Page 39 of The Wedding Dress Repair Shop
I already knew it all, so sipped from my champagne flute, which seemed to have magically filled itself up, just like the ones in Claridge’s.
When she’d finished, Thom said, ‘Well, I thought a wedding dress museum sounded an unlikely thing for you to set up, Honey. I mean, I have read a couple of your novels and they aren’t exactly a celebration of the joys of marriage.’
‘Marriage is anything but,’ agreed Honey cheerfully. ‘But after I’d written a few non-fiction titles on the subject of bridal misfortunes, readers started to send me wedding dresses with stories attached, and suddenly it seemed the logical thing to do. And then there was the natural history museum, all ready to transform.’
‘I prefer a museum full of wedding dresses of any kind to one crammed with dead animals and birds,’ said Pearl. ‘I only went in once, out of curiosity, and I soon came back out again.’
‘I know – gross,’ agreed Honey.
‘So, how did you meet Garland?’ Simon asked. ‘I mean, given you have the same surname I’m sort of assuming you’re related – or is that just a coincidence?’
‘No, we’re distant cousins, although we didn’t know it until this July, when we met at the V&A Museum,’ Honey said, then explained how she’d found the trunks belonging to ourfamous actress ancestor in her attic when she’d moved in and loaned the contents to the V&A.
‘And my contact at the museum told me about Garland and I knew she must be related to me somewhere on the family tree, so I got him to introduce us and we became friends,’ she finished, smiling at me. ‘She and George – my contact – have been assisting me with the museum plans, but I’m so lucky that Garland has agreed to move here and take the curator job on.’
‘It’s a wonderful opportunity and I can’t wait to see the dresses and find out their stories,’ I said.
‘There’s going to be a Rosa-May Garland Room on the ground floor, next to the shop and reception desk,’ Honey told them. ‘The loaned material comes back at the end of this month. Rosa-May didn’t have a bridal mishap, although from a journal I found with her costume and clothes in one of the trunks, the marriage itself was a misfortune she came to regret.’
‘Did you find out how you and Garland are related, Honey?’ asked Pearl, interested.
‘Rosa-May had twin boys and I’m descended from the elder and Garland from the younger one. He ran off to America in his late teens, with the local blacksmith’s daughter and vanished.’
‘Now, that is romantic,’ Pearl said. ‘What happened to Rosa-May?’
‘The journal she wrote during the first months of her marriage ends with her husband, who was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo, returning home. Uncle Hugo said she just seemed to vanish without a trace after the birth of the twins the following January, so what happened to her is a mystery.’
‘It’ll make a good story for the exhibition, though,’ said Thom.
The long and draining day was really catching up with me now, and things were beginning to get a bit swimmy.
‘Are you settling in OK?’ asked Simon, and added, kindly, ‘Just say any time if you need help with anything.’
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘But I came from a minute flat, so really, there isn’t much to unpack and sort out.’
‘If you need any extra bits and pieces of furniture, we might find something in the attics,’ said Honey. ‘I never got further than that first room, where I found Rosa-May’s trunks. The other rooms look crammed. I think when the family moved here from their big house on the moors, they simply transferred the contents of the old attics into the new! I hate the idea of having all that clutter above my head, though, so I’ll have to sort it out at some point soon.’
‘We might find some more of Rosa-May’s things,’ I suggested, waking up slightly.
‘We might find almostanythingup there,’ agreed Honey.
‘The Pelican Mews Residents’ Association could probably give you a hand clearing and sorting it, before these Sunday supper meetings,’ Simon suggested, a boyish gleam in his eyes. ‘A sort of treasure hunt!’
‘I doubt they would have put anything valuable in the attic,’ Pearl objected. ‘You’re such a boy sometimes, Simon!’ she added, and he went a bit pink and looked hurt.
‘I’d love some help, even if we don’t find much more than trunks of old clothes – although that would be Garland’s idea of treasure!’
‘Yes, that would be wonderful!’ I agreed.
By now, my eyelids seemed to be trying to press heavily downwards and there was a noise in my ears like the crashing of waves, so when Honey suggested we move into the sitting room for coffee, I said: ‘Would you think me terribly rude if Ijust went home, without waiting for coffee? Only it’s been such a very long and tiring day that I suddenly feel totally past it and will probably slump into a stupor shortly.’
‘Of course not. I should have thought of that,’ said Honey.
‘There’s the cat, too. He seems to have settled, but I don’t want to leave him for too long in a strange place.’
‘What kind is he?’ asked Pearl.
‘Grey, skinny … weird,’ I said, and felt Thom’s eyes on me; he’d known Golightly. ‘He’s only mine by default.’
