Page 46 of Mirrors of the Past

Chapter Seventeen

Present

Tegan tried to put the discussion in the rose garden out of her mind. She didn’t see why she needed to dwell on something so unpleasant when she had something so perfectly wonderful to plan in the shape of a “Winter Wonderland Wedding” exhibition.

She stayed away from Pencradoc for a good couple of hours after she’d had that conversation with Ryan to ensure he and Sybill had left. When she eventually got back to the office, Coren didn’t query her absence but she made a point of telling him exactly what she — well, she and Ryan — had planned.

‘The Snow Queen idea. I like it.’ He nodded. ‘I’m not sure how you’re going to get that dress replicated though. Am I right in thinking that all we have is a sketch on a letter?’

‘Yes. But I can ask someone. Wheal Mount has had costume exhibitions in the past too. And I know when you did the Lily Valentine event, you got a dress for Merryn’s friend Cordelia from Sybill. My sister told me about it. I found some photos online. So I guess I just need to speak to someone.’

‘You’re best speaking to Sybill. Or Ryan.’ He pulled a face. ‘For a start, we’re having a bit of difficulty keeping Merryn away from the place as it is, and no way do I want anyone delivering babies on this premises if she decides to spend even more time here. And, as I recall, the Lily Valentine dress was kind of wrecked in some incident at the Mill House. Not sure that Sybill will want to give us anything more from her stores, but she might know the details of a seamstress who can help.’

‘I’ll check with her.’

‘Or Ryan.’

Coren’s voice was mild, but Tegan dropped her head anyway so he couldn’t see her expression. ‘Yes. Quite. Right. I’ll get on with this then. Planning and everything.’ She swallowed and managed to choke out, ‘Planning with . . . Ryan.’

‘Good luck. I’ve got every faith you can sort it all out.’

She looked up quickly, wondering whether that comment had a double meaning or not. Coren’s face gave nothing away. In fact, he was looking back down at his desk again, shuffling some paper importantly. She took that as a dismissal. ‘Sure,’ she said.

She checked her phone again subtly. Still nothing from Angelo.

‘Oh — Ryan left some things for you over on the photocopier,’ Coren added, just as she turned to leave his office. ‘I suspect they’re useful for you. He said he’d managed to have a tour of the house as well after your meeting.’

‘That’s good.’

‘Found his own way around, apparently.’

Tegan’s cheeks burned. Yeah, perhaps she should have taken him for that tour. She had no more right to Pencradoc than he had and he needed to know where things were as well. ‘I’ll take him next time. Once I know more about the place myself.’

Coren looked up and half smiled. ‘Believe me. If Pencradoc wants you to know about it, you will.’ Then he looked back at the papers on his desk and Tegan finally managed to grab Ryan’s papers and hurry out of the room.

Ugh.

Embarrassing!

She took herself off to the main office and laid the papers out in front of her. Sure enough, they were the documents they’d looked at in the garden. She flipped the letter over with the sketch of the dress on the back and pulled over the photograph of Elsie and Louis, laying them next to one another. But really, all she had was the top half of Elsie covered by a ginormous winter bouquet and a rough sketch that looked all together . . . thinner than the flounces behind that bouquet.

She stared out of the window. Think, Tegan, think. Her gaze then settled on a copy of Darling! magazine someone had left next to the kettle. On the front was some non-A-lister’s wedding photo. Tegan curled her lip slightly. No matter what Ryan might have implied, she actually had no time for shallow social media influencers, and this person on the front was definitely one of those.

However . . . she sat up straighter in her chair. Elsie was a kind of celebrity in her day, was she not? Would it, perhaps, be plausible, that the Edwardian version of the paparazzi would have lurked near the church to grab some photos? Actually, there had to be some official photos somewhere. The photograph of the couple looked professional and she knew that Elsie’s friend Pearl was one of the “Dollar Princesses” who had travelled over from America and married into the British nobility.

Surely, that was newsworthy — especially if Pearl was a guest there, and Pearl’s sister, Viola, was a bridesmaid?

Her heart pounding, she pulled up a search engine on the computer. Some swift detective work brought up some wonderful American magazines of the era: The Delineator magazine, The Ladies’ Home Journal . . . and, a gem which she thought was worth investigating further — Portrayal magazine.

Whereas, the internet informed her, some of the magazines focussed on fashion, sewing patterns, articles and the like, Portrayal was rather like a Society magazine that ladies in America were fond of, as it told them tales of what their friends over the pond were up to.

Some further digging revealed that some of the issues of the magazine were online — the originals were held at the British Library and had been digitised as part of the American Collection.

‘Bingo!’ Tegan said, clicking into the pages. A little longer and she had located what she wanted . . .

Miss Viola Arthur, of Washington Square North, New York, presided as maid of honor at a Society Wedding on 22 December 1911, the text coyly reported, probably knowing that their audience would be more interested in the American contingent than the English one. The wedding, at St George’s, Bloomsbury, London, also boasted attendance from her sister, Lady Pearl Arthur Elton, wife of Sir Ernest Elton, of Elton Lacy, in Cornwall, England. The happy couple, Lady Elsie Alexandra Teague Pencradoc and Mr Louis William Ashby also hail from Cornwall and have now made their home in Bloomsbury, London.

A couple of clicks more and Tegan had scrolled down to a small collection of photographs.