Nell looked up at the closed door as if she expected it to open again; she jumped at a knock, but it was her maid, and Nell ordered the car in an hour to go to the hospital. She was tired and confused and she knew that it would tell a little bit in her performance tonight. Never had she tried so hard to put her ideas into words; notions of Warren Livingstone and old shoes were mixed up in her mind.
She looked down at her shoes; the satin fabric had been somehow scuffed open in breaking the seal on that hidden thing of her childhood.
“I’ll need a new pair of shoes, Jaccy. These are done.”
“Yes, madame.”
Jaccy’s Savoyard eyes lowered for a moment to the shoes madame wore, then lifted quickly; but Nell had seen. She stared at Jaccy’s foot that was the same size as her own.
“Is that why h
