me give useful advice, and suddenly the dress mattered less.”
“Catherine will take longer.”
“But she’ll get there.”
I shook my head.
“Have you always done things like this?”
“Since I arrived in this city at eighteen with no money and nobody to protect me.”
She shrugged.
“You pay attention.”
“And you don’t always let people know you’re paying attention.”
“People behave differently when they think no one is studying them.”
I looked at the dress again.
“So the dress was camouflage.”
“Exactly.”
“You wanted to be underestimated.”
“I wanted
