Exactly two days later Dorothea Kerr called her herself and requested her to come into the office that afternoon.

When Serena arrived, her knees were almost trembling, her hands were damp, and she was feeling excessively grateful that Teddy had had another of his rare free afternoons. She had already found an agency for baby-sitters, but even they couldn't work miracles at short notice. But when she saw the photographs taken by Andy Morgan, she knew that he could. Each one was like a work of art, something to hang in a museum, and as she looked at herself she felt that she barely knew whom she was looking at. Even she had to admit that he had captured something extravagant and striking and regal, and she couldn't believe that she could look so beautiful, certainly not in real life. She looked up from the photographs and met the eyes of Dorothea Kerr, hard and gray on her own, and Dorothea leaned back in her chair and gnawed on a pair of glasses as she stared at Serena some more.

“Well, we have what we need here, Serena. What about you? Just how interested in all this are you? Very, a little? Enough to work your tail off? Do you just want a job or do you want a career? Because I want to know now before we waste our time on someone who doesn't give a damn about the job.”

“I care very much about the job.” She sounded sincere and she was, but for Dorothea it wasn't enough.

“Why? Are you in love with this business? Or with yourself?”

“No.” Serena faced her squarely. “I have a little girl.”

“And that's the only reason?”

“It's part of it. This is the only way I know to make a living, and it's a good living. I like the work.” She looked at Dorothea with a sparkle in her eyes. “To tell you the truth, I'm anxious to try my luck in New York.” Her excitement was beginning to show and the older woman smiled.

“You're divorced?”

“I'm a widow, with a small pension from the army. That's it.”

Dorothea looked intrigued. “Korea?” Serena nodded. “What about your family, don't they help?”

“They're all dead.”

“And his?”

Serena began to look unhappy, and Dorothea was quick to pick up on where not to tread. “Never mind. If you say you need it for your little girl, then obviously you need it. I just hope the kid has a big appetite, to keep you wanting to go out and work.” She gave Serena one of her very rare smiles, and then she looked serious again. “What about the title?” She sighed softly. “I did a little research on it, and I gather it's genuine, Serena. How do you feel about using it? Does it go against the grain?”

Serena smiled softly. “Yes, but that doesn't matter. I came here to do something with you. As you put it, for a career, not a job. If that makes a difference”—she almost gulped thinking of her grandmother—”go ahead, use it.”

“It should help us create an image. Princess Serena. ‘The Princess.’” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I like it. I like it very much. What about you? How does it feel?”

“It sounds a little silly to me now. I've been Serena Fullerton for a long time, and I never really used the title. It seemed more a part of my grandmother.”

“Why?” Dorothea looked at her squarely. “You look like a princess, Serena. Or don't you know that yet?” In truth Serena did not, as Teddy knew only too well. She had no idea how lovely she was, and in a way that was part of her charm. “In any case wait till you start seeing your pictures all over town, you'll know it then. And”—she gnawed at a pencil and then grinned—”since you are a princess, we will ask a royal price. One hundred dollars an hour for Princess Serena. We'll give them the impression that you don't need it, that this is all a lark, and if they want you, they'll have to pay through the nose. A hundred an hour.” Serena was breathless at the thought. A hundred an hour? Would she get any work? “Okay, we'll put your book together for you. You come back tomorrow, Serena. Get plenty of rest, do your hair and nails and face to perfection. Wear something simple and black, and be here at nine thirty. Tomorrow we send you out with your book, and you start work. But I warn you, we're only going to use you for the big jobs, at a hundred dollars an hour, you're going to be bypassing a lot of the less important work. What that means is that you're stepping in at the top, you're in the big leagues, and you're going to have to be perfect. Anything less and they'll laugh both you and me right out of this town.”

“I'll do my very best.” The green eyes were filled with terror, and she felt twenty-seven going on two. “I promise.”

“Don't promise. Just do it.” Dorothea Kerr's eyes hardened as she stood up. “If you don't, princess or no, you'll be canned.” And with that, she turned on her heel and left the room.





36

Her eyes raised slowly to her son's, and she looked at him for a long moment with slowly simmering anger.