Lies and Weddings(25)
“Indeed. Where’s my costume?”
“It’s hanging in the coat closet by the foyer.”
Eden fetched the bulky garment bag and unzipped it, staring at its contents in confusion. There was a shimmering ice-blue evening gown complemented by a turquoise faux-fur coat. “A fur coat? Bea’s out of her mind…”
“From what I understand, you’re going to need that tonight,” Thomas said. “We’re about to go from sea level to an altitude of fourteen thousand feet!”[*]
Skip Notes
* The Big Island of Hawaii is the only island on Earth to possess ten of the world’s fourteen climate zones. This means you can sunbathe in the morning on a sizzling-hot beach in Kona, head to the Waimea Valley for a fog-bound lunch reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands, go hiking through the humid Puna rain forest in an afternoon downpour, and freeze your ass off on the summit of Mauna Kea at sunset.
VII
Mauna Kea Volcano
BIG ISLAND, HAWAII ? THE WINTER BALL
All of the titled tons and international who’s whos knew that Rosina Leung’s wedding-eve ball was not to be missed, the social event that perhaps superseded the wedding itself. Augie’s aunt—the formidable wife of the eye-wateringly wealthy Peter Leung—was famous for her legendary parties, and the luxury shuttle bus that transported Drs. Thomas Tong and Eden Tong to the summit of Mauna Kea, the dormant volcanic mountain that loomed over the Big Island, included three lords, two dukes, one polo-playing maharaja, one hereditary grand duchess, one Malaysian tin-mining heiress, a former head of the International Monetary Fund, a Nobel laureate, a couple that owned most of Uttar Pradesh, and a Pritzker-prize-winning architect, all of whom were rendered speechless when they disembarked from the bus and found themselves in a freezing lunar landscape of undulating bare red hills high above the cloud line.
But it wasn’t just the otherworldly majesty of being on top of a volcano that stunned them—it was the sight of the enormous sparkling palace carved entirely out of ice that loomed before them, its dramatic triple naves and carved dragon heads a replica of the Borgund Stave Church[*1] in Norway.
“My god, it’s as if Vikings landed on the moon!” the famed architect decreed.
“Only Rosina could have thought of this!” the Malaysian heiress commented, her neck festooned with such humongous diamonds that Eden was seriously concerned the lady might throw her back out.
“Arabella must be furious to be outdone!” said the grand duchess, the dangling pearls on her tiara shaking back and forth as she giggled.
Arabella was anything but furious. The idea to create a majestic Nordic wonderland as a tribute to the groom’s Norwegian and Liechtenburger relations had been all hers, and she was only too happy to let her sister-in-law write the check for the gargantuan expense. (The way Arabella saw it, Rosina was spending her brother’s money—family money.) Now Arabella proudly held court at the majestic entrance arch of the ice palace in a deep-crimson velvet Schiaparelli couture gown with a dramatic Elizabethan collar of ostrich feathers.
Rosina (Maryknoll/Miss Porter’s/Wellesley) stood alongside Arabella welcoming her guests, but unlike her sister-in-law, she was a study in subtlety, swathed in a white mink cape and an astonishing opera-length necklace composed of flawless matched twenty-millimeter pearls. Only the dozen or so women in the world privileged enough to own pearls of a comparable size would have any clue how near impossible it was to possess a necklace like this.[*2]
A few steps away, looking at her aunt’s gigantic mound of mink in great dismay, was Augusta, who wore an alpine-green winter coatdress made from recycled vintage Victorian brocades by Gary Graham, while Max sported a dashing dark navy nineteenth-century Norwegian naval uniform. As Thomas and Eden approached the receiving line, Augie, Bea, and Rufus immediately clustered around Eden in concern.
“Feeling better?” Rufus asked, hugging her gently as he stared at her face.
“I’m fine, it was just a little bout of seasickness,” Eden said, not enjoying being fussed over.
Bea, who was resplendent in a vintage Lacroix mandarin-collared yellow silk dress and faux-fur-edged robe embroidered with blue dragons, hugged Eden in relief, while Augie gushed over Eden’s ice-blue gown. “You’ve stolen the show, Eden! The color’s absolutely perfect for tonight’s setting! Bea, isn’t this the dress Karl designed for you for the Venetian Heritage Ball a few years ago?”
“I think so,” Bea said, slightly annoyed that her sister would so publicly call attention to the fact that Eden had borrowed her outfit.
Eden was too distracted anyway by Rufus’s dramatically gothic costume of black mohair and leather to mind Augie’s comment. “Is that some sort of Viking costume?” she asked.
Rufus flashed a naughty grin. “Not sure—I found it on Etsy.”[*3]
“Mother approved?”
“Definitely not. I’ve already been scolded.”
Rosina nodded at Eden in a formal manner, as though she were meeting her for the first time, but then a spark of recognition ignited when she noticed Thomas coming up behind Eden. “Thomas! Hou noi mou gin![*4] My goodness, is this your Eden? I didn’t recognize you at first! What a beauty you’ve become! She looks a bit like Maggie Cheung, don’t you think, Thomas?”