AN ADVENTURE TO REMEMBER AND A MEMORY TO FORGET
Chapter Thirty-One
Victoria
I slept soundly last night. My
dreams weren’t bad, though I don’t remember them. I usually never do. I woke up
and had a pleasant breakfast with Father and Shannon. Harry had sent word
through one of our attendants that he wasn’t feeling well, so I left him be and
told him through our attendant that I’d check on him later.
I stopped by Rose and Jack’s
suite to pick Rose up to go shopping for her wedding dress. She answered the
door almost immediately, and together we took off to a local dress shop not too
far from the hotel.
"Are you getting excited
about getting married?"
Rose smiled, looking down at the
ground as we walked. "Of course I am. This is everything I have dreamed
of. I am about to marry the man of my dreams, and for once, a man I love. Not a
marriage of convenience or a marriage of loveless dreams, but a real marriage.
I’m ecstatic."
"You look alive. You are
glowing, a typical bride," I pointed out to her as we made our way to the
stained glass entryway of the bridal shop my father had told us to go to. I
opened the door, and Rose eagerly stepped in. I watched as her eyes darted from
dress to dress.
She walked up to a row of lacy
bridal gowns. "These are all beautiful. Simply stunning." Rose ran
her fingers over the delicate lace trim of one gown. It had a scoop neck with
lace trim around it. The satin sleeves were capped at the shoulders and it had
a crystal-encrusted train that matched a set of crystal designed slippers to
accent the crystal pieces in the dress. "I love this one." She looked
at the price tag hanging off the neck. "But too expensive."
She showed it to me. I shrugged
my shoulders. "Father told you to pick out what you wanted, no matter the
cost. He means it, too. He’ll be upset with you if you come back with something
cheap that you don’t like." I reached up and unfastened the dress off the
hanger. "Try it on!" I pointed back to the dressing area. We told the
clerk behind the counter what we were doing. She followed us back.
"Do you like this one? Which
one of you lovely ladies is the lucky, blushing bride?"
Rose spoke up. "I’m getting
married tomorrow. My friend is getting married shortly thereafter. They haven’t
set a date just yet."
"Then this one will be
perfect for you. My name is Samantha, if you need me. We do offer complimentary
hemming and fitting if need be, but I’ll bet you fit this one perfectly."
Rose stepped in behind the
curtain after I helped her undo the buttons and clasps on the back of the dress
she was wearing. I had stepped away from the curtained area while she tried on
the dress. I soon found myself lost, meandering through the rest of the gowns
and waiting on Rose to come out.
"How do I look?"
I turned around, and my jaw fell
open. "Rose, you look stunning!" I walked up to her as she made her
way to a full-length mirror by the back door. "It’s amazing. I love
it!"
Rose twirled around in the dress,
then looked at herself from behind. "Think Jack will love it?"
"Oh, yes. I’m sure he will.
Father will be pleased that we found your dress as quickly as possible."
"Victoria, I’m still a
little apprehensive. This gown is so expensive, and your father has already
been generous enough to allow both Jack and me to stay with you at the
Waldorf-Astoria hotel, free of charge. I can’t continue to keep allowing him to
pay my way. Jack and I already feel bad about this."
I walked Rose back over to the
changing room. "Don’t. Please. My father is generous to anyone. He doesn’t
expect anything in return, only that you are happy, and I can see that you are.
Now please, change, let’s buy the dress, and go do something else!" I
smiled. She nodded and closed the curtains. I busied myself looking through the
rest of the dresses when the clerk came back to me.
"Finding everything all
right?"
I nodded. "Yes. My friend
found exactly what she wanted."
Samantha looked me up and down.
"Did you find something?"
"Oh, no. I really haven’t
looked."
She took me by the hand and led
me to the corner of the store where Rose had found her dress. Samantha held up
a similarly-designed wedding gown, but this one had a deeper neck than the one
Rose had picked out. "This one will look stunning on you. The neckline
will accent your bust without making you look like a common street girl. If you
add a necklace of either pearls or a diamond pendant, you’ll look simply
stunning for your big day. Please, try it on."
