The Wedding Dress (4 page)

He was coming up to her
—
of that there was no doubt. And for a moment of sheer joy, nothing else mattered. Not the risk of her guardian’s return, nor the necessity of making awkward explanations, nor the fact that she was totally unprepared to deal with either contingency.
Philip was coming at last.

She stood up when she heard his knock, and as he entered, she turned to him with her hands out. Then everything else in the world was forgotten as he took hold of her lightly, kissed her on both cheeks and exclaimed:
“
Darling child! What a wonderful surprise. What on earth are you doing here?
”

“
I’m
—
living in Paris now.
”
She could not stop looking at him and smiling with sheer joy.
“
My father died. I expect you heard.
”

“
Yes. I’m terribly sorry, my dear. We were abroad, as you probably know. Otherwise we would at least have been with you for the funeral. We didn’t hear until two or three weeks afterwards.
”

“
And, then I was probably already
...
here.
”

“
But how come, Loraine? Good heavens, how lovely you’re looking, child! I’ve never seen you in a more becoming dress.
”

“
It’s a Florian,
”
she said simply.

“
Well, that explains it.
”
He laughed.
“
But it doesn’t explain everything else. You’re not living on your own here in Paris, are you?
”

“
Oh, no. Not at the moment.
”
She must be careful now! she told herself. She must be terribly careful.
“
I had—my father had a sort of cousin living here. He was made my guar
—
trustee. So it was thought best that I should come here for the time being. But I expect I’ll be on my own soon, because something wonderful happened. I’ve been offered a job. Florian has taken me on as one of his mannequins.
”

“
Florian
has? Loraine, you keep me gasping! You were a retiring schoolgirl when I last saw you. Now I find you a lovely self-possessed young creature, talking of working with the greatest designer in Paris. What has happened to you
?
”

“
N-nothing.
”
She smiled shyly, for she did not feel at all self-possessed, whatever he might say.
“
I’m not any different, really, Philip.
”

“
You’re just as sweet as ever, certainly.
”
He took her hand again and kissed it lightly.
“
We must get together, darling. Where can I phone you?
”

For a moment she felt as though a gulf opened in front of her. And then, on an inspiration born of necessity, she heard herself say quite coolly:

“
You’d better phone me at Florian’s. I
—
I might be changing my home number soon.
”

“
Very well. In a day or two.
”
He glanced down into the stalls again and made a slight, answering sign to the girl who had just glanced up.
“
I must go now.
”

With difficulty she suppressed a pang of passionate jealousy. But she also reminded herself that it was time he went, in any case. Her guardian might return at any moment now.

“
Goodbye, dear Loraine. That’s my
fiancée
down there, by the way, but there isn’t time to tell you all about her now. We’ll cover the rest of the news over lunch some time soon. And Mother will be here in a week or two. I suppose she’ll be coming to your opening show. She usually does the Florian opening.
”

He held her hand tightly for a moment, in the special clasp which she knew so well. Then he was gone, and Loraine went slowly back to her seat, feeling dazzled and faintly giddy, like someone who had been looking into the sun too long.

She sat there very still, savoring the memory of every moment he had been there. And she knew that nothing
—
not her father’s death, nor the move to Paris, nor Florian’s incredible offer
—
could compare in importance with the fact that she had seen and talked to Philip once again.

He had said she was lovely and no longer a schoolgirl, too
—
which must mean that he saw her in a new light. Perhaps it was not only to her that the meeting had been of significance. Again she felt guiltily that one must not pursue such a line of thought since he appeared to be completely and happily committed to someone else. It was impossible not to bask in the knowledge of his undoubted approval and interest.

Just as the lights were going down once more, Paul slipped back into his seat.

“
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you so long,
”
he said.
“
I hope you weren’t bored.
”

“
No,
”
Loraine assured him gently.
“
I wasn’t in the least bored.
”

“
You’re a good, undemanding child,
”
he remarked unexpectedly. And she found herself wondering guiltily if he would have been quite so sure of that if he had known who had visited the box in his absence.

When it was all over, he took her straight home, saying that her day had been long and exciting enough already but that on some other occasion he would take her out to supper at Maxim’s.

She was grateful
—
and surprised
—
at the half-promise. But she was genuinely glad to go home now. And she was not sorry that the next day, Sunday, proved quiet and uneventful. With the challenge of her first day at Florian’s looming near, she was going to need all her energy and freshness.

On the Monday morning she breakfasted early with her guardian, who seemed slightly amused by the fact that her enthusiasm had not wilted before an early rising and the inevitable nervous strain of the first day at any job.

