The Life She Wanted: A Novel(80)

She would visit the dress shops in Hyde Park that afternoon.

Pandora gave Adele the presents she bought in Paris. A velvet cape for Adele and a selection of ties for Milton; then they drove to Riverview. Pandora was about to take her suitcases around to the kitchen when Virginia appeared.

“There you are.” Virginia beamed. “I was getting impatient; I was going to come to Blythdale and kidnap you.”

“I thought you’d be in New York.” Pandora hugged her. She had missed Virginia so much. “How did you know I was here?”

“Adele told me. We practically fought each other to pick you up.” Virginia grinned. “Adele only won because your luggage wouldn’t fit in my car. Your father had to run some errands; Esther is waiting in the kitchen with an upside-down cake for Esme.”

Virginia looked modern and sophisticated. Her hair was still cut in a bob, and she wore red lipstick. She was dressed in a pleated skirt and matching jacket and carried a smart handbag.

“You look more like Louise Brooks than when I left,” Pandora said admiringly.

“I have to maintain a certain professional style,” Virginia replied, crossing her hands in her lap. “I’ve just come from lunch with the owner of the Strand bookstore. He ordered fifty copies of the biography of Harriet Jacobs.”

“I’m so proud of you,” Pandora gushed. “I worried that after the crash, Riverview Press might not survive.”

“Wolfgang and I took a pay cut, and we work long hours.” Virginia shrugged. “Millie is a godsend. She’s taken on the accounting. If any vendor tries to cheat us, we never work with him again.”

Pandora beamed with pleasure. She couldn’t wait to take Millie to lunch and hear all about it.

“What about Wolfgang? You never talk about other men, but you never talk about Wolfgang romantically.”

“Wolfgang is like my second skin,” Virginia said carefully. “But we’re not getting married. A husband might try to control me; Wolfgang and I work better side by side.”

Pandora nodded but thought to herself that she disagreed. She still believed in marriage. The point of love was to blend two lives and create a richer whole. She wondered whether she would ever trust a man enough to fall in love again.

Virginia told Pandora about Lillian and Owen. Lillian’s father lost everything and jumped from his office window. Lillian and Owen moved back to Rosecliff with the children, and Vivian was living upstate. Pandora would send her a card; Vivian had always been so kind to her.

“Tell me about Archie,” Pandora said.

“Lucy’s father is better, and Lucy is back in Hyde Park. The wedding is going to be this summer. Lucy didn’t want to wait until Christmas, and Louise Vanderbilt decided that having the wedding at Biltmore with its 250 rooms is too ostentatious.” Virginia rolled her eyes. “It will be at their estate in Hyde Park instead.”

“And Archie?” Pandora asked.

“Archie will come home from London in a couple of months. He’s going to run my father’s company.”

“But your father only had a small heart attack.” Pandora frowned.

“The first one was small, then he had another,” Virginia admitted. “He only goes into New York once a week, and his doctor doesn’t even approve of that.”

“I’m sorry, I had no idea.”

Virginia changed the subject to talk about all the books she planned to publish that season, but Pandora couldn’t stop thinking about Archie. She had to tell him the truth about Esme. The secret had been weighing on her conscience for too long.

After they finished talking, Pandora borrowed Virginia’s car and drove into Hyde Park. She had quickly calculated how long her savings would last. Even if she was frugal, it wouldn’t last more than a few months. She refused to borrow money from Adele or Virginia. The sooner she got her designs into a dress shop in Hyde Park, the sooner she’d be able to support herself and Esme.

The first dress shop she visited on Main Street was closed. The mannequins were gone from the windows and a “For Rent” sign flapped on the door. She walked farther along the street to a shop with gold awnings. “Annalise’s Fine Dresses” was written in cursive, and there was a red ball gown with a satin sash in the window.

“Good afternoon.” Pandora addressed the salesgirl. “I’d like to speak to Annalise.”

An older woman appeared from the back room. She wore a blue dress with a silk scarf. Her face was finely lined, and she wore her dark hair in a bun.

“I’m Annalise. May I help you?”

Pandora told her about training under Jean Patou in Paris. She described her sportswear and showed her a few pieces.

“This is wonderful.” Annalise admired a blue-and-yellow-patterned knit dress. Jean had encouraged her to use fabrics with bold geometric shapes, and the dress was one of Pandora’s favorites. “But I’m afraid I can’t stock it.”

“You can’t?” Pandora questioned.

“The price point would be too high; customers couldn’t afford it.”

“All your dresses are high priced.” Pandora frowned.

“They were.” Annalise nodded. She pointed to a rack in the back. “Now the only ones that sell are discounted.”

“Women must still buy clothes,” Pandora said desperately. There weren’t any other dress shops in Hyde Park; the closest department store was in Kingston. “What about the gown in the window. That must cost a fortune.”