Pandora reached her hand up to his face and kissed him.
Archie went to talk to Virginia and Wolfgang, and Pandora walked down to the river. The sun glinted on the water, and the maple trees were just starting to turn the gold and orange of early autumn.
There was nothing more beautiful than the grand estates along the Hudson. The gracious mansions and rolling, green lawns. Blythdale’s marble pergola and manicured clock garden, the Vanderbilts’ acres of farmland, Riverview’s tennis court and swimming pool. Pandora had lived more than half her life in Hyde Park; she never wanted that to change. Yet at the same time she was ready for something more. For Esme Sportswear to be in department stores across the country, instead of only in New York. To one day travel to Europe with Archie and go to all the places she had never been.
Pandora had gone through so much. The joy of Esme’s birth, followed so soon by the pain of Harley’s scandal and death. The satisfaction of starting her own sportswear company and now the giddy happiness of being with Archie.
If she had learned anything, it was how much she valued the people in her life. People she loved, and who loved her for who she was. Willie, who only wanted her to be happy, and Virginia, who was like a sister, and Adele, whom Pandora admired for her kindness and courage. Esme had those people in her life too. Now she had Archie, and perhaps one day, a brother or sister. More people to love her, to teach her about the world.
Pandora couldn’t think of anything better to give her daughter than that.
Epilogue
June 1931, Rhinecliff, New York
The last weekend in June, Pandora sat in her dressing room of the villa in Rhinecliff.
Today she and Archie were getting married, and they’d spend their first night together in their new home.
The villa was called Villa Beaulieu, in honor of Baroness Rothschild’s villa in Cap Ferrat. It was farther up the Hudson than Riverview and Blythdale, in the hamlet of Rhinecliff.
The house had one wing completed, and the rest of the grounds were still piles of dirt. Pandora had bought the land last autumn and designed the house herself. She painted the exterior the same ochre color as the baroness’s villa, and she put in a French garden shaped like a rowboat. Esme loved to skip stones in the lily pond and listen to the musical fountain.
Archie had proposed on Christmas Eve, after midnight services. A horse-drawn sleigh was waiting when they emerged from the church. Archie got down on one knee, took a velvet box from his pocket, and gave her a diamond-and-emerald ring that had been in the Van Luyen family for two generations.
They decided on a small wedding at Villa Beaulieu.
The day would be important not just because she was marrying Archie. Pandora was finally going to put her secret to rest. Before they left on their honeymoon, she was going to tell Adele and Milton and Virginia and Willie that Archie was Esme’s father.
She had come to her decision gradually over the last year. Seeing Archie and Esme play together made her realize how much Archie contributed to Esme’s life. They were developing a bond that Esme would never share with anyone else. Esme needed to know that Archie was her father.
Pandora was confident that Adele and Milton’s love for Esme wouldn’t change. Families were formed in different ways. Virginia would be shocked, but she would adore being Esme’s aunt as well as her godmother. And Willie would understand. He had taught Pandora the importance of love in a marriage.
She wouldn’t worry what people like Lillian would say if they found out. She had to do what was best for Esme, and she was determined to teach her that social standing and wealth were nothing without love and integrity and honesty.
Adele poked her head in the door. She wore a green chemise dress with a white sash. A pearl necklace hung around her neck, and she carried white gloves.
“You look beautiful,” Adele breathed.
Pandora had designed her own wedding gown. She had decorated the fitted silk bodice with rose appliqués. The tiered chiffon skirt had more layers than Pandora originally intended, but Esme loved watching Pandora twirl in front of the mirror.
“You and Archie look so happy together,” Adele reflected. “And Esme is lucky to grow up with Archie as a stepfather. Anyone can see how much he loves her.”
Pandora was tempted to share her secret then. But she and Archie had decided they would do it together after the reception.
Adele left, and there was a knock. Pandora thought it would be Willie, but it was Archie. He looked incredibly handsome in a black topcoat and tails. His hand covered his eyes, and he carried a top hat.
Pandora gasped. “What are you doing here? The groom can’t see the bride before the wedding.”
“I’m not going to look,” Archie promised. “I need you to settle a dilemma. Esme says Picasso is part of our family, so he should be at the wedding.”
Pandora let out a laugh. She often thought Esme would grow up to be a lawyer. Already at the age of three, Esme delighted in nothing more than arguing her point of view.
Pandora compromised. “He can be at the ceremony but not at the dinner.”
“Are you sure I can’t peek at the bride before I go?” Archie teased.
“Certainly not,” Pandora said, horrified. “Wedding traditions are important.”
Pandora turned back to the mirror and put the finishing touches to her makeup. She had just applied lipstick when her father appeared. A yellow handkerchief stuck out of his jacket pocket, and he wore suspenders and black leather shoes.
“You look even more handsome than the first time we did this,” Pandora joked, adjusting the boutonniere in Willie’s buttonhole.
Tears formed in his eyes, and he blinked them away.
“And you’re even more radiant.”
Pandora slipped on long white gloves and took Willie’s arm. The lawn looked glorious in the late-afternoon sunlight. The aisle was scattered with pink rose petals, and great urns held white orchids. More roses formed an arch where the minister stood, and behind it, the Hudson shimmered like a magic carpet.
Esme walked down the aisle first, in a white organza dress and satin slippers. A wreath of pink roses encircled her blond ringlets, and she moved with the poise and confidence of a tiny ballerina.
Virginia came next, regal and elegant in an indigo-colored drop-waisted gown and beaded headdress.
Archie waited under the arch. Even though Pandora had seen him moments earlier, her heart still beat rapidly in her chest. He looked so proud and happy in front of the guests, as if he had won the greatest prize.
“Are you ready to give away the bride?” Pandora whispered to Willie.
Willie held out his arm. He turned to Pandora.
“You’re not the kind of woman who is given to a man,” he whispered back. “You are becoming Mrs. Archie Van Luyen, and you are also Esme’s mother. But you will always be Pandora Carmichael, a modern woman.”
Pandora took her father’s arm. She stepped onto the lawn and smiled.
“I wouldn’t want to be anyone else.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to my agent, Johanna Castillo, for taking such good care of me and my books. Thank you to my editor Alicia Clancy; I’m so glad we ended up together. Thank you to the team at Lake Union and Amazon Publishing: Danielle Marshall, Rachael Clark, Jen Bentham, and Gabe Dumpit. Thanks to Chris Werner and Jodi Warshaw.