Page 43 of The Wedding Dress Repair Shop
‘I’m so sorry,’ I said, taking the mug she handed me. ‘You’re very young to be a widow.’
‘Thirty – but cancer doesn’t take any account of age.’ She sat down opposite me on one of the armchairs, with her own mug, and pushed an open tin of shortbread biscuits in my direction.
‘The bookshop was really Neil’s dream and I feel I’m sort of keeping his memory alive by carrying on with it. We had such fun setting it up, even though it’s never been exactly a money-spinner.’
‘No, but the best work is the sort you’d do whether you were paid for it or not,’ I said. ‘You must have lots of happy memories to look back on.’
‘I do. I don’t usually tell people about Neil when I’ve only just met them,’ she said, with one of the smiles that so transformed her usual cool, reserved face. ‘But somehow I feel I’ve known you for ages. Perhaps it’s because you already knew Thom, and he and Simon have been such good friends and a support to me through everything.’
‘It’s … several years since I last saw Thom,’ I said carefully. ‘He left London suddenly and I had no idea he was living here until I came face to face with him yesterday. Honey had left the cottage keys at his workshop.’
‘Odd how these things happen, but it must have been quite a surprise,’ she said vaguely. From her expression I thought she’d noticed the coolness between me and Thom the previous evening, but was tactfully not asking any questions.
Instead, she said, ‘So, how did Honey manage to persuade a top-notch theatrical costumier to up sticks from London and move here to look after her wedding dress collection?’
I laughed. ‘Honey was exaggerating my importance! I did work for years in the historical costume department of one of the leading theatrical costumiers, and I was even in line for promotion. I was also engaged to be married but … something happened to change all that. When the engagement was broken and Honey offered me the job, I decided on a fresh start here.’
‘Yes, it was fascinating to hear how you met at the V&A and discovered you were related!’
‘I’ve been involved in the plans for the museum ever since we met and so has my friend George, who works at the V&A and reallyisan expert on historical costume. He came up here on a visit a little while ago, to advise Honey on the plans.’
‘Yes, he came in with Honey and she introduced him. I had a book on fans in the window and he couldn’t resist it. Small and very dapper, with a silvery goatee beard and gold-rimmed half-moon glasses.’
‘That’s George,’ I agreed.
‘I’m sorry to hear about your broken engagement,’ Pearl said.
‘My fiancé turned out not to be the man I thought he was. Story of my life, really,’ I added, slightly bitterly.
‘You just haven’t met the right one yet,’ she consoled me. ‘Neil and I were very happy and I’m sure we always would have been, if he hadn’t been taken away from me … but now I havegood friends instead, including Thom and Simon, and that’s enough.’
From the devoted looks Simon had been casting in her direction last night, I thought it probably wasn’t really enough for him, but I was sure Pearl hadn’t realized that.
‘The book group will be meeting here this evening, from seven onwards, if you can make it. You’d get to meet the rest of my friends, and they’re all really nice people.’
‘I don’t know …’ I began doubtfully. Did I want to be pulled into a circle of friends that included Thom?
‘Oh, do come! We’re not at all highbrow and we have fun discussing books because we all have such different tastes. If you’re very busy, you could perhaps simply pop in for half an hour to say hello, or just leave it till next week, if you’d rather.’
‘I’ll … see how things go,’ I temporized. It was becoming plain that living in such a small community, and with Thom, Pearl and Simon practically on my doorstep, it was going to be almost impossible not to get drawn into their company. There were Honey’s Sunday attic-clearing and supper get-togethers, for a start, which, since she was my boss, I couldn’t very well get out of, even if I wanted to … and actually, I secretly hoped we might find more of Rosa-May’s belongings up there in the attic.
I may have reread my childhood collection of Famous Five books too many times …
I voiced something that had been puzzling me. ‘You know, Pearl, I’m still surprised the news that Ivo Gryffyn was living here didn’t get out. I know the films were years ago now, but it all got raked up just before he left London for good, when his stepbrother and co-star in the films died.’
‘I remember reading about that – such a tragedy,’ she said. ‘Thom was already living here when Neil and I arrived, andhe’d been visiting for a few years before that, so the locals had already gone through the stage of thinking he looked like Ivo Gryffyn, to realizing he actuallywas, but since he obviously didn’t want to be recognized, no one mentioned it. By then, too, he’d just sort of seamlessly blended in. He’s even got a touch of the local accent!’
‘He’s always been able to merge into any background, like a chameleon,’ I agreed. ‘I suppose that’s what made him such a good actor.’
‘The locals just take people as they come, really,’ Pearl said. ‘If he wanted to live quietly under a different name and make marionettes, that was his business.’
I could see that attitude would have attracted Thom to the place, almost as much as the marionette making.
‘He never wanted fame or an acting career,’ I said.
‘You knew him quite well, then?’
‘I’m not sure I ever really knew him at all,’ I said, then got up. ‘Thank you for the coffee, but I must get back now, because Honey’s coming after lunch to show me round the museum and I’ve got a few things to do before then.’
