Page 14 of The Vintage Dress Shop in Primrose Hill
Even though Charles quite clearly wasn’t interested in her – or in women generally – Sophy felt very self-conscious of the fullness of her skirt as she led the way. She clutched the material to her so she wouldn’t flash Charles anything as she hurried up the stairs, still concerned that Phoebe might have reverted to type and started being vile to poor Cress.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. The two women were gushing over the hand-sewn beadwork on a fondant pink… ‘Hardy Amies gown. I know people say that Britain has never produced a decent couturier, but I always remind them about Hardy Amies.’
‘And what about Charles Creed? Lachasse? Digby Morton? Even Norman Hartnell.’
‘Exactly! Though Christian Dior was in another league.’
‘He was. He really was,’ Cress sighed rapturously.
Phoebe took a deep breath. ‘One time Charles unearthed a 1947 New Look dress, black velvet, it was exquisite. Destined straight for a museum,though he let me touch it first.’
‘Oh my God… I would never wash my hands again if I got to touch a New Look dress, though actually I’d be wearing my gloves before I even dared to touch it so I suppose that really wouldn’t be an issue.’
‘What have I done?’ Sophy hissed under her breath, because she’d been worried, very worried, that Phoebe might be horrible to Cress, but this was much worse than anything she could have contemplated.
The two of them having nerdgasms about dresses. A shared passion. A language that Sophy couldn’t speak. They might even become best friends.
‘Let me show you the sewing room. You don’t mind working on site?’ Phoebe threw over her shoulder as she led the way to the little workroom tucked under the eaves. ‘I’m always up here, so you won’t be on your own all day. If there’s anything you need in the way of threads and findings, just let me know.’
Sophy looked at Coco Chanel, who was ensconced on her favourite blue satin cushion. Coco Chanel evil-eyed her back. She had a lot of sass for a tiny dog that looked like a gremlin and farted all day. She was also a tougher nut to crack than Phoebe and wouldn’t even take treats from Sophy, which was one of the reasons why Sophy was a cat person. You expected a bit of backchat from a cat.
‘What’s that face for?’ Charles asked, though he wasn’t looking at Sophy but at the cream silk dress that he’d pulled from a rail even though he hadn’t washed his hands after his cup of tea.
‘This hasn’t gone quite like I expected,’ Sophy admitted. ‘I mean, it’s gone well, but…’
‘You were hoping Cress might be backup and instead she’s been welcomed into the fold?’
‘You’re very perceptive.’ Sophy folded her arms. ‘I don’t like it.’
Charles smiled. ‘I was the middle one of seven and the other six were all girls. I learned a lot. Mostly by keeping quiet.’
‘So the mysteries of the female psyche are like an open book to you?’ As Phoebe was otherwise engaged – Sophy could hear her trilling about Cress’s prowess with invisible stitching – Sophy dared to park her bottom on one of the gilt and cream brocade sofas.
‘I could live to be a thousand and have a hundred sisters and the mysteries of the female psyche would still continue to elude me,’ Charles said. He was standing just under one of the ceiling spotlights, which showed off his exquisite bone structure to its best advantage. He was elegant, Sophy decided. Egan hadn’t been at all elegant. Especially not after his Friday-night curry, when he’d stick out his bloated belly and belch and expect Sophy to find it amusing. ‘But then, where would the fun be if everyone was an open book?’
‘I’m an open book,’ Sophy said a little glumly. ‘I have zero mystery.’
‘Nonsense. You’re about to go to Australia to work on a sheep station, like an old-fashioned adventuress. Following in the footsteps of trailblazers like Gertrude Bell and Freya Stark.’
Right now, The Vintage Dress Shop on a quiet March morning seemed a world, a lifetime, away from an Australian sheep station. Besides…
‘I don’t plan on actually handling the sheep.’ She grimaced at the thought. ‘And the sheep station is very near the coast. Very, very near, so it’s not like I’m going to be in the middle of the outback where there are snakes and other things that might kill you if you step on them. I’m only going to spend a few weeks at the sheep station, then I’m heading to Sydney for a friend’s wedding.’Sophy glanced at one of the rails of wedding dresses and wished, not for the first time, that she’d been able to be with Radha and her other bridesmaids when she tried on dresses and hadn’t had to just make do with a highlights reel on the group chat instead. ‘I don’t think you get any snakes on lovely sandy beaches, do you?’
It was Charles’s turn to grimace. ‘I love living in a country where when I wake up in the morning, I know there’s going to be zero chance of finding a lizard on my forehead.’
‘Lizards! I can’t cope with lizards.’ Sophy would have to ask Bob and Jean about possible lizard encounters, but for now she heard the door open and had to hurry downstairs so the shop wouldn’t be unattended, as Beatrice had a meeting with their website people, Chloe wasn’t rostered for the day and Anita wasn’t due in until the afternoon. And of course Phoebe was still busy fangirling Cress’s intimate knowledge of embroidery technique.
The customer was quickly despatched – she needed a pirate costume for her son for school tomorrow. Sophy directed her to the fancy dress shop on Camden High Street, by which time Charles was back in the shop too and sorting through a cardboard box that Sophy hadn’t noticed before.
‘This has all been very entertaining and it’s been lovely to talk to you properly, but I actually popped over because I have some deadstock pieces for you.’
The warm glow from Charles’s words (because lately Sophy needed all the validation she could get) was replaced by icy dread.
‘Deadstock?’ she echoed, all her worst fears confirmed. ‘Iknewpeople had died in this stuff. I knew it!’
Charles looked up from his box of dead people’s accessories, his eyes glinting with amusement, his mouth curved in a now wicked smile. ‘I have an understanding with several of the local undertakers.’
Sophy collapsed on one of the pink sofas. ‘Please tell me you’re joking.’
