Page 38 of The Widow's Irish Secret
‘Aren’t they great?’ Rose did a twirl. ‘They might have been very daring in the twenties, but I think I would have worn them anyway.’
‘Of course you would,’ Lily retorted. ‘The twenties would have been your era and you’d have been a famous flapper and a total scandal queen.’
‘Oh, yes, I would,’ Rose said, beaming. ‘What fun that would have been.’
‘Thank goodness this isn’t then,’ Sylvia said drily. ‘I’d have hated to watch you and have to sort out any scrape you’d get into.’ She smiled at Ilse. ‘Now you see what I mean when I said the girls were a handful.’
‘I love them already,’ Ilse said and held out her hand to Lily. ‘Hi, I’m Ilse. I was looking forward to meeting you all. Sylvia is very proud of you, you know.’
‘When she’s not smacking our hands for being bold,’ Rose filled in and shook Ilse’s hand after Lily. ‘Hi, Ilse. Nice to meet you. And now you have to tell us about yourself and the work that brought you here.’
Ilse looked suddenly uncomfortable. ‘Well… ahem… It’s a long story and I’m not really allowed to talk about it yet.’
‘Oh, please, girls. Stop being so nosy,’ Sylvia exclaimed. ‘Let’s enjoy the party and Vi and Jack’s big day. Come this way, Ilse.’ She took Ilse by the arm and started to propel her towards the table. ‘Champagne for you all, except those who are driving. And I’ll introduce you to everyone.’
‘Wonderful,’ Ilse chortled. ‘I came in a taxi and I love champagne. Let’s party,’ she called over her shoulder as she walked away with Sylvia by her side.
‘Good idea,’ Tricia said.
Jack took Vi by the hand. ‘Let’s dance, sweetheart. That music is strangely contagious. I suddenly feel an urge to do the Charleston.’
‘You have to open the ball, of course,’ Tricia said. ‘Otherwise nobody will want to start dancing.’
‘Of course we will.’ Jack pulled Vi onto the terrace and they started to dance a wild Charleston to the scratchy sound of the old record player while everyone gathered around them. Then, suddenly they were all on the middle of the terrace, trying their best to copy Jack and Vi, everyone laughing.
Tricia watched them all and then Dominic, who had just arrived, pulled her with him, telling her to kick her legs up. ‘Come on, Tricia, show them how it’s done,’ he urged. She tried her best and then found herself moving with the music, doing the Charleston as if by magic.
‘Gosh, this is fun,’ she panted when they stopped. ‘Even though the sound from that old thing is terrible.’
‘The rhythm is hypnotic, though.’ Dom wiped his brow with a handkerchief. ‘But now I feel like a glass of bubbly, don’t you?’
‘And some food,’ Tricia said. ‘This is supposed to be a tea dance but I know that Sylvia is offering a buffet a little later and then we’ll have the announcement and a cake. Or I should saythecake.’
Dominic let out a laugh. ‘Oh, yeah, it’s a monster, Lily said. Can’t wait to see it.’
Tricia was right. When the dancing petered out and the guests had cleared the plates with finger food, a buffet was laid out along with more champagne and mocktails for those who were driving or not drinking alcohol for whatever reason. Then, when everything had been devoured, Sylvia, who was standing at the table beside a huge cake with white icing decorated with pink marzipan hearts, tapped her glass with a fork and called for ‘Attention’ at the top of her voice. ‘I have an announcement,’ she said. ‘A big one that concerns two young people. As you mighthave seen on some social media, Violet and Jack have just got engaged and that is why we are here celebrating today. So please raise your glasses to them.’
Everyone held up their glasses and said, ‘Violet and Jack,’ in unison and then there was a long applause. ‘And to Sylvia, the hostess with the mostest,’ someone shouted when the applause died down. ‘This party is the best ever.’
They all toasted Sylvia and then there was more applause. Violet and Jack cut the cake together and soon the slices were distributed to everyone on the terrace.
‘Delicious cake.’ Ilse sat down beside Tricia on the balustrade with a piece of cake on a plate. ‘Those big cakes are normally not that good but this one is amazing. Isn’t Sylvia great? To organise this party and then she says the wedding will be fabulous too. Violet is going to wear her dress and everything. How romantic.’ She took a huge bite of cake.
Tricia’s mouthful of cake suddenly got stuck in her throat and she started to cough violently to dislodge it. Ilse slapped her on the back and then the bite flew out of Tricia’s mouth and she could breathe again. ‘Sorry,’ she said when she could talk. ‘I tried to swallow too fast, I think. What was that you said?’
Ilse looked confused. ‘About Sylvia? I said that she will be arranging the wedding and that Violet will wear her grandmother’s dress. Sylvia told me all about it when I had dinner with her and Arnaud recently.’ Ilse cut another bite out of her cake with her fork.
Tricia stared at Ilse. ‘What else did she say?’
‘Oh, just that the wedding is going to be small but very beautiful and that the date hasn’t been fixed yet.’ Ilse smiled and took yet another bite of cake. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing it all in the media, though.’
‘The media?’ Tricia asked.
‘Yes. Magazines and so forth,’ Ilse said, waving her fork. ‘Sylvia said there’ll be some features in the press. Can’t wait to see it. They’re such an adorable couple. You must be so happy for them.’
‘Of course I am,’ Tricia said while she secretly seethed with anger. How dare Sylvia tell Ilse, a complete stranger, all about Vi and Jack’s wedding? And how dare she say that it would be featured in the press? None of that was true. ‘But you know, all the details are not fixed yet. And I think they want the wedding to be family only with no media coverage.’
‘Maybe,’ Ilse said. ‘But I bet the press will want a foot in the door.’ She smiled. ‘That’s not for me to say, of course, not being family or a close friend or anything. Except I heard so much about you and the girls from Cillian. He told me all about how he and their father were close friends and all that. And now you are all meeting up again, I believe. Such a touching story.’
