The Wedding Dress Read online

  “He’s gotten them from all over the world, and a lot of them in England, and New York.” He knew who she was. Her father had introduced them on the receiving line. He was Alexander Allen, whom she knew by name but had never met before. He was of the other most important banking family in the city. He was considerably older than her contemporaries, and observed her with a fatherly air. He was somewhere in his thirties and seemed very grown up to her, and appeared to be at the ball alone. “I would have asked you to dance, but you were so surrounded earlier in the evening that I’m sure your dance card is quite full by now.” He wasn’t in the habit of chasing debutantes, but he didn’t want to seem rude for not asking her to dance.

  “Actually, I have three dances left,” she said innocently, and he laughed. She was so new to all this that there was something wonderfully childlike about her.

  “I’ll sign up, but I’m afraid your shoes and your feet will never be the same.” She was wearing elegant white satin shoes with pearl and rhinestone buckles which Worth had made as well. Worth had even made her little evening bag, entirely embroidered with silver flowers and encrusted with pearls. “Why don’t you put me down for those three dances, and you can see how I did after the first one. If your shoes are damaged forever, I’ll release you to find another partner for the last two.” She laughed and took the pink enamel carnet de bal out of her purse. He didn’t want to seem rude to his hosts for not dancing with her. The evening was in her honor after all.

  “That seems fair,” she said happily and wrote down his name on two different pages. The first dance was somewhat earlier in the evening than the last two, which were one after the other. They chatted for a few more minutes and then her next partner came to claim her and led her back to the ballroom. As she left, she waved at Alexander Allen and he smiled, and helped himself to another book, which he thought was more fun than dancing, although he was looking forward now to dancing with her. There was something so fresh and easy about her, and she was pleasant to talk to. She had none of the agonized shyness of some young girls at their debut, nor the aggressive ambitiousness of girls desperate for a husband from the moment they came out. She was just having fun, she looked spectacularly elegant, and was a very pretty girl.

  It was another hour before his turn to dance with her, and he wandered back into the ballroom shortly before. The dinner tables had been removed by then, and there were smaller tables where people congregated, drinking and talking. The mood was one of considerable animation, everyone seemed to be having a good time, and Alexander Allen stepped forward in time to claim Eleanor for their first dance. She seemed pleased to see him again.

  “Is tonight everything you hoped it would be?” he asked as they set off on the crowded dance floor. He was surprised at how thin she was once he held her, and what a good dancer she was.

  “Oh yes,” she answered, smiling broadly, “It’s everything I hoped and more. It’s so exciting. I’ve never been to a ball before.”

  “Well, you won’t find many to measure up to this one. Your parents have provided a magnificent evening for all of us. I don’t usually like balls, but I’ve had a wonderful time, especially dancing with you.” He smiled at her, and she looked pleased. A few of her school friends noticed her in the arms of what they considered an older man and felt sorry for her. Her father looked at her mother and raised an eyebrow, surprised that Alex Allen was dancing with her.

  He said something to his wife as they watched them. They made a very handsome pair. “I’m surprised you asked him. He’s not really the sort to chase young girls. I hardly see him out anymore, except at my club for lunch once in a while. He’s a serious sort, although he’s a good man. I suppose he felt he had to dance with Eleanor.” It showed excellent manners, and that hadn’t just come for the dinner and superb wines.

  “I don’t think he ever recovered from what happened. All the ambitious mothers invited him everywhere for a while. I don’t think he went out for a year or two afterward. Someone told me he’s a confirmed bachelor, but we needed men to dance with the women his age.” There were always some spinsters and young widows at any party, and he was the right age for them. They couldn’t just have a room full of married men and young boys.

  “That was unfortunate,” Charles agreed. He remembered the story, they both did. Alex had been engaged to one of the most beautiful young women in San Francisco, from one of the best families, eight years before. It had been one of those love stories that captured everyone’s hearts, probably because they were both so good looking and seemed so much in love. Alex had served in the Great War in France, and two years later was madly in love and engaged. His fiancée succumbed to Spanish flu, and died five days before their wedding. His mother had died in the same epidemic, and his father had died suddenly two years later.

  Alex ran the family bank now, at thirty-two, and was only twenty-six when he’d inherited it. He was doing a good job of it, Charles knew. “He’s probably too busy with the bank to think about marriage, and an incident like that must have been so traumatic,” Charles said sympathetically. “He’s too old for Eleanor, but you were right to invite him. He’s a good man. I liked his father. Terrible tragedy, all that. I think his mother and his fiancée died within a day of each other.” They had lost several friends in the epidemic, which had ravaged the world, and taken more lives than the war itself. Twenty million people had died of Spanish flu before it was over. Louise hadn’t let Eleanor leave the house for months. She had been ten then, and after losing their son to pneumonia, they were terrified of losing their only surviving child to Spanish flu.

  * * *

  —

  “Well, how did I do?” Alex said, looking down at Eleanor’s shoes as the dance came to an end. “I think I stepped on you at least a dozen times,” he said humbly.

  “Not even once,” she said proudly, and pulled up her gown just enough to expose the elegant shoes, which had remained pristine. He noticed that she had small, narrow feet.

