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Considering that she is the one asking you, you don't suppose there is any real danger in saying that the parasol is larger than you would have expected. Your instincts are telling you, however, that you would be best served here by couching your reproach in feigned ignorance - and you follow them to the letter. Aware that voices apparently carry very well through the front of the store here, you keep your voice relatively quiet, and perhaps not even realizing that she is doing it, Cassandra does as well.
"Oh, yes, everything is so beautiful, I ... um, the parasol though, I didn't realize they were supposed to be this large."
"Ah. Well ... you see, we decided to try something ... different."
That is certainly one way to putting it. She continues -
"You have to understand, sometimes the form, it, well, it gets in the way of the function. Which you know is a ... that is to say, the 'worn piece' as we call it, has to be worn at the end of the day. And while gorgeous, slender parasol paired well with the dress on the mannequin - "
"It doesn't pair well with me after all, is that what you are saying?"
"No! No, not at all. It is just that in the rush to get your ... the dress, as you said, finished, no one gave a thought to ... you ... actually having to carry this parasol around."
"Oh, I see."
"Looking at it now, I have to wonder if our eyes were ... well, larger than our stomachs ... so to speak."
As she says this Marpessa pokes her head out of the hallway leading to the dressing rooms, and sees you talking to Cassandra. Oddly enough, she goes white as a sheet at the sight of the two of you together. Immediately, your head and your heart start to race, as you try to figure out what is going on, and what on the Heights of Hell you should do about it. But before you can do anything drastic, or make any more of a fool of yourself than you have already done in this room, understanding strikes you like a cornered serpent. Marpessa no doubt figured that you are talking to Cassandra about the parasol, but she presumably thought that you mentioned that you knew for a surety that it was not actually made for your commission, it was a cast off picknick accessory instead. Had your reproach been open and explicit, you almost certainly would have thrown your three attending dressmakers under the wagon - and it definitely would have cast down the two tailors or porters from the Haberdashery.You are glad that you didn't make things more difficult for these girls ... but more than anything, you are frustrated that it never occurred to you that confronting Cassandra over the true nature of the parasol could come to bite them. You are going to need to be sharper than this.
"If you ... I could arrange to have a more ... <span class="mu-i">traditionally</span> sized parasol made for pick up, the day after tomorrow."
