inexperience and incipient da that Lilia herself would stay out of ca ai up inside, theto Katya that Lilia couldn’t hear In reply Katya looked down at hiuy wilted

Scarlet Jones and Bret wore sunglasses as they basked in the photographer’s lights Felice had thee into white silk tops that rested off their shoulders Lilia noticed that the bites on their necks were deeper and thought these new blouses looked somehow fanize the original Herrault design froo-round Maison Herrault itself OK’d these knock-offs

"I was afraid we’d have to go to Indonesia for production Time delay on a fad like this can be fatal But Hurrah for the Recession! Suddenly there are sweatshops in the Bronx--fast, cheap, and with passable quality"

Lilia looked away lest Felice set a six-week exclusivity period after which they’ll be sold at other specialty shops throughout North America and world dales, Macy’s, and by next su Scarlet and Bret’s clothes both shuddered

"Here’s a little surprise," said Katya, "soood’ old days"

Paulo soerly ushered in a tiny, ancient woarette butt on the sidehile reaching into the forht another one

Lilia looked on auerite, "The Seamstress Extraordinary," as she’d been called back in the old Garuerite could, withoutto exactly the length needed

That afternoon Marguerite smoked one Gauloises after another Requests that she stop were nizable English, "A vice like any other!"

"Amazed?" Paulo murmured to Lilia

"That she’s not dead," Lilia said

"Not in the usual sense anyway," he replied "She’s become a sort of curator for Herrault His euerite was eious Maison Herrault’s New York branch and lent out to old friends of the late designer She would always be brought along on fashion shoots in cases of an eency

One had arisen in Reliquary just before she appeared The lapel of the top Bret ouldn’t lay open at the angle the photographer wanted Marguerite reached up for Bret’s ear, pulled his head down to her eye level and with a needle, thread, and scissors from inside her smock, made three stitches and fixed the lapel in place

Decades before as a na&iuuerite It was in a roo where all fashion photography was done back in that day

There, with fabric fraguerite stitched buttons onto a waistband while she squinted at the airshaft outside theand sipped fro Lilia supposed was red wine

She had been told to take a pair of wouerite turn thereat crisis--the shoot was to feature culottes but the garuerite was present for just such ust and disapproval as if she was about to send her back to the kitchen with the delance at the design sketch Lilia gave her, Marguerite had snipped off one leg, with a second slice snipped the other and cuffed both with a few stitches She arer the tops Scarlet and Bret wore "Instant prêt a porter!" the old wo more than off-the-rack would not do"

Herrault had been a conteé of Schiaparelli, lover of Mainbocher, rival of Dior His "Sang Chaud" Collection, the reat triuhtwalker craze