The Life She Wanted: A Novel(17)
Pandora spent hours at the sewing machine every night after everyone went to bed. She couldn’t let her father find out what she was doing, and she still had to help Esther in the kitchen during the day.
Finally, on Sunday, the dresses were finished. Virginia’s dress was bottle-green crepe de chine. The bell sleeves and tiered skirt would swish when she walked, and Pandora sewed glass beads to the hem. Her own dress was dusty-pink crepe de georgette. The skirt was shorter than what she usually wore. It was streaked with gold thread and terribly full. It would look striking on her slender figure.
The Van Luyens’ chauffeur, Daniel, drove Pandora and Virginia to Beechtree. Virginia muttered that her mother only offered the chauffeur because she was afraid that if Virginia drove herself, they wouldn’t actually make it to the party. Pandora didn’t care why Daniel took them. When they arrived, it felt wonderful to be helped out of the car by Daniel in his smart chauffeur uniform with gold buttons and black cap.
Pandora stood for a moment taking in the estate. Lillian’s father, Leland Clarkson, had made part of his money from the railroads that stretched from New York to Colorado. After that, he invested in coal mines to fuel the engines and founded a steel company to build the trains.
Inside, Lillian stood in the middle of a group of girls, showing off her diamond ring. Pandora hadn’t expected how much it would hurt to see Lillian, in a turquoise silk dress and looking even more radiant than last weekend.
As the girls moved into the living room, Pandora stayed a few paces behind. The room had a timbered ceiling and paneled walls decorated with hunting trophies. A stone fireplace took up one wall, and round tables with pedestal legs and glass tops were arranged throughout.
Lillian’s mother, Vivian, walked toward her. Vivian was quite young, with Lillian’s brunette curls and brown eyes behind dark lashes.
“I’m Vivian Clarkson. You must be Pandora,” said Vivian. “I saw you playing tennis at the Winthrops’ party last week at Rosecliff.”
Pandora wasn’t here to talk about tennis. She had to get the guests to notice her dress.
“I’ve played since I was a child.” Pandora nodded, eyeing Vivian’s dress. “What a lovely dress. Is it a Molyneux?”
Vivian glanced at Pandora in surprise.
“I bought it last year in Monte Carlo. How did you know?”
Edward Molyneux was one of Pandora’s favorite British designers. He was opposed to any kind of adornments, and his dresses were known for their simplicity.
“Molyneux has one of the most popular salons in Paris,” Pandora said offhandedly. She didn’t reveal that she’d never been to Paris, that she’d only read about Molyneux. “Greta Garbo is a big fan.”
“Lillian and I hadn’t packed enough dresses for all the parties and dances Owen and his family invited us to while we were in Monte Carlo,” Vivian recalled, gazing fondly across the room at Lillian. “I knew right away that something was growing between Owen and Lillian. They really are perfect for each other.”
Pandora expected to feel upset, but she found Vivian warm and friendly. Pandora couldn’t help but like her.
“I’m sure it will be a beautiful wedding,” Pandora said.
“The bride makes a wedding beautiful,” Vivian said wisely. “And being surrounded by her friends. Lillian didn’t have many friends growing up. She missed more than a year of school.”
Pandora remembered that Lillian attended the exclusive all-girls’ Spence School in New York. She had assumed that Lillian was popular.
“Lillian doesn’t talk about it, but it isn’t a secret.” Vivian noticed Pandora’s surprised expression. “She contracted polio when she was ten, during the New York epidemic of 1916. It’s not so bad for smaller children, but Lillian nearly died. She could hardly breathe, and we worried that she’d be paralyzed. I didn’t leave her sick room for months.
“When she improved, the doctor insisted we move to the mountains for her lungs. By the time we returned to New York, the girls at school had formed new cliques, and Lillian was left out,” Vivian said. “In a way, it brought us closer, but young women need girls their own age to confide in.”
Pandora knew she should feel sorry for Lillian, but it didn’t excuse Lillian’s bad behavior. And in a way, Pandora was envious. Vivian had changed her whole life to care for her daughter. Meanwhile, Pandora’s mother hadn’t loved Pandora enough to stay.
As Vivian led Pandora into the dining room, Pandora wondered if Vivian and Lillian had a deep mother-daughter connection that Pandora had never known. Pandora longed for something like that.
The bridal tea was held in the glass atrium. Old-fashioneds were served in glass jars, and there was champagne and fruit punch. Maids passed around plates of deviled eggs and oysters on the half shell. Pandora had never tried oysters before. They were prepared in a cream sauce and baked with bread crumbs and a squeeze of lemon. Pandora couldn’t wait to tell Esther about them.
After they finished eating, the conversation moved from where Lillian and Owen would spend their honeymoon to what style wedding dress Lillian should wear.
“When I get married, I’m going to ask Pandora to sew my trousseau,” Virginia announced.
Pandora smiled inwardly. Virginia had vowed she would never get married. She was only trying to help.