“
I hope it’s all going to be as enthralling as you seem to expect,
”
he remarked a trifle drily.
“
They say Florian is a very hard taskmaster.
”

“
That’s just because he’s a perfectionist.
”
Loraine’s tone held a note of near-reverence which would have amused, but not displeased, the great designer.
“
I don’t in the least mind working hard, if I can really be part of that wonderful enterprise.
”

“
Well, that’s the right spirit.
”
Her guardian gave her an unexpected grin of sheer amusement which made him look very much younger.
“
Far be it from me to encourage anyone to give any job less than a fair trial. But I think you have a right to know at this point, Loraine, that you’re not entirely dependent on what you can earn.
”

“
How do you mean?
”

“
Your father’s affairs haven’t been settled up yet, but he certainly left you enough to bring in a small income. In addition
”
—
he slightly moved one or two things on the breakfast table in front of him and, if she had not known it was impossible, she would have thought he was nervous
—
“
you do understand that you’re really very welcome here, don’t you?
”

She opened her eyes rather wide.

“
It’s very nice of you to say so—
”

“
Well, I was a good deal taken aback to find you thought I was
—
fed up was, I think, the term
—
at having to take you in.
”

“
But weren’t you?
”
She smiled at him without rancor and even with a touch of mischief.

“
No.
”
He colored very slightly, which astonished her.
“
I was surprised and a bit nonplussed, I suppose. And
—
although you were not to know this, of course
—
it so happened that I had a personal crisis to deal with at the same time.
”

“
I’m very sorry,
”
she said gently.
“
I hope it has
—
solved itself now.
”

“
Not exactly. But I take a good deal of convincing that I’m beaten.
”
Again he gave that quick, unexpected smile.

“
In any case, it has nothing to do with the present discussion. I just want to have it quite clear that I don’t in any way resent your being here.
”

“
You couldn’t really have been blamed much if you had,
”
Loraine told him candidly.
“
I was simply wished on to
you out of the blue, and if you had resented me
—
“

“
I didn’t and I don’t,
”
he asserted categorically.
“
I’m
n
ot sure that I know much about managing a girl of your age
—
or even how to learn to do so
—
but you are welcome in my home until you choose to go elsewhere.
”

He stood up then, as though finishing the discussion. But Loraine got up too and came round to him.

“
Thank you very much.
”
She put her hand lightly on his arm.
“
And in any case
”
—
once more her smile had a glint of mischief
—
“
you don’t need to learn how to manage me. I’ve always understood that it’s the ward who manages the guardian.
”

“
Is that so?
”
He gave her cheek a slight but not unkindly pat.
“
I can’t promise that you’ll find me very manageable, Loraine. And now it’s time you started for work. Do you want me to drive you down?
”

“
No, of course not! Working girls don’t arrive in private cars. I’ll walk. It’s not far
—
and it’s a wonderful morning.
”

“
All right. Goodbye and good luck,
”
he said, and he gave her a casual little nod of something between dismissal and salute.

As Loraine left the tall handsome house in which her guardian’s apartment was, she felt her spirits rise with a bound. For the first time in her life, she was setting out towards independence and perhaps adventure
—
and she was walking there through the street of Paris on a magical June morning.

The traffic streaming past, the hurrying crowds, the green of the trees in the Avenue, the incredible variety of lovely things displayed in the shop windows
—
all contributed to the feeling of enchantment. And, as though this were not enough, Philip was in the same city.

To others this might be a Monday morning like any other Monday morning. To Loraine it was the most exciting day of her life. And when she came at last to the famous dress house, with the one word
florian
splashed
in
letters of gold across the smooth stone of its austere facade, she felt she stood upon the threshold of romance.

However, as it was now five minutes to nine, there was no question of lingering sentimentally upon that threshold. So she entered instead and inquired shyly for Madame Moisant.

Immediately, she was wafted up the famous staircase to the small, thickly carpeted room where the directrice of Florian’s sat at a deceptively simple and austere-looking desk. This, in Madame Moisant’s opinion, was the nerve centre of the whole great enterprise, and Florian himself would have hesitated to deny it.

She had evidently been informed of Florian’s unexpected appointment and, as Loraine knocked diffidently and entered, the Frenchwoman looked up and said:

“
Come in, mademoiselle, and sit down.
”

It was an order rather than an invitation, and in an instant Loraine was subtly informed that she had exchanged the status of a customer for that of a very junior employee.

She sat down; there was a slight and curiously telling pause. Then the directrice said: