He had started – barely – and she had opened her mouth to answer his question (his first question, about the corset ties) when the noise stopped them both.
“Yes,” Jemima breathed, more mouthing than saying it aloud – and she inclined her head in the ghost of a nod. It had seemed sensible at the time, because she had been here alone, and no one would be able to walk in on her in such a state.
Only – only now someone was trying to come in, and she... wasn’t alone anymore. That was – not good. Not good at all. Jemima glanced at him, eyebrows knitting in confusion and sudden concern, and then back at the door. The handle was moving. Oh, no. Not just the handle.
There was a squeal of horror in her throat that she didn’t have time to get out – she didn’t know what to do with herself – hide? Cover herself? Play dead? What she ended up doing was turning halfway towards the man in panic, as if she could shove him back into the fireplace and through the Floo to wherever he had come from. Too late, she thought, before she did anything; she could see the woman in the doorway in the corner of her eye, and – like a deer in the wandlight, she froze, heart lodged somewhere in her throat.
It was fine, anyway. She could explain. She could certainly explain.
“Yes,” Jemima breathed, more mouthing than saying it aloud – and she inclined her head in the ghost of a nod. It had seemed sensible at the time, because she had been here alone, and no one would be able to walk in on her in such a state.
Only – only now someone was trying to come in, and she... wasn’t alone anymore. That was – not good. Not good at all. Jemima glanced at him, eyebrows knitting in confusion and sudden concern, and then back at the door. The handle was moving. Oh, no. Not just the handle.
There was a squeal of horror in her throat that she didn’t have time to get out – she didn’t know what to do with herself – hide? Cover herself? Play dead? What she ended up doing was turning halfway towards the man in panic, as if she could shove him back into the fireplace and through the Floo to wherever he had come from. Too late, she thought, before she did anything; she could see the woman in the doorway in the corner of her eye, and – like a deer in the wandlight, she froze, heart lodged somewhere in her throat.
It was fine, anyway. She could explain. She could certainly explain.