I sighed and took the dress. I
passed Rose on the way back. "I’m trying this on." Rose nodded and
fell in line behind Samantha. She helped me with the clasps on the back of my
gown. Samantha had hung the dress on a hook inside the dressing area. I looked
at the dress for a moment before I lightly touched it and ran my fingers down
the lace bodice, which widened into a satin trimmed skirt. "It’s
beautiful." I was amazed at the detail in the dress. I could imagine
myself, on my father’s arm, walking down the aisle of the hotel or in the
backyard of a fancy club or hotel, walking towards Harry. I snapped myself back
into reality and called for Samantha to help me with the dress. She slipped in
between the curtain and the wall and instructed me to raise my arms. She
slipped it over my head and fastened the back.
"You look very pretty. Your
husband-to-be is one lucky man. I’ll get out of your way so you can see what it
looks like for yourself." Samantha pulled back the curtain. I had my head
down as I stepped out into the sunlight gleaming through the window behind the
changing area.
"Victoria! This one is
amazing. Simply stunning! Harry is going to be speechless when you get to him
at the altar." Rose led me over to the same mirror she looked into, and I
slowly lifted my head to see my own reflection. My pale skin looked like it
belonged inside the dress. My curls fell just slightly past my shoulders.
Samantha walked up with the veil.
"This goes with the
dress." She clipped it into my hair. Even with my hair just pulled aside
with clips, the veil went with it. Rose walked back up front to pick up the
shoes.
I took the shoes from Rose.
"My boots are too hard to lace, or I’d try those on." I ran my
fingers over the design of the shoes. "So, what do you think?"
Rose looked at Samantha, who
smiled. "You look stunning. This one was designed for you to marry
Harry."
Samantha nodded in agreement.
"Will you be purchasing this today?"
I looked at Rose, then back at
Samantha. "Yes, ma’am. We will be purchasing both. My father, James
Metcalfe, has already sent word to the owner about charging both dresses to our
rooms at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel just down the street."
Samantha walked back to the front
counter and thumbed through a small notebook. "Metcalfe. Yes. I see where
he spoke with Mr. Jameson, the owner, about this." She scribbled a note
next to the original note. "Would you like these delivered later on today,
or would you like to take them with you?"
"Delivered, please. Victoria
and I have some other pre-wedding errands to run."
"As you wish. They will be
at your hotel suites for you before the end of the day."
I nodded and thanked Samantha as
Rose and I left the store. "What a day! You found your dress for your
wedding to Harry, and I found mine for my wedding to Jack."
"It’d be nice if we could
both have a wedding tomorrow. We could have a double wedding."
I stopped dead in my tracks.
"Tomorrow!"
Rose nodded. "Yes, tomorrow.
Think about it. We could both be married at the same time!"
I swallowed hard. "Um…I
haven’t spoken with Harry. I haven’t done anything of the sort. What would he
even think?"
"Well if you want, Jack and
I can postpone our wedding to coincide with your wedding. Since it’s just going
to be a small family affair with not too many people in attendance, I’m sure
Jack wouldn’t mind. I think he’d be thrilled."
"Oh, Rose, I could never ask
you to do that. Tomorrow is your day. Please, go have your wedding. Otherwise,
how could I be the maid of honor, and how could Harry be the best man? It would
have to be one of those combination weddings. You could be Bride One and Maid
of Honor Two and I could be Bride Two and Maid of Honor One. This could get
confusing."
Rose laughed. "It was just
an idea. I’d love to see what Harry thinks."
I paused slightly, unsure of what
to say. "I think we can wait. This is your big day. We don’t want to cloud
anything that belongs to you. You and Jack get married. Harry and I can
wait."
Rose nodded. "It wouldn’t
bother me, I’m sure."
"It would me. I want this to
be your big day." I stopped as the doorman opened the door to the hotel. I
smiled at him as he nodded and escorted Rose and me through the open door.
"Nothing needs to happen to take any of your happiness away. You and Jack
enjoy this day. This is for you. Only you. This is a celebration of your new
life."
"If you insist."
I did insist. Plus, I was getting
a bad case of cold feet.