Read Online To Marry a Tiger by Isobel Chace - Free Book Online Page A

Ruth suddenly discovered she had very definite ideas of her own.
    “I have quite nice eyes,” s he said bravely.
    “Indeed!” they all agreed in an admiring chorus.
    “Well then, I’d like (to make them more obvious,” she went on.
    The make-up artist nodded in complete agreement.
    “Someone has told you this, yes?” she teased her customer gently. “He is quite right! In two moments you will see it for yourself ! ”
    Ruth remembered with a blush that it had been none other than Mario who had remarked about her eyes. She began to wish that she had said nothing, but had left it all to Signora Verdecchio . She had no ambition to make herself pleasing to Mario ! Or had she? The sudden doubt as to her own motives unnerved her.
    The Italian lady was definite. She set out her tray of cosmetics with deft fingers, explaining simply the purpose of each item as she laid it down.
    “Now, any questions?” she said at the end of her dissertation.
    Ruth looked at the selection in horror. “But I can’t put on all that!” she objected.
    “No, no, not all of it. Some eyelashes, I think, though, you must have!”
    Ruth was surprised to discover how easy they were to apply. Once her unaccustomed fingers had mastered the art, she could put them on in a matter of seconds and they looked quite natural. It was the same with the eye make-up that her mentor insisted on her using.
    “Before you look,” the lady said at last, “we will have a touch of rouge on the cheeks and a quite pale lipstick. There! Now you may look!”
    Ruth stared at herself for a long moment. She was not almost beautiful any longer. She was beautiful. And she wasn’t the only person who thought so. She could tell by the sudden silence amongst the group that had gone to work on her. Looking at herself, she felt that the difference between beauty and mere prettiness had been drawn pretty clearly. She was very glad that Pearl was not there to see this transformation, for Pearl wasn’t used to being second to her sister.
    “I look nice, don’t you think?” she said hesitantly to Lucia Verdecchio.
    “It is just as Mario said it would be!” that lady claimed firmly. “You are quite lovely, my dear!”
    Ruth blushed at the mention of Mario’s name. She could scarcely tear her eyes away from her reflection in the glass. It was as though she were looking at a stranger, with whom she had something in common, but not very much. This stranger, this beautiful stranger, had a vulnerable look that Ruth had never detected in herself.
    “Mario will be pleased !” his aunt was saying.
    “I didn’t do it for Mario!” Ruth retorted.
    Their laughter told her that nobody there believed her, not even Signora Verdecchio. Ruth watched her as she paid the extremely large bill without a blink, showering her approval on everyone in the salon .
    “My niece will be coming here regularly from now on,” she told them happily. “I can promise you that! You will look after her, won’t you? I can’t stay in Sicily for long this time. My husband needs me in Tunis.”
    They promised that Ruth would always receive the very best attention from them whether the Signora was there or not. The tips were large enough to encourage the proprietor to escort Signora Verdecchio and Ruth right to the car.
    “It is always a pleasure to serve any of the Verdecchios,” he bowed.
    Lucia glowed with content. “It has been very successful ! ” she smiled. “I am very well pleased ! ”
    She glanced at her watch as soon as they were alone. “It is eleven already. That allows us half an hour to get ready for the ceremony if we go home now—”
    Ruth gave her a desperate look. “Signora, we can’t go back immediately,” she pleaded. “I can’t! Besides,” she added, “I haven’t any of my things with me—”
    “I have seen to all that,” Lucia Verdecchio assured her. “You have no need to worry.”
    “I haven’t even got a present for Mario,” Ruth put in guiltily. She felt