  “That is lucky,” he said, smiling broadly. “Does that mean I can stay on your dance card for the other two dances?” She nodded, smiling.

  “I had a nice time talking to you,” she said, shy with him for the first time. She looked so vulnerable and young that it touched him and made him feel protective of her.

  “Even though I must seem a hundred years old to you,” he said, sounding more somber than he meant to. It was easy to be honest with her. She blushed. She thought he was old, but not a hundred certainly. She wondered if he was one of those old bachelors her parents had warned her about, who preyed on young women. But she didn’t think they would have invited him if he was.

  “Why don’t you go dancing more often? You’re a very good dancer,” she said earnestly and he laughed.

  “Thank you. So are you,” and then he grew serious again. “It’s a long story, and not appropriate for an evening like this. I don’t go to parties very often. And I’m definitely too old for debutante balls. I like your father very much, so I wanted to come to this one, and I’m very glad I did. I’ll try not to ruin your shoes with our next two dances. I like talking to you too,” he added, and she smiled at him.

  “The boys my age get a little tiresome after a while, and most of them are drunk by now. They’re the ones who will ruin my shoes!” They both laughed at that, and a minute later, her next partner came to claim her and they danced away, as Alex watched her with a smile. She had literally been dancing all night.

  It was another half hour before his next dance with her. He was getting tired by then, but she was as lively and graceful as ever in his arms. When the dance ended, the midnight supper was set out, and they went to get something to eat, and sat at a table together. The guests were beginning to thin out a little, and the older guests had begun to leave. Her parents stood near the entrance to the ballroom saying good night to them, and Eleanor’s table filled rapidly with old classmates a
nd childhood friends. They looked at Alex like he was someone’s parent, although he was only thirty-two. But they rapidly discovered that he was good company, and he teased several of them and made them laugh, telling them stories about debutante balls he’d been to where everything went wrong, and one where the debutante got so drunk, no one could find her. She was under a table, sound asleep. Eleanor’s friends loved the story, and the way he told it, and after supper he claimed his last dance with her. He felt like an old friend by then.

  “Thank you for being nice to my friends, and not treating them like silly children.” He had treated them all like amusing adults.

  “I’m a silly child myself sometimes,” he said, smiling at her. “Even if I seem very grown up to them. I remember how annoying it was to be dismissed as an idiot at their age, by people the age I am now. I was barely older than they are. I was twenty-one when I went to war. That makes you grow up pretty quickly,” he said quietly.

  “My father wanted to volunteer. He was forty-one when America got into it. My mother didn’t want him to go, and he was too old to fight anyway. They gave him a desk job and he never went to Europe. I think he was disappointed not to go.”

  “It was a nasty fight. I was in France for a year. I was an officer in the infantry. It was ugly. I went as a boy, and came back a man,” he said with the memory of it in his eyes. And then their dance came to an end. “I had a lovely time with you, Miss Deveraux,” he said, smiling at her again. “And I hope you thoroughly enjoy your first season.” He bowed and she laughed.

  “I’m sure I will. I hope we meet at another party sometime,” she said, and he didn’t answer, but had been thinking the same thing. He left her then, and she went off with her friends. He thanked her parents for a wonderful evening, and left, surprised by what a good time he’d had. He hadn’t had so much fun in years. He couldn’t remember the last debutante ball he’d been to.

  The party went on long after Alex Allen had left. Eleanor danced until she felt like she couldn’t anymore. There was still a good sized crowd of very young people when breakfast was served at six in the morning. The young men had had a lot to drink by then, and the substantial breakfast did them good. Then finally, at nearly seven A.M., the ball was over. The band had stopped playing, the servants still at their posts looked exhausted. Eleanor’s parents had gone to bed around two in the morning, and were content to let the young people take over. There had been no problems or awkward incidents. Everyone was well behaved. Some of the older guests were a little less so and drank too much, but they’d gone home.

  When Eleanor finally walked up the grand staircase after the last guest left, she found Wilson waiting for her in her bedroom to help her undress. She had been dozing in a chair, and woke up the minute she heard Eleanor come in.

  “Well, how was it?” she asked, with eyes full of expectation and delight for Eleanor. “Did you dance all night?”

  “Yes, I did.” Eleanor smiled sleepily, and held her arms out so Wilson could take off her dress, and then she gently lifted the headpiece off Eleanor’s head. “It was perfect,” she said happily, her eyes still dancing with the thrill of the magical evening. “I had the best night of my life,” she said, kissed Wilson’s cheek, and climbed into bed. Before Wilson could turn off the lights, or leave the room to hang up the dress, Eleanor was sound asleep. It had been an important rite of passage for her, not just a party. Her life as an adult, and a woman, had begun. Wilson smiled, thinking about it, as she quietly closed the door. And as beautiful as Eleanor was, Wilson was sure she’d be married soon. That was the purpose of it after all, wasn’t it? Debutante balls were for young girls from good families to find husbands. And even in 1928, nothing had changed.

  Chapter 2

  Alex Allen found himself thinking about Eleanor Deveraux at his desk the next day. And for several days after that. He thought of her during Christmas, which he spent with his two younger brothers, Phillip and Harry, in the vast family home, which Alex had inherited from their parents, as the oldest son. They had left it to him, along with the bank, and all the responsibilities that went with it. Neither of his brothers worked at the bank. Their inheritance was more than adequate to support them, and neither of them had any ambition. They were eight and ten years younger than Alex was and seemed like children to him. At their ages he had been to war, and had almost gotten married, but as the eldest son he had grown up more quickly and his parents had expected more of him. And they had been barely more than children when they were orphaned, and Alex took care of them too.

  Now Phillip spent all his time playing polo and buying horses. Harry spent it chasing women of dubious reputation and drinking too much. His brothers lived in a house he had bought for them, a few blocks from the home where Alex lived, with many of his parents’ servants still working for him, though he never entertained, and hardly used most of the house now. He was always at the bank, or traveling for business. And his younger brothers preferred to live on their own, away from his supervision.

  Alex spent New Year’s Eve with friends, and thought about Eleanor again, which seemed foolish to him. She was barely more than a child, fresh out of the schoolroom, yet there was something very sensible and mature about her too. He was surprised by how much he had enjoyed talking to her at her debut ball. She was interesting and intelligent as well as beautiful. Against his better judgment, and despite her age, he dropped her a note two weeks after the ball, and invited her to dinner. She graciously accepted. They had dinner at the Fairmont, and she had been delightful company. Her parents invited him to dinner after that, and didn’t seem to object to his taking her to a party at the home of people they both knew. They agreed to his taking her out to dinner again, although they questioned Eleanor about it, and she said they were friends.

  Louise and Charles discussed it privately, and Charles thought they shouldn’t make a fuss about it. There was nothing wrong with Alex Allen, neither his bloodline, nor his character, his profession, or his fortune. And he didn’t seem to be trifling with her. He was certainly considerably older than Eleanor. They had assumed that she’d fall in love with a boy her age, but the more they thought about it, the more they liked Alex. So did Eleanor, although she was convinced that Alex had nothing more than friendship in mind, which suited her. She had fun with him and liked talking to him.

  They’d been dating for a month when Alex told her he was in love with her, and kissed her for the first time. She was as startled as she was pleased, and shyly told him she was in love with him too, although she hadn’t realized it before, or allowed herself to. He spoke to her father two weeks later, and assured him that his intentions were honorable.

  “I never expected to marry, after…well, you know…after Amelia died. I’ve never met a girl like Eleanor. She’s so honest and straightforward, with her feet on the ground. It makes me happy just being with her.” Her father and Alex knew they were an even match economically, more than any other man in San Francisco would have been. Two great families merging, two banks allied by marriage, their histories similar, their backgrounds the same, their standing in San Francisco society of equal importance. There truly wasn’t a better match for her anywhere, and Alex was a man of integrity and sound values, and was head over heels in love with Eleanor. Charles couldn’t ask for anything more in a husband for his daughter. He had hoped she wouldn’t marry too quickly, only because he didn’t want to lose her, but he couldn’t deny her the opportunity to be with a man who loved her so profoundly and would treat her so well. He wasn’t some twenty-two-year-old boy who had years of growing up to do. Alex Allen was a man, and an honorable one, and Charles gave Alex his blessing with tears in his eyes and a firm handshake, and reported it to Louise immediately afterward. She cried for the same reason as Charles, sad to lose her daughter but delighted for her.

  Alex didn’t waste any time, and proposed to Eleanor that night. He proposed to her on bended knee before they w
ent out to dinner, and presented her with his mother’s engagement ring. It looked enormous on her hand, and was a very impressive ring for a girl her age. Eleanor gasped in astonishment when he asked her. She didn’t know he had met with her father, and thought they would go along for some time, being in love, and dreaming of a distant future. She had no idea that the future would become the present so quickly, but as she stared at him with wide open eyes filled with love, she accepted and he kissed her. Then they went to find her parents and tell them. They celebrated with champagne, and after two glasses, she felt giddy when she and Alex went out to dinner. There was so much to talk about and think about now.

  She was the first of her season of debutantes to get engaged. It was announced in the society pages of the newspaper that weekend. Floods of letters and telegrams of congratulations started pouring in immediately. It seemed fitting to everyone, and they were particularly pleased for Alex, who had mourned his lost fiancée for so long. Two royal banking families were about to form a sacred bond through marriage. What could be better or more suitable?

  They set the date for the marriage at the beginning of October, to give her mother time to plan the wedding. Louise estimated that there would be eight hundred guests at the reception. They would hold it at home, but tent their large garden to accommodate the number of guests. Their garden filled most of the square at the top of Nob Hill.

  In March, Louise told Eleanor that they would be going to Paris in April to order her wedding dress. She hadn’t decided which designer they would choose this time, and she was studying fashion magazines while she thought about it. Eleanor was amazed at how quickly it was all happening. Three months before she had been looking forward to her debutante ball, and in seven months, she would be a married woman. The best part of it was she was going to be married to Alex. She could hardly wait. She didn’t even want to go to Paris this time, and leave him for a month. But he encouraged her to.