Vintage Fashions

by Mary Brunini McArdle

conclusion

The Palmers sent a note after lunch to say a late houseguest had arrived and would it be all right to bring him to dinner with them? Of course Lucy sent a reply assenting.

Annette Palmer was the first to descend from the carriage and I took an immediate liking to her. She had dark curls and china-blue eyes. Her husband Edward was of average height and looks but pleasant. The last to emerge was a handsome graying man. Isabelle gasped. Of all people, the latecomer turned out to be Richard.

Of course the Palmers knew nothing of the wedding proposal gone bad. Annette was much more outgoing than her husband. It was a bit difficult to ground her constant questions; she was truly interested in Isabelle and her new guest. Richard and Isabelle said nothing; he held out his arm and with a faint smile Isabelle took it. She had gone suddenly pale.

The rain had stopped just in time, and Eunice had put out a lovely green faille for me. Isabelle was gorgeous in her gold silk and Annette pretty in her blue voille. She was rushing the season a little although her dress was most attractive.

But Isabelle without a doubt was the most beautiful woman there. Her gold silk dress was embossed with leaves and flowers the same shade; she wore topaz earrings. She and Richard were quiet during dinner, but they never took their eyes off each other. I noticed Isabelle’s hand trembled whenever she reached for her wine glass, and twice she sloshed wine on the tablecloth.

Richard asked her to take a walk outside after dinner and the pair of them disappeared for an hour. I don’t know what was said, but Isabelle returned blushing and she clung to Richard when he bade her goodbye. “Next weekend?” he asked. Isabelle nodded.

Meanwhile I managed to stumble, catching onto a slender arm for balance. She’s real, I thought. Annette’s as real as I am.

While the family saw the guests to their carriage I went quietly upstairs to Lucy’s bedroom. I didn’t see Eunice anywhere, but it would soon be time for her to turn down the beds. My heart beat loudly. What if she caught me? I could make up a story: Lucy could have sent me to get something for her. Dear God, what if I was wrong? What if Lucy was innocent?

I looked everywhere I could think of but turned up nothing. Acutely conscious of the passage of time, I began to sweat. Then suddenly I thought of something. The elegant clothes that had so entranced me: wasn’t Isabelle’s birthday party years past? Hadn’t the fashions changed?

“Of course,” I whispered. “They were still wearing bustles.”

I returned to Lucy’s closet, rummaging until I found an ivory satin dress with a bustle. I squeezed it, certain I felt something inside. The fabric was old enough to rip easily, and out tumbled a heavy necklace — fashioned of rubies and diamonds!

* * *

Isabelle was still downstairs, but after concealing the necklace in my bodice, I saw Eunice in the hall and told her I would wait for Miss Isabelle in her room. Eunice came in to turn down the bed and we chatted for a few minutes. When Isabelle arrived, Eunice left. By then I was shaking.

“Isabelle, lock the door and come over here. I’ve got something to show you.”

“Lock the door? For heaven’s sake, Gina, why?”

I gritted my teeth. “Just do it, Isabelle.”

She complied and sat down on the bed. I reached down the front of my dress and pulled out the loot.

“Gina! It’s my necklace!”

“Complete with a space for the missing ruby.”

“Where...”

“Hidden in a twenty-year old bustle in Lucy’s closet.”

“So it was Lucy. But why?”

“She wanted to remove you from this house, to keep you away from her husband. She didn’t foresee your recovering that stone. So on the weekends she had to stay extra alert to keep Dexter safe from temptation. Too bad. She lost that game. You can come back and live here if you want to.”

“Oh, Gina. Listen, we have a lot to talk about. Should I confront Lucy?”

“I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t say a word. Just pretend nothing ever happened. That way you can get along. No scenes. No revelations to Dexter. Lucy’ll be so grateful she’ll keep her mouth shut too. Make up something about finding the necklace somewhere.”

“And you, Gina, my dear friend. What about you?”

“I don’t understand.”

“If I return to 1910, we’ll be separated. Want to come with me? Maybe you’d meet a nice man, get married. I think I’m going to. Richard is very sorry for walking out on me. He said he spent a long time in Europe trying to make a life for himself but he never got over what happened. He said he was a fool to let me go.”

“But Isabelle, I couldn’t come back with you. I would know the future.”

“No, you’d forget. Gradually you’d forget you were ever any... any ‘time’ else. And you could bring Coconut. I’m bringing Mamie.”

“I don’t know, Isabelle,” I said thoughtfully. “In 1910 I hadn’t even been born. Paradox. I might be like the servants. I wouldn’t be real.”

* * *

Tuesday evening Isabelle called. “I had the ruby put back in my necklace today,” she said. “Oh, Gina, I can’t wait till next weekend. I’m going early, taking off Friday. I want to spend some time with Richard. See if he wants to make plans.”

I felt a sinking in the pit of my stomach. “Isabelle, you... you are coming back, aren’t you?”

“Oh, Gina, of course. You don’t think I would just desert you. There’s no way to communicate with you from Cullman. And Mamie! I can’t leave her.”

“If you want to take off more time, I could feed her for you.”

“Oh, would you? Then I could go Thursday and come back Tuesday. I’d invite you, but...”

“Not this time,” I said firmly. “You need to spend every minute with Richard. So you can make a decision.”

* * *

Those five days were a nightmare. I had neglected my other friends to spend weekends in Cullman and I can’t express how lonely I felt. I had trouble sleeping; I finally decided that I had to make a plan to get myself back on track.

I think she’s going to stay down there, I concluded, and I feel I must stay here where I belong. The worst thing is there is no way of communicating with her. And now that she has her rubies and diamonds, she isn’t barred from that house.

“Oh, Isabelle,” I sighed. “Sometimes I regret ever meeting you. Can I work myself out of this? I have to. I have to in order to survive.”

She did come back. And she was wearing a brand new, vintage style diamond ring on her left hand. Even without it I could tell everything by her face. Isabelle was in love, and she would follow that love back in time forever.

Epilogue

Her condominium was larger than mine; she sold hers to me for $5,000. I used a mix of her things and mine. Then I went out and acquired a black female kitten, named “Winter Night,” accepted as a mere curiosity by Coconut. I needed that new kitten, I really did. For my new beginning.

I wasn’t in her wedding; that would have insured complications for Richard, who could not have participated in taking me home. After all, he had never seen a car or an Interstate. She couldn’t even tell me about the wedding with no way of communicating with me. But she had described her dress beforehand and I spent a lot of time picturing her in it, carrying red roses and wearing her necklace.

It was a year before I got up the nerve to go to Cullman one last time. The house was no longer there. I’m not sure it ever was. I went to the Chamber of Commerce to ask directions to the cemetery.

After a long search I found what I was looking for. Two very old headstones next to each other. One read: “Isabelle Leighton Engle, 1868—1942” and the other “Richard Henry Engle, 1865—1943.”

I put a bouquet of brilliant red and white roses on Isabelle’s grave and I never went to Cullman again.

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