society　columns　but　never　in　person。　And　for　an　old　man；　he　was　supremely　sexy。

？Ah；　Mr。　de　la　Renta；？　Marthe　greeted　her　boss　with　a　warm　smile。　？Miss　Waldorf　will　wear　your

suits　well；　no？？

Mr。　de　la　Renta　looked　Blair　up　and　down　and　then　flashed　her　an　appreciative　smile。　？Very　well；？

he　agreed。　He　turned　to　Marcus。　？I　missed　your　mother　in　Milan。？

？Hello；　Uncle　Oscar。？　Marcus　smiled　broadly；　stepped　forward；　and　embraced　the　designer；

hugging　him　affectionately。　Blair　nearly　threw　up　all　over　the　beautiful　floor。

Uncle　Oscar！？

Marcus　chuckled　and　then　touched　her　arm。　？He？s　not　really　my　uncle；　but　he　may　as　well　be。

My　mother　won？t　wear　anything　but　the　clothes　Uncle　Oscar　makes　for　her。？

Who　could　blame　her？

For　once；　Blair　was　speechless。　She　felt　exactly　like　Dorothy　inThe　Wizard　of　Oz　when　she

wakes　up　after　the　Kansas　cyclone　and　finds　herself　in　Munchkinland；　confronted　by　Glinda；　the

beautiful；　good　witch。　Except　that　Blair　wasn？t　nearly　as　fat　as　Judy　Garland。She　was　a　sizetwo　！

？This　way；　Miss　Waldorf；？　Marthe　instructed；　leading　the　way　to　a　large　jade　green？curtained

dressing　room。　She　hung　up　four　suits　on　the　hooks　inside？two　in　size　four　and　two　in　size　two。

？Don？t　worry；　I？ll　fit　her；　Marthe；？　Mr。　de　la　Renta　called　after　them。　？Let　me　just　find　my

measuring　tape。？

Blair　was　convinced　she　was　dreaming；　so　whatever　Mr。　de　la　Ren