Chapter 32 #2
‘I’m looking forward to this evening,’ said Michael, doing up his dress studs.
‘I never thought I would. When you first mentioned the idea, I was appalled. But you were right. I think this is important for us. It’s steering us on.
And it’s brought us all together, hasn’t it?
’ He chuckled. ‘I’ve just been to tie Ted’s tie for him.
He’s about to pop with excitement. There’s no way you’re going to get him to go to bed. ’
‘Well, the boys never went to bed, did they? Or Diana. They were always up and down the stairs until after midnight with one excuse or another.’
Elizabeth sat down to finish off her make-up now that she was dressed.
She watched Michael behind her, in the mirror.
He was taking a small package out of his chest of drawers.
She frowned as he walked over and put it on the dressing table in front of her.
It was a red leather jewellery box, the name of her favourite jeweller embossed on the lid.
‘What’s this?’
‘Call it an early Christmas present,’ he said, smiling. ‘I thought you deserved something special for tonight.’
‘You shouldn’t have,’ she said, as that was what one was supposed to say, but she was intrigued as she flipped open the lid. Inside was a pair of diamond earrings, two snowflakes that glittered and flashed in the lamplight.
‘Oh, my goodness,’ she exclaimed, completely taken aback. ‘They’re perfect.’
‘Snowflakes for the Snow Ball,’ he said as she hurried to take them out of the box and put them on, screwing the backs on as tightly as she could. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were sparkling, as if the diamonds were reflected in them.
‘I’m not sure I deserve them.’
‘Of course you do,’ he said. ‘You keep this house together. All of us. And this is your night.’
Stella felt as if she was becoming someone else as she wriggled into the dress she had chosen.
Was it too much? Or actually, not enough – she was conscious that most of her back was bare as she did up the clasp at the neck.
Her hair was piled onto her head in a rather sophisticated arrangement – Elizabeth’s hairdresser had been up to tend to them all earlier – and the red lipstick she’d bought in the chemist in Breverton stood out against her pale skin.
She looked very noticeable, and she wasn’t sure how comfortable she was about it.
She would rather slink into the background.
For a moment she imagined Edwin coming into the room and admiring her.
What would he think? She’d never really had the chance to dress up like this with him.
Is this what their life would have been like, if things had gone according to plan?
Fancy dinners and balls and cocktail parties and private views?
All they’d really had was a few clandestine outings, under the shadow of the war.
They’d never really had a chance to live life to the full.
She wasn’t going to let it bring her down.
She might be standing there in a borrowed dress, in a room that wasn’t hers, but she had done her best to make the best life she could for her and Ted.
And she felt excited about the future. The Towpath Gang was coming together, different but in some ways better, and she was hoping to deliver it to Harriet in the New Year.
And then she could start to make plans to stand on her own two feet.
She could never repay Elizabeth and Michael for what they had done, but she understood that they didn’t expect to be repaid.
And with every day that passed, she began to feel more like a member of the family.
Most important of all, Ted was flourishing.
She’d declined Michael’s offer to intervene at the school – he’d been furious when he found out about the bullying – and she’d been to see the headmistress herself.
She’d been met with profuse apologies and a reassurance that it wouldn’t happen again.
Two days ago, she and Elizabeth and Michael had been to the school Nativity play, and they’d all beamed from ear to ear watching Ted throw his heart into his role as a donkey, and afterwards, when they’d gathered in the hall for mince pies, they’d watched him mucking about with his peers as if nothing had ever happened.
She looked at her watch. It was nearly time to go and greet her guests. Both Mr C and Harriet were staying at the Breverton Arms, and were sharing a taxi over to Foxwood. She couldn’t quite imagine the conversation, but she thought they might get on together. She couldn’t wait to see them both.
Clementine was putting on her wedding dress.
She had always intended to wear it again, and the Snow Ball had presented itself as the perfect opportunity.
Elizabeth’s hairdresser had smoothed her curls into a sophisticated roll, so she looked different from her wedding day, when they’d been loose and under a veil.
She was a little nervous about this evening.
After all, it had been her finding the invitations that had sparked it all off.
But she had to admit it had been the perfect way to bring everyone together, and the excitement had reached fever pitch.
It had even infected her parents, whom she’d booked into the best room at the Breverton Arms. They were coming for lunch tomorrow, so she could spend some proper time with them before they drove back to Salisbury.
‘Hello, Mrs Arbutus,’ said Alfie in his teasing voice as he came into the bedroom in his white tie and tails. ‘Will I do?’ He held out his arms to the side.
Would he do? He would more than do. She’d known as soon as she saw him that he was the person she’d been waiting for. He was strong and kind and funny. That was all you needed in a man. The perfect recipe.
‘You look very handsome,’ she told him.
‘I’m wearing Edwin’s cufflinks,’ he told her, and there was a slight catch in his voice. ‘Mum gave them to me. He got them for his eighteenth.’
He showed her the flat, pale gold discs engraved with Edwin’s initials. EMA.
‘Oh, darling,’ she said. ‘He’s here with us. I’m sure of it.’
‘He absolutely is,’ said Alfie. ‘I can tell you, he’d be downstairs already with a glass of champagne in one hand. This was his favourite night of the year.’
‘Well, let’s go and do him proud.’ Clementine pinned her diamanté spider onto the front of her dress. ‘Let’s make this a night to remember.’
At first, Diana hadn’t wanted the hairdresser anywhere near her, but her mother had talked her into it, and she had been right, as Elizabeth annoyingly always was.
Her hair was loose from its usual scraped-back ponytail and was in shiny waves around her face.
She was staring at the reincarnation of the girl she remembered from the first Snow Ball she’d been allowed to stay up all night for, when she had danced until dawn.
She didn’t like to think about the intervening years too much.
The bloody war had been too much for all of them.
Then Edwin’s death had turned her sour, like old milk.
But tonight, she was proud to look in the mirror.
She’d reached inside and found her old spirit, and now she woke up every day with a new zest for life, a sense of purpose, that she had never thought she would have.
Of course, the sadness was still there, as it was for all of them, but you couldn’t wallow. There was no point.
‘Would you do my tie?’ Rory came towards her in his dress shirt and underpants, his sturdy legs pink from his recent bath, his tie dangling around his collar.
She felt a rush of fondness. Those big hands of his were no good at fiddly things.
They were made for pulling calves out of their mothers when things were getting difficult.
‘Of course,’ she said, turning away from the mirror and walking towards him. His mouth dropped open at the sight of her.
‘Wow,’ he said. ‘You look …’
He stopped, reddening. She could see he didn’t know what to say. She could see he was frightened, in case she thought he was after something more, or was implying she should make an effort more often.
‘Very nice,’ he managed in the end.
What a beast of a wife she had become, that her own husband was afraid to pay her a compliment. She mustn’t let him feel like that a minute longer. After all, her horrible sense of self-loathing had evaporated; the one that made her behave so badly. She liked herself.
She didn’t say anything for now, just tied his tie with a flourish, just as she used to tie Edwin’s, for she had the knack. She was good at fiddly things. It was all those manes she plaited. She stood back and smiled at Rory, at his eager, slightly confused, dear face.
‘You look very nice yourself,’ she said, and kissed the tip of his nose. He couldn’t have looked more shocked. It was the most intimate moment they had shared for a long time. And it made her feel happy. It was a very unfamiliar but very welcome feeling.
‘Come on, get your trousers on,’ she said, smacking his bum playfully. ‘Or we’re going to be late.’
Just before seven, the photographer jostled them all into position in front of the fireplace in the big drawing room.
Michael and Elizabeth in the centre, Diana and Rory to their right, Alfie and Clementine to the left.
In front of them all, Stella was seated in an armchair with Ted perched on her lap.
Bingo and Paddy and Oscar and Joyce were at their feet, and the photographer had to be quick sharp to take a picture before the dogs bolted.
It was time for the Snow Ball to begin.