Page 121 of The Wedding Dress Repair Shop
Then he added: ‘I wonder how Simon and Pearl are getting on. I got the feeling this lunch after church was sort of their first real date, didn’t you?’
‘I did. I hope it goes well, because I think Pearl has been struggling with the idea of having feelings for Simon ever since we all went up to the Fairy Falls. I expect it feels a bit disloyal to her late husband to be thinking about someone else in that way.’
‘Neil was a nice man and I’m sure he’d want her to move on and be happy.’
I remembered what Pearl had said about her husband and was certain he would, too.
‘I could tell Simon was in love with her the moment I first saw them together – but also that she had no idea!’
‘Simon doesn’t hide his feelings very well and he adores her, though he was just the supportive family friend during her husband’s last illness.’
‘It would be so lovely if they could find happiness together now,’ I said.
‘Perhaps we’ll be able to tell how they got on when they get back,’ Thom suggested.
‘Maybe …’ I said, although it wasn’t always easy to read Pearl’s expression. Then I made Thom go and admire my new sofa covers, even though he insisted he was not a chintz person, and anyway, it had been impossible for him to miss seeing those giant blue and pink roses on the way in.
*
There was still no sign of Simon’s car when Thom and I went over to Pelican House for the attic clearing, but he and Pearl turned up a few minutes later, breathless and apologetic … and, in Simon’s case, cheerful. Pearl was harder to read, but I noticed that they kept catching each other’s eye, half-smiling and then looking away again, which was promising.
We were making steady progress, and were on to the second of the three largest attics, where there was a bit more room since Priceless Interiors had removed a few pieces of furniture.
Like the last room, we cleared one corner, then movedanything into it that Honey wanted to keep, before sorting the rest into Arthur’s spoil heap and a few more items for Priceless Interiors to consider. Honey took photos of those to send to them.
We came across a mahogany glazed cabinet that Honey thought might fit into one of the remaining gaps in the museum, or possibly the shop, and then there was an exciting moment when I thought we’d discovered something that might have been Rosa-May’s: a leghorn hat in an ancient black shagreen hatbox.
Unfortunately, Simon declared it definitely Victorian.
‘But the style didn’t change much from the Regency, did it?’ I said. ‘So we could display it as part of the Rosa-May collection, possibly on top of one of the open trunks.’
‘Why not?’ said Honey, and Simon offered to take it back to his workshop and replace the moth-eaten ribbon and ostrich feather plume.
‘I’m starting to lose hope that we’ll find any more of Rosa-May’s belongings, especially the second journal,’ I confessed.
‘Well, it was always a long shot. I only really suggested it to lure you into helping me with the clearing!’ Honey said.
‘It’s too soon to lose hope when there’s another big attic after this one, as well as that small room off it,’ said Thom encouragingly.
‘I’d love to know what happened to our ancestor, Garland, and why she vanished,’ said Honey. ‘Hugo said that, according to family rumour, she’d run off with a lover, but it’s odd nothing was ever heard of her again.’
‘A bit like Amy Weston, the Bloody Bride,’ I suggested. ‘Although Rosa-May left her children behind her, rather than her wedding dress.’
‘Twin sons, who must only have been a month or two old when she left,’ Honey agreed. ‘At that time, she wouldn’t havebeen able to keep her children with her if she left her husband. She’d have had no legal right to even see them ever again.’
‘Women were still mere chattels then. It must have been dreadful if you were in an unhappy marriage,’ said Pearl.
‘I don’t know how far you’ve got with her journal, Garland,’ Honey said. ‘But her sudden lack of any control over her money and the loss of her independence hit Rosa-May hard not long after her impulsive marriage.’
‘I’ve got to the bit where her husband has gone back to his regiment without her and she’s stuck at the Hall with his brother and his wife, feeling increasingly unhappy.’
‘I’d like to read this journal,’ said Pearl.
‘It starts as more of an autobiography,’ explained Honey. ‘Then turns into a spasmodic journal. When Derek’s less busy I’m still thinking he can type it up. Then I could get it published as a little book to sell in the museum.’
‘That’s a good idea, but it would have been even better if we’d found the second volume – if there is one,’ I sighed.
Honey said bracingly that there was still hope, then rallied her troops and we set to work again. However, we found nothing at all other than unwanted furniture and spiders as big as saucers